Hon Chairperson, I would like to thank the Minister, the director-general and the officials for the support that they have given to the department up till this day. I want to start off by reflecting on a historical statement, which I recall occurred at the business and labour hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where Prof Sampie Terreblanche, an academic, economist and writer, to name a few of his credentials, testified to the effect that apartheid was beneficial to white-owned businesses, because it was an integral part of a system premised on the exploitation of black workers and the destruction of black entrepreneurial activities.
Therefore, I logically attribute this debate to Mrs Charlotte Maxeke, a gallant freedom fighter, fearless tigress, scholar and leader of the struggle against the Natives Land Act of 1913. This legislation was part of the machinery which was established to systematically impoverish, marginalise and exploit the oppressed.
Of course, we have to look at our Constitution, for it entrenches economic and cultural rights in an unprecedented manner. Our own first President of the democratically elected government, Mr Nelson Mandela, stated that no political democracy can survive and flourish if the masses of our people remain in poverty, without land and without tangible prospects for a better life.
Along the same lines, the Freedom Charter states that the people shall share in the country's land. Of course, logically, our President, Mr J G Zuma, stated in his state of the nation address in 2009, at the birth of this historic department, that the creation of decent work will be at the centre of our economic policies and will influence our investment attractions. I think the Minister was able to demonstrate the progress made by this department thus far.
There has been a reference to the New Growth Path, NGP, and of course there are some misunderstandings. If you take a look at where we come from, which was a systematic system, legalised over many years, which was meant to destroy jobs, I think we should be realistic in saying that the NGP of the Department of Economic Development is undoing that process. It has to be intense as it is being implemented and it is going to take time.
Sectors have been identified, and we have heard a lot about what has been achieved through infrastructure development and the mining value chain. They include beneficiation, agriculture and agro-processing, rural development, manufacturing, tourism, the creative industries and high-level services.
According to all monitoring and evaluation reports, it is clear that we are a nation at work, with a clear vision to achieve our job targets. Of course, we have to admit that we still have people who are vulnerable in our midst, like women, the youth, the disabled and people in rural communities. Unfortunately, they are still predominantly black and they constitute 60% of our society.
We would recall that last year, Africa as a whole lived through the trauma of the Arab Spring uprisings, and we are hard at work to ensure that we convey a sense of hope to our young people through the work that will emanate from the signed Youth Employment Accord. We are determined and resolved to work within a sustainable and comprehensive strategy, whereby young people have access to skills that are strategic and that are relevant to industries of interests.
We firmly believe in the future of this country and have embraced the National Development Plan Vision 2030 as ``umkhombandlela wethu'' [our guide.] Our Minister in the Presidency: National Planning Commission, Mr Trevor Manuel, said during the launch of the country's overall vision for South Africa that the plan we hand over is about the actions that all of us should take to secure the future chartered in our Constitution.
Of course, along the same lines as the NGP, the emphasis is on partnerships. It is not about government, the Opposition or the ANC not having done that, but it is a national call for all of us to work strategically in partnerships to find ways of making breakthroughs.
When it comes to the question of the youth, the department will continue to tackle youth unemployment, using whatever resources are available, not only within the department or the sector, but also among our partners in the private sector. The whole area of information communication technology, ICT, given its dynamic nature, hold great prospects for young people and they seem to be attracted to it, as well as areas of manufacturing.
The policy pillars of inclusion and sustainability are very, very important. We are working hard to learn, as we visit our most vulnerable communities, like the 23 poorest municipalities that we are having dialogues with on an ongoing basis. One of the lessons that is uppermost is the need to integrate and co-ordinate our efforts, as we have done at the level of infrastructure development.
Support for small and medium enterprises and co-operatives should be enhanced and we are basically looking at a possible model whereby we invest at a higher level during the phase of entry, given the challenges of the new entry phase. In most instances people's co-operatives and small, medium and micro enterprises, SMMEs, have not been sustainable, mainly because we did not invest heavily in their capacity building from the beginning. We do believe that through trade policies, we can leverage and continue, like the Industrial Development Zone, IDZ, to make sure that our SMMEs are empowered to be suppliers to big industries. In that way they will move beyond survival and become suppliers of choice. I learned a good example from a colleague, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Ms Sindiswa Chikunga, with regard to the rolling stock programme of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA, Prasa. She has gone public nationally and, accompanied by many of us, has clearly stated that the vulnerable groups, which are people from rural areas, women and our youth, will benefit from this as manufacturers, not only with regard to social services. They have set aside huge amounts of money to ensure that it happens, and the multinationals that are benefiting from this are given clear conditions to support the skills development, which of course will mean that many more of our young people are included.
Through other projects we are also learning to support those that are run by women, like poultry farming in KwaZulu-Natal, under the leadership of Dr May Mkhize. This clearly says that we need to invest in the whole value chain, the breeding, the abattoir, packaging, quality, storage and enterprises. In that way, we are clearly turning the tide around, where women will be given support on a small scale and they are empowered to enter the whole value chain.
In the area of waste management, we have also had interactions with communities like Alexandra township, and again the strategy there is to find ways of ensuring that our vulnerable groups participate at all levels, not only in waste collection, but also by using new technologies in creating alternative energies, and also in moving on to producing manure and using it for farming.
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate our commitment by using an example from a children's book which many of you might know. It is about an ugly duckling that was laughed at and scorned by the swans. One day that ugly duckling became a beautiful swan that all the swans admired. It is time that we turn small businesses into beautiful swans - which will be a solution to joblessness - instead of treating it like ugly ducklings. The meaning of this children's story is that we cannot afford to support SMMEs half-heartedly, as they are key to growing an inclusive economy, creating massive employment and also skilling our people without any threat. I thank you. [Applause.]