Hon Chair, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers present, hon members, distinguished guests, members of the intelligence community, intelligence veterans, and fellow South Africans, firstly, I don't want to discuss the question of Cope, which is deteriorating. I think they need to have intelligence in their company. [Laughter.] That is why they are deteriorating; disintegrating, in fact. [Interjections.]
When it comes to the DA, there were many brutal laws that were used against the people of South Africa. Amongst them was a 90 days of detention Act in terms of which people were tortured for a 90-day peroid, and they were silent - they supported that in Parliament. [Interjections.] When people were dying and thrown over ... Those were scandals, and they covered them up. They were silent. Fortunately, the hon Stubbe was among those intelligence people then.
We note the progress made in the establishment of the new department: the State Security Agency, SSA. We remain convinced that this is the way the department should be configured to ensure efficiency and entrenchment of the principles of cohesiveness, co-operation and interdependence within the intelligence agencies under the control of the Minister. The approval of the directives on conditions of service within this newly created department signals a milestone in the restructuring process. We trust that this achievement shall bring about the desired calm in the department for both leadership and members in this critical transitional phase, which might sometimes lead to frustration and raise anxiety levels in any organisation undergoing a process of change.
The ANC notes the gains made in the integration of operating systems into a single SSA operating system. We congratulate the Minister and his department's leadership on this achievement. It is, however, noteworthy to register our concern with the challenges that are reported to be hampering the process of system integration. We cannot overemphasise the importance of information integrity and the impact the system has in modern-day organisational performance. The Minister and the senior leadership of the SSA must prioritise this area, as critical management and reporting information is recorded and extracted from these very same systems. These reports become a performance measurement tool and are further utilised to set performance targets for the department on financial resource management matters. It is trusted that in his next address the Minister will report that there has been remarkable progress on this front.
The ANC notes the Minister's commitment to filling the positions at senior and middle-management levels with appropriately qualified personnel through a transparent process of open advertisement. We would like to stress the importance of this principle. One hundred percent adherence to this principle will go a long way in enhancing the members' morale and loyalty towards the organisation, its processes and the Republic of South Africa. Simple mathematical calculation holds that fairness is equal to good morale, and is equal to increased productivity.
We note the gender representivity challenge with the appointments made in the SSA to date. We acknowledge the Minister's commitment to addressing this challenge in the appointment of the next layer of management. We look forward to seeing the department do better in complying with the commitment of this government to the ideal of a free, nonracial and nonsexist society, with particular emphasis on the workplace. I am certain that this House will appreciate a report on the meeting of this commitment from the hon Minister.
In respect of the government's commitment to creating jobs, it is of extreme importance that every government department actively plays a role to advance employment opportunities for the unemployed masses of our people. It goes without saying that the creation of jobs will ensure the realisation of the SSA mandate, the realisation of national security.
As the literature will attest, employment has become an economic activity through which individuals engage by offering their labour and earning remuneration in return, from which they are able to live their lives, and raise and educate their children and families and realise all other goals they have in their lives. From this, it follows that the absence of jobs may have a detrimental effect on individuals and society, and may also create grounds for criminal activities and human rights abuses, which undermine and threaten national security.
We have witnessed growing disquiet of our trade unions in recent times, a reality we would all want to reverse. Job creation is believed to be a sustainable intervention to counter this societal dilemma. The department's focus on job creation should be directed at our unemployed youth. This will assist the department in transferring skills while addressing the ageing workforce challenge highlighted by the Minister. This is a national challenge, and only through a unified intervention can this be overcome.
While bringing the youth into the workplace, it would be important that management is well trained on how to engage, train and manage this group of employees for maximum retention and to ensure business continuity.
The government's programme on skills development faces a bleak future when government departments pay only lip service to this matter of national strategic importance. We appreciate the department's focus on capacity- building and revisiting the current approach to the transfer of skills and training. The strategic partnerships with our international counterparts will greatly assist our intelligence agencies in competing with the complex world of intelligence out there. The focus on training and the prioritisation of core-business employees should be bolstered. However, a balance must be struck so as not to reduce the support structures to secondary participants in the business. These strategic partners must be well nurtured and taken care of, because the management of organisations, its processes and resources: human, financial and logistical, is done by people.
We value and appreciate the department's continued determination to deliver on the country's national vetting strategy. We understand the capacity limitations that have created the backlog in this regard. With a resolve to utilise intelligence veterans, we hold that this shall assist in reducing the backlog and enable the department to deliver on its priorities.
We will support the Minister in the drive to strengthen the consultation mechanism in the SSA and trust that this will harness the employment relations in the department. The establishment of a consultation committee for the SSA, comprising equal representation of members and management, is a good start in this regard. We support the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]