Chairperson, I thank all hon members for the debate on the Vote. It is a very important engagement in the service of the separation of powers between Parliament and the executive. Your inputs are not only fulfilling the democratic imperative that you hold us accountable for, but also go far in terms of raising issues that we have to respond to, either today or in the course of the financial year, as we will engage from time to time.
We value all your inputs, although some provided entertainment. Our resolve is that whatever you said is based on the understanding that you are as patriotic as all of us. This message goes to all delegates of this House irrespective of the political party which you represent.
Hon delegates, you will realise that the underlying position that informs the way we do things is people-driven. As delegates to this House, from time to time visiting provinces in your programme of Taking Parliament to the People, be assured that we will always be available to you so that the issues that are raised regarding service delivery may also be considered at our level for making follow-ups.
I believe that you will always find peace with this understanding, as it is a reality for all of us that the doctrine and practice of the separation of powers also have a converse part of it, which is power convergence. We are all Members of Parliament and we are representing two organs of one and the same state of South Africa. Our parliamentary liaison officers will always be a link between you and us. The other interesting part of our relationship is that we share a common partner, which is the Public Service Commission. Together we need to go down to the communities and also weld our relationships around common programmes of action. When we go to communities we will also go to those which hon members said represent the past and not the present South Africa. We will go to all of them.
One of the other priority issues which we will pursue is to make sure that we do all we can to facilitate the delivery of services with the view to impact on people's lives giving them first preference, Batho Pele. In his own words the Chairperson of the Public Service Commission, Dr Ralph Mgijima, said in one of the reports that:
Given the complex and multifaceted nature of rural poverty, the required interventions to address rural underdevelopment are also complex, needing to be multisectoral and integrated in nature.
Let us work together, clear in our understanding that we have respective mandates and we are committed to serve the nation according to the oath we signed as individuals in becoming Members of Parliament.
Last week at about 14:45 in the afternoon, I signed a performance agreement with the President of the Republic of South Africa. I committed myself to leading this department differently so that we can realise our outcome of an efficient and development-oriented Public Service.
In conclusion, allow me to thank my support staff, the leadership of the portfolios, the Public Service Commission and the Deputy Minister of the support. I should take this opportunity to announce that whereas we have our Acting Director-General, today, we have taken a decision today to appoint a permanent director-general. As we are speaking I want to indicate that Blake Mosley-Lefatola will resume his duties as DG in no time.
We want to lead by example when we say that we need to fill vacancies as speedily as possible. I take this opportunity to say thank you very much for allowing us to present the Budget Vote. Before I go back, it is important that we thank the Chairperson of the committee, hon Mokgobi. You are right when you say that we were ready when we took over in 1994 because we graduated from the university of wisdom and unity. We were ready then, we are ready now and we will be ready tomorrow.
We are taking a cue from what Samora Machel said - that the struggle is a school of unity. We derived and we drank from that school. That is why we are ready. It is true that we would present quarterly reports and even more than that, but the minimum we are going to do.
Things that Mr Burger said will slightly address some of the things Mr Makhubela and Mr Zulu raised. The Public Service Commission is independent. We want to impress, raise and invite all of you to support the independence of the Public Service Commission. What is happening is that the Public Service Commission is funded through transfer funds from the Department for the Public Service and Administration, DPSA, Vote 11. This is not undermining the independence of the Public Service Commission.
The arrangement before was not the best. We are looking for a final position. The Public Service Commission, as an independent institution appointed by this Parliament, has to be funded according to that. Remember, it was yourselves as Parliament who appointed former Member of Parliament, Professor Kader Asmal, who led a commission, an ad hoc committee, to look at the review of the Chapter 9 institutions including the Chapter 10 institution of the Public Service Commission.
The corporate form of this entity will be finalised in no time. There is no one who is trying to undermine the independence of the Public Service Commission. The Deputy Minister will strengthen the executive responsibility to make sure that the executive oversight is done. This will ensure that government departments respond to the recommendations of the Public Service Commission. Parliament has that responsibility at political oversight level.
Some people say the Public Service Commission does not have teeth; some say it has two sets of teeth - one set with Parliament and the other with the executive. It is up to those of us with whom the teeth reside to sharpen them so that they must bite as we support the Public Service Commission.
Mr Bekker, the time has come for us to remind people, amongst other things, of what Shakespeare said in one of his sonnets titled The Parting, and I quote Michael Drayton:
Since there is no help, come let us kiss and part.
And Shakespeare:
For love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That time has come and we have pronounced that we will do our best to train and expose our public servants in whatever it takes for them to rise to the level, as Mr Makhubele said, of internalising their obligations and service to this country to make sure that the policies that we developed are implemented. If they can't rise to that level, the parting time has arrived. That is the time that we will also call upon Parliament and this House to support us as we deal with these issues.
Baba Zulu, on the issue around the special service unit we indicated, when we pronounced that we are going to create this. During the Public Service Week in June, we are going to pronounce where we stand.
It is true, hon Nesi, that the issue of disability is a very serious issue. I indicated that in March last year we launched guiding principles. We have committed ourselves and the nine steps that we spoke about would be popularised. Next year our priority is to make sure that there is compliance. If there is no compliance, whether in the Eastern Cape or the Western Cape, we will make sure it is there.
The Ministry in the Presidency responsible for performance, monitoring and evaluation monitors governance in the whole of the Republic of South Africa. We don't have any part of this country that is a state on its own. We are part of one state. South Africa is a unitary state. That is what we are going to do. Comrade Chief Whip, we assure you, as we conclude, that when we speak about compliance we mean compliance. We are going to make sure that compliance is there and it is done. South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity. That is what the Constitution says, taking a cue from what the Freedom Charter said that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. When we fill positions, our staffing norms are instructive that the population of your public servants in any area must be reflective of the demographics in that particular area. There is no excuse for that. There is no holy cow. We are going to address all these things.
If I have not commented on any of the things that you said, we should get together at a later stage. At this time it is not possible for me to respond to all of them. We are together to engage on all these issues. We thank you for the time you gave us, Chairperson.
I ntiyiso lowu hanyaka tatana Mugwena leswaku loko hi vulavula hi ku ku fanele ku tirhiwa. Xikombiso xa kahle lexi mi nga ta xi twisisa hi ri ku ta tlurhuka ritshuri ehenhla ka nhloko ya xisiwana. Loko ri nga tlurhuki hinkwerhu hi fanele ku koka kahle naswona yi nga koki onge letin'wana ti pane hi joko xikeyi hikuva yi nga ti tlimba swi nga fanelanga.
Hi kona tanihi Ndzawulo ya Vukorhokeri bya Vaaki na Mafambiselo hi tirha ku fana na vadzambi. Loko hi ku tshinya u nga twi hi kala hi tshinela ekusuhi i ta swi twa kunene. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraphs follows.)
[Mr Mugwena, it is really true when we say that work must be done. A good example that you can understand is that all people must dedicate themselves to hard work to eradicate poverty. If not, we must all join hands and exert the same effort, and not work as individuals.
That is when the Department of Public Service and Administration will come on board as supervisors. When we issue out a warning and there is no compliance, then we will be bound to put tough measures in place.]
Thank you very much.
Debat concluded.