Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers and members of this august House, last week the people of South Africa celebrated 16 years of freedom. We all know that this freedom was not free: It was attained because of the relentless, selfless and heroic struggle of our people, supported by the international community.
It is befitting that when we celebrate this freedom, we must not forget the sacrifices of our brothers and sisters on the African continent, who didn't spare life or limb in the attainment of our noble goal of a united, nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.
As the Zulu adage says: Isihlahla asinyelwa. [Don't burn your bridges.]
This simply means that once you have eaten a fruit from a tree, you cannot soil on or damage the tree because you will need its fruit or shade in the future. The wisdom behind this adage is more applicable when we reap the fruit of freedom, which implies more mobility for South African citizens, corporate or private, which was difficult during the years of oppression.
We all know that South Africa is one of the respected countries in the international trade environment because of its competitive products and services. As we ascend and mesmerise the global stage, we must not forget our rules and the people who supported us during the dark days of apartheid. That is why we must take heed of the clarion call of the Freedom Charter, that there shall be peace and friendship in the world. That is why we must continuously struggle for a better South Africa, a better Africa and a better world.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry and the department are in a better position to ensure that there is a better Africa and a better world through a better and equitable global trade regime. This will be achieved through participation in multilateral institutions such as the WTO, AU, SADC and Sacu. The Ministry and the department must continuously strive for the reform of these institutions so that the development agenda will always be a driving force behind these institutions.
The problems of poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment should always be challenged and undermined. The problem of food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa should be addressed by removing the predatory farm subsidies in developed countries, which amounted to US$800 billion in the European economic zone alone in the year 2008.
These agricultural subsidies of the EU are almost equal to the GDP, of South Africa. This shows that the farmers of South Africa will stand little chance of competing equally with the farmers of the developed countries. That is why the Ministry must ensure that the Doha Round of the WTO produces a developmental outcome.
The Ministry must ensure that there is regional integration through harmonisation of policies and trade agreements within the region. That is why the portfolio committee appreciates the bilateral investment treaty between South Africa and Zimbabwe. This treaty promotes investment protection of the citizens of both countries, which will lead to certainty in the trade and investment between the two countries without stifling the policy space of each country.
Regional integration should be strengthened through special development projects in the transport and energy infrastructure. The New Partnership for Africa's Development, Nepad, projects should lead to the integration of an economic community of 700 million people of Africa. In the South-South relations, South Africa will benefit from an economic market of about three billion people.
Since the emerging markets continue to grow at a rate of more than 7% per annum, it is appreciated that free trade agreements are being negotiated with India and China. This will demand that we adopt a developmental approach in tariff negotiations, so that we lower and eliminate the tariffs on those products that will lower the input costs in our industrial value chain. This will also mean that we introduce tariffs where our local industry is threatened by cheap imports. This strategic approach will ensure that our trade policy is determined by our local industrial policy.
To attain this objective of reorganising the world trade order, we should strive to build a developmental state which is democratic, people-driven and people-centred. This can be achieved through the deployment of a new public sector cadre who is alert to the call of high service to the people and has a caring attitude in dealing with the citizens.
It is a great pleasure to note that this new public sector cadre is already deployed in the Department of Trade and Industry. In the past five years, the department was able to get unqualified audit reports from the Auditor- General. This means that the department knows that in the struggle against poverty, the resources commanded by the government might be used effectively and efficiently.
Since the ANC, in its January 8 Statement, called 2010 the year of effective service delivery to the people, we will continue to agitate for the department to maintain the good corporate environment it has created over the years.
The director-general and his staff are to be commended for attaining a 99% rate of budget expenditure in the previous two financial years. This means that the resources deployed by Parliament are reaching the people who deserve it.
In the struggle against corruption and fraud, the department is leading the way because it has achieved 100% compliance with the financial interest disclosure of its senior management. This will go a long way in limiting "tenderpreneurship" and conflicts of interest in the awarding of tenders. The department has also concluded more than 96% of performance agreements with senior management. That is why it is able to get clean audits year after year.
We have noticed that the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office, Cipro, was embroiled in a tender controversy in the previous year. The Auditor-General noticed that there was insider information trading between the successful bidder and the staff of Cipro or the State Information and Technology Agency, Sita, because of similarities in the information of the tenderer and the financial specifications of the tender documents, which were not shared with other bidders.
We, in the ANC, take strong exception to this incident. That is why we support the Ministry and the department in nipping the problem in the bud. We appreciate that the department didn't play to the public gallery; instead, it played by the book. We also appreciate that the whistle blowers were reinstated and protected.
We have noticed that the budget of the department nominally increased by 1%. This effectively means that the budget is lower than the previous year, while the demands of the department have increased, for example: In October the Consumer Protection Act will be implemented; the National Consumer Commission will be expected to have outreach programmes, which will mean that more inspectors must be appointed. Since the implementation of the National Credit Act, debt councillors are expected to help those people who are in serious debt, but it has been observed that some of the debt councillors do not do their work diligently. The National Credit Regulator must ensure uniformity in the sector.
The magistrate's court in Port Elizabeth is to be applauded for its landmark ruling against the credit provider who was reckless in awarding a bond of R350 000 to a pensioner who is 81 years old and could not afford to repay the bond. Let's hope that the credit provider will not pay performance bonuses to the employee who approved this bond.
It is this greed which led to the international financial and economic meltdown in 2008. It is the National Credit Act which cushioned South Africa against the global financial meltdown. That is why Parliament must ensure that entities like the National Credit Tribunal and the National Credit Regulator are well resourced to execute their mandates.
This is in line with the concept of building a developmental state which is people-centred and people-driven. The portfolio committee will agitate for an increased budget allocation for the department, which must be higher than the inflation rate.
With all its shortcomings, the ANC will support the Budget Vote of the Department of Trade and Industry because it remains a viable tool in stimulating better international trade and a better regulatory environment in our domestic economy. The ANC supports the Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]