Speaker, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers present here, hon members of this august House, and the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Finance, the ANC supports the MTBPS as presented by the hon Minister of Finance, Comrade Pravin Gordhan, who stated that the MTBPS indicates government's plan to build an efficient developmental state.
It should be borne in mind that the ANC views the developmental state as a state that does not only promptly and expeditiously deliver services, but as possessing, amongst others, strategic, organisational, and technical capacities to deliver on its core obligations. For the ANC, the need to build a developmental state with specific South African characteristics that take into account the evolution and current economic structure and social dynamics of South African society is central to how the MTBPS assists in achieving this.
A state such as ours has attributes and tasks that include the following capacities: to intervene in the economy in the interest of higher rates of growth and development; to lead society, influence the national agenda and the continent, and influence the international community in the battle of ideas; to address challenges of unemployment, poverty and underdevelopment; and to mobilise the people as a whole, especially the poor, to act as their liberators through participatory and representative democracy.
The MTBPS contributes to the building of state capacity to deliver on its core mandate and its focus of ensuring state efficiency in the delivery of services. It also contributes to the regulation of the economy. The MTBPS also suggests, amongst others, that the means of realising state efficiency will be sharing of skilled personnel, waste minimisation, and the improvement of procurement and management systems. These measures are rationally connected to efficiency. There is, of course, a relationship between efficiency and capacity. These must influence the debate on the public sector's remuneration. The reality is that government needs personnel to promptly deliver on its core obligations whilst, at the same time, it is committed to remunerating personnel justly and fairly. There is no contradiction; rather, this constitutes addressing the developmental needs of our society through the creation of decent jobs and sustainable livelihoods.
One of the essential measures to bolster and shore up government's capacity is the elimination of overreliance on tenders, where this is consistent with the delivery of effective services. The establishment, in April, of the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer has the potential to minimise wastage and corruption, as well as the potential to ensure that maximum benefits are realised from each rand spent.
The Strategy and Tactics document of the ANC provides that its vision is underpinned by values of caring and human solidarity. The ANC also strives to eliminate all manifestations and consequences of patriarchy, including the feminisation of poverty, and all forms of exclusion of women from positions of authority. In this regard, the developmental state is the instrument of socioeconomic inclusion.
The orientation of the developmental state should be to drive a people- centred and people-driven change and sustained development based on a high growth rate, a restructuring of the economy and socioeconomic inclusion. It should drive policy and implementing organs within its sphere and maintain effective intergovernmental relations and a stable management system. It has the ability to translate broad objectives into programmes and projects and to ensure implementation. This technical capacity hinges on, amongst others, the proper training, orientation and leadership of the Public Service, and on acquiring and retaining skilled personnel.
The National Development Plan also highlights the need for a developmental state that is capable of driving the country's development. It contends that building state capacity is the most important step toward achieving a developmental state. However, the National Development Plan also recognises that not all capable states are developmental and so emphasises the importance of building a capable and developmental state. Therefore, it asserts that a developmental state brings about transformation in the country's economy and conditions through an intensive and effective intervention in the structural causes of economic and social underdevelopment.
In response to some issues that have been raised by the opposition parties on my left, and in dealing with the negative perceptions that are rolled out on an annual basis by them, especially the DA and Cope, we need to say the following. The MTBPS ...