House Chairperson, hon Minister for the Public Service and Administration, hon members of the National Council of Provinces, hon Chairperson and members of the select committee, distinguished guests and fellow South Africans, House Chairperson, I was away from the office and I asked my staff to give me a quotation that I could begin my speech with. I said to them that I'd like to begin the quotation with a quotation from Lenin. I received the speech which says "We all live in a yellow submarine". They misunderstood me and gave me a quotation from John Lenin when I actually meant Vladimir Lenin!
But, I came across a quote from Vladimir Lenin and he has the following to say:
Victory will belong only to those who have faith in the people, those who are immersed in a life-giving spring of popular creativity.
But, I thought I should also share with you, Chairperson, something I came across from Mahatma Gandhi and it applies to all of us here today, and it says that "Whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."
Madam Chairperson, in the old Natal, the arrival of Indians in 1860 marked the beginning of an organised scheme whereby approximately 150 000 Indians arrived to seek gainful employment. While many worked in the sugar fields, others worked on the wattle and tea plantations and in the coal mines. Some came as domestic servants, waiters and house servants and were able to command a respectable salary of just about 20 shillings per month.
These Indians coming from India were to suffer horrific and atrocious experiences at the hands of many minority European leaders at the time. However, as bad as the treatment was, these Indians persevered and made South Africa their home against all odds. For the next 134 years, these very same Indians were to be exposed to some of the most degrading and dehumanising forms of treatment. South Africa, as it was then, was certainly not welcoming to these compatriots from India and the subcontinent. It was only years and years after that and more so after the democratic breakthrough of 1994 that ushered in a prosperous dispensation that made South Africa truly a home for all South Africans.
Our country has traversed a long journey to where we are today. Whilst we still carry with us the painful imprints of our past coming from our different backgrounds, today we are a nation and a peace-loving people, steadfastly committed to constructing a new future based on unity, equality, respect for each other and tolerance for others' rights and our national diversity.
The Republic of South Africa, born 16 years ago, is a firm negation of the racist chauvinism that was the order of the day back then; and the resolute affirmation of the historic vision that South Africa, indeed, belongs to all who live in it, black and white.
The Ministry for the Public Service and Administration, which has the honour to present its Budget Vote to you today, is part of this vision, determines that we shall do all we can to affirm all our people's yearnings to belong to a common nation, share a common identity and toil towards a common future.
We remain resolute in our commitment to never allow public administrations ever again to be used in schemes to divide and serve only segments of our South African people, but certainly to be part of the broad movement to affirm our people's common and shared values and beliefs. Madam Chair, it is an honour and a privilege to have been placed in this department that is so central to the question of service delivery for our nation. It is also a huge responsibility that is never more keenly felt than when service delivery protest erupts, and ordinary people voice their displeasure with the lack of service delivery.
My role is to support the Minister as he leads our collective effort to achieve the objective as outlined in our legislation. In support of that role, there are a few priorities that I wish to emphasise here today in support of the Budget Vote of the department: Firstly, there is the need for us to build the capacity of the state to deliver on our promises of a better life for all.
Secondly, we have to review the governance arrangements within the three spheres of government which align themselves effectively and efficiently to deliver on our mandate to the people.
Thirdly, there is the need to better harness the power of technology to support our efforts to modernise the way we do our business as government.
The ANC was elected in 2009 on the back of the Together We Can Do More campaign.
There is increasing frustration at the general slow pace of delivery, poor quality, high costs and lack of speedy responsiveness of government to the challenges of our citizens. This frustration is felt across the spectrum of South African society, particularly amongst the urban and rural poor. Whatever the reasons, be it housing, sanitation, unemployment or desperation, service delivery protests are symptomatic of the challenges that we face as a nation and as government.
The South African public currently lacks a well-performing Public Service. Only 58% of our population is satisfied with the services delivered. Historically, satisfaction rates have been as high as 81% in 2004; and since then there has been a steady decline in public opinion towards the current satisfaction levels of 58% in 2009.
Indeed, there are several factors, which many of you will be familiar with, that account for this perception by the public. Some of you have mentioned the persistent underperformance by management in the Public Service; dysfunctional and ineffective back office systems; and slow bureaucratic decision-making processes that are amongst many other reasons that advocated as to why this service is perceived as being poor.
All of these, ladies and gentlemen, are undermining the capacity of the South African state and in turn has reduced its capacity to be an effective instrument of service to the people. But the key question must be: What are we going to do to fix these problems?
In his state of the nation address, President Zuma reaffirmed that the South African government's commitment to the vision of an inclusive society is that South Africa belongs to the entire nation, united in its diversity and the people working together for the greater good and benefit of all. The South African Constitution emphasises that the priority of the state is to advance human rights and freedom within a nonracial and nonsexist framework in which the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law must prevail.
Guided by the principle of the Freedom Charter, as you all have enunciated here today, South Africa certainly belongs to all who live in it, with the promotion of a democratic government based on the will of the people. Government committed itself to build a developmental state that will address the socioeconomic challenges in eradication of poverty and the need to create this better life for all.
The development state is thus an effort by the government to build a nation; to eradicate poverty; promote literacy; and provide health and decent education as well as grow the economy in a manner that must ensure that people are not left out, but are certainly fully participating and are included as part of the solution to the problems. In declaring this year, 2010, as the year of action, our President reminds us that there is no time for schism, no time for excuses and no time for complacency and the lack of deistical delivery of services. We are further reminded that there shall also be no time to claim easy victories and tell any lies.
Ladies and gentlemen, South Africa's next revolution must, therefore, be to get the democratic states working more effectively and efficiently.