Madam Deputy Speaker, the Presidency should set an example to the rest of government. However, instead of offering a clear vision for our country, rolling out initiatives that seek to improve the lives of all South Africans and embracing the values of our Constitution, the Presidency has become a bloated mechanism to reward political patronage with little regard for accountability and transparency.
The DA cannot support the Presidency's budget. It cannot support a budget for a department whose budget grows like an aggressive tumour and is not being subjected to any dedicated parliamentary scrutiny. It is a disgrace to this House and Parliament's constitutionally mandated responsibility to oversee the executive that the ANC's Chief Whip announced yesterday that he wished to make it "abundantly clear that Parliament's oversight role relates to other government departments, not the Presidency". Hon Motshekga's comments speak to this administration's belief that high- ranking members of this government, who should embody the values on which our democracy is built, are exempt from upholding these values.
The outcome of the debate regarding oversight of the Presidency will, like the current debate surrounding the Protection of Information Bill, indicate which road this administration intends to follow: the path of secrecy, cronyism and delivery for a few, or the path of democracy, accountability and delivery for all. The DA will not stand down until the Presidency is subjected to the same degree of oversight as every other government department and will use every use every available mechanism to assist in this regard.
The Presidency approved hundreds of millions of rands worth of wasteful expenditure for the National Youth Development Agency's, NYDA, World Festival of Youth and Students and to the repetitive renovation of five official residences. It has dedicated R24 million to a state-owned enterprise review committee, ostensibly to examine ways to improve their efficiency while, at same time, purging the boards of Eskom, Denel and Transnet, no doubt to reconstitute them with loyal ANC cadres.
It has overseen the creation of a new department - supposedly to oversee government performance - the great irony being that until this administration ...
USEKELA-SOMLOMO: Liphelile ixesha lakho Mnumzana.
INKOKHELI YEQELA ELIPHIKISAYO: Enkosi. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your time has expired, sir.