Chairperson, hon MECs, the hon Premier of the Northern Cape and Your Excellency the hon Deputy President, all protocol observed. Indeed it is a privilege to take part in this debate. Let me start by saying that the theme of this debate is also a challenge for the government. As I listened to what the Deputy President just said today, it still remains a challenge now. For 17 years of our young democracy we struggled to empower the poor economically merely because of the fact that we do not implement strategic plans and we are not developing our people through education.
Teach our children to read, invest in our children today for tomorrow, in order to eradicate poverty and give them a better life. We, as the Independent Democrats, believe in bridging the gap in the inequalities amongst our communities by having a holistic approach of manufacturing our own goods and to equip the poor in order to sustain themselves to be proudly South African.
Martin Luther King Jr said, and I quote:
As long as there is poverty in the world I can never be rich, even if I have a billion dollars... No individual or nation can stand out boasting of being independent. We are interdependent.
Ons is 17 jaar in die demokrasie, maar die haglike toestande waarin die mense van die platteland woon, is onaanvaarbaar. Dan wil ons trots daarop wees dat ons die beste Grondwet in die wreld het! Die Grondwet kan nie die armes ekonomies bemagtig nie. Die Noord-Kaap se minerale en rykdom word nie aangewend om die inwoners van die provinsie te bemagtig nie; dit is net 'n klein elite groep wat voordeel trek uit die massa minerale van die Noord- Kaap. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[We have been a democracy for 17 years; however, the appalling conditions under which people in the rural areas live are unacceptable. Yet we want to pride ourselves on having the best Constitution in the world! The Constitution cannot empower the poor economically. The minerals and wealth of the Northern Cape are not being utilised to empower the residents of the province; only a small elite group is benefiting from the vast mineral resources in the Northern Cape.]
Let me just say it is high time that we set the racial tags aside and bridge the gap of inequality at all levels. The people of this country are losing sight of the purpose of the struggle. Moral decay is often overlooked as a challenge in developmental phases of community upliftment projects and plans.
Yesterday, at the Human Rights Day celebration, the extent of moral decay was displayed when intolerable abuse was displayed against the Acting Premier of the Western Cape, Patricia De Lille. The failure of President Jacob Zuma to immediately intervene and tell off the crowd has further proved the rate at which the country's moral standards and respect for 21 March has declined. It is a sign that the youth and those who do this do not understand the purpose of the struggle and where it comes from. It is ill-discipline and if any leader in this House agrees with them, it shows the signs, quality and the character of the leaders that agree with rudeness.
The unmanageable crowd of the ANC supporters is a clear indication of ignorance of the country's history and it is downright rude to antagonise someone of Patricia De Lille's stature whose 34 years of involvement in the struggle is well known ... [Time expired.]