Chair and hon members, in the state of the nation address given in February this year, his Excellency the President outlined certain key growth factors which he advised would be both vociferously and aggressively persuade by government in 2011.
The year 2011 was heralded to great applause, I might add, by the ANC as the year of job creation. Economic growth was fundamental to this and a key factor thereof was that of infrastructure development.
In the local government elections campaign held in May, his Excellency the President once again promised that no stone would be left unturned in respect of job creation and service delivery to all areas and people of South Africa.
The harsh reality is that by 31 March this year figures released by Treasury indicated a spend of only 45% by South African municipalities over the preceding nine-month period. Treasury itself conceded as much when it released a statement saying, and I quote, "Capital spending remains slow and this is a concern for government." The question is: What is government doing about this?
Another serious problem is that of laziness or even complete negligence by municipal officials in carrying out their mandate in respect of the payment of creditors. Municipalities enter into contractual agreements with many small business enterprises. These enterprises in turn employ a large number of workers, but they are being squeezed by our municipalities and, in some instances, even going into liquidation because of very late payments by municipal managers.
As the IFP we want to say to government that you are not helping but in fact hurting the ordinary people of South Africa. It is time to stand up and be held accountable. It is time to deliver on your promises in respect of service delivery and job creation, otherwise this country will witness more violent uprisings and toyi-toying by our communities in an effort to give voice to their disappointments and frustrations. I thank you.