Hon Chairperson, I think the Minister has to forgive us for being doubting Thomases today. Minister, if something is announced during the state of the nation address and the Budget - the government's two most premier platforms for announcing new policy - and then three years later you still have not implemented it, you will forgive South Africa for never believing anything you say again.
I must respond to what the hon Van Rooyen said. We are very glad for yet another commitment with regard to the implementation of the youth wage subsidy, of which, to be frank, we have had many, many before. The question is: Will we wait another three years ... Where is the hon Van Rooyen? ... [Interjections.] ... for the implementation? How long will it take? Minister, I am not sure whether you are aware of this, but today it is 1 195 days since you first announced the youth wage subsidy. South Africa has been waiting 1 195 days for a new plan to give young South Africans a chance at getting their first job. [Interjections.]
Again, I say it was brave, innovative and exciting. This party does not oppose it. We supported it, hon member. Call it what you want, it is fundamentally a good idea that will help hundreds of thousands of young people to get their first break in life, by getting a job and by beginning to build a better future. If it had been implemented when the President first said, it would already have benefited ... listen to this, Minister ... 442 935 young people. Today, you owe them an apology. [Interjections.]
All of my ANC colleagues should listen to the following. It is a commitment that you can take to the bank. Next year, when the DA gets into government in Gauteng ... [Interjections.] ... the youth wage subsidy will be implemented from day one. [Interjections.] [Applause.] That is what we have done in the Western Cape. We have already helped thousands of young people, who are still waiting, 1 200 days later, for your plan. They already have it in the Western Cape. Where the DA governs we see the crisis that you were speaking about, hon member. We see the crisis, we understand the solution and then we implement. [Interjections.] We would still like to see a national government programme. That is what we would like to see. [Interjections.] Where, then, is the youth wage subsidy and what happened to it? We are no closer today, 1 195 days later, than we were in February 2010.
We can't hide away from the facts. This policy has been singled out by the Minister's unionist opponents, both inside and outside his party, as a site of battle over who calls the shots in the ruling alliance ... [Interjections.] ... which everyone must now agree is an alliance in name only. [Interjections.] Yet the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Cosatu, and Minister Patel seem to be winning. The 1 195 days' delay so far confirms this impression.