Chairperson, we are 17 years into the new South Africa and there should be no excuse for lack of service delivery. Reasons for the slow expenditure of capital budgets are: the appointment of a Minister whose attitude is, "Do as I say and not as I do"; the announcement of tenders, already knowing who they will be assigned to; the pretence of advertising jobs, knowing who the successful candidates will be; and the setting of high standards and requirements while incompetent appointments are still made.
This results in poor financial planning, incompetent officials, municipal managers receiving obscene salaries, lack of political leadership, municipalities receiving qualified audits and, in some cases, interns running the financial departments.
There is crisis in governance. We have situations where houses are falling apart, children are playing in sewage water on their way to school, and uncollected trash is resulting in little children playing with used condoms and rotting scraps. Potholes escalate by the day.
I suggest the following turnaround strategy that will bring us back to the Mandela euphoria: fire the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs; fire poor financial planners; fire incompetent municipal officials who receive qualified audits every year; fire those who are a constant source of crisis and corruption; and finally, fire those who show complete lack of political leadership. I thank you. [Applause.]