Thank you very much, hon Chairperson. I nearly offered a few minutes of my time to the Minister, but I wasn't given that opportunity.
Okokuqala, Sihlalo, mangibongele uNgqongqoshe umhlonishwa uDokotela uRob Davies, ngokuqokelwa kulesi sikhundla asiqhoqhobele. Ngiphinde ngibongele abahlonishwa Amaphini oNgqongqoshe uThandi Tobias-Pokolo, kanye noMama uB M Ntuli owaziwa ngelikaMaNtuli, ngokukhethelwa kulezi zikhundla. Ukuqokwa kwabo kukhombisa ukuthi abantu besifazane banalo ikhono lokuhola nokuphatha izikhundla. Hayi njengoba sibona lapha eNtshonalanga Kapa lapho kwenzeke ezinye izinto.
Sihlalo, inhloso yaloMnyango ukuhola nokwenza isimo sokuhweba sibe sihle; ukushintsha isimo sezomnotho; ukukhulisa umnotho nokwenza ukulingana ekutholeni amathuba kwezomnotho kanye nokwakha amathuba omsebenzi. Siyazi futhi Sihlalo, ukuthi lo Mnyango unezinhlangano ezaziwa ngegama elithi agencies ezicishe zibe ngama-20 okufanele ukuthi zisize lo Mnyango ekwenzeni umsebenzi obekelwe wona. Ezinye zalezi zinhlaka zisebenza kahle kanti ezinye kunemibuzo ngazo futhi imibuzo ehlukahlukene. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, firstly, I would like to congratulate the hon Minister Dr Rob Davies for being elected to this position. Again, I would like to congratulate the hon Deputy Ministers, hon Thandi Tobias-Pokolo and hon B M Ntuli, also known as MaNtuli, for being elected to these positions. Their election shows that women are capable of serving in leadership and administrative positions, unlike what we see here in the Western Cape, where this is not the case.
Chairperson, the aim of this department is to administer and make the trading state better, to overturn the economic state, promote economic growth, as well as equity with regard to economic opportunities and job creation. Chairperson, we know that this department has organisations known as agencies, approximately 20 in total, which will assist this department to deliver what is expected of it. Some of these structures are working very well, but there are different questions about others.]
Chairperson, as a committee we will deal specifically with different subprogrammes and other committee members will be dealing with the specifics. However, as a committee we have identified certain issues that we feel the Minister needs to attend to. I will mention a few issues that the committee feels needs the Minister's urgent attention.
The first would be the tool to project performance and outcomes, especially on the contribution of decent job creation, as the President announced that we need to create 500 000 jobs by the end of this year. Secondly, we need a speedy integration of work, especially amongst agencies such as Khula, the Small Enterprise Development Agency, Seda, and the National Empowerment Fund; for instance, in KwaZulu-Natal you might have them maybe in one building or one block so as to assist communities. And thirdly, there should be a clear training and retention strategy for staff as a future investment.
One of the provisions of the Freedom Charter is that "The people shall share in the country's wealth!" In today's language we would be talking about BBBEE, the advancement of the SMMEs and co-operatives. I am happy that the Minister has mentioned and identified the challenge that is on the development and assistance of the co-operatives, except in KwaZulu-Natal where they have a framework for co-operatives.
I wish to quote what was said by the former President of Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere: "We committed two basic mistakes in Tanzania." I will not mention the first one because it is not relevant to this debate. The second one, he said, was that -
We abolished the co-operative movement. During the process of the liberation struggle, we had built up a strong co-operative movement as our economic powerbase. That was our worst mistake.
Now, this further emphasises the need to move with speed with co- operatives. Hon Minister, we notice that in the MTEF budget, the expanding electronic diversity has decreased for the years 2010-11, while we still have to address the imbalances of the past. Are we really going to be up to this challenge with this budget?
There was also a commitment in 2007 that employment creation in small businesses would be further supported through the creation of 15 or more small business incubators countrywide; where are we on that? Where are we on trying to develop the rural areas such as Gingindlovu, Nongoma, Msinga, Nkandla, Maphumulo and even Ulundi?
One of the key areas of focus for this department is industrial development. In KwaZulu-Natal there is the Richards Bay IDZ. This IDZ has not reached its potential. The people of KwaZulu-Natal are hoping to hear that there will be a deliberate focus on it this time around. Noting the international economic meltdown, in his state of the nation address, President Zuma said that the Industrial Development Corporation has developed programmes to fund companies in distress. The question is: How far are we on this? Because some companies have closed in KwaZulu- Natal, Mandeni, Richards Bay, the Eastern Cape, Whittlesea in King Williams Town, Butterworth and East London. How far are we even in other areas in trying to assist them to have industries? How far are we with developing the industrial policy action and when are we likely to implement this action plan?
Another challenge has been the use of more consultants, especially by other agencies such as Khula, Seda or any other agency. This tends to stretch the turnaround time and delays delivery. One community member visited me in my constituency and said that he has been waiting for about 18 months for a business plan. Even though he had submitted the business plan, he was told by Seda that they will get someone to do a business plan and that has taken 18 months.
We noted as a department that we have a good strategy. We have a good policy and we have good laws and the Minister has alluded to that, but we have a challenge in the implementation.
Before I conclude, I would appreciate it if you would share with this House the progress, though you have touched a little on the World Trade Organisation, WTO, and the Doha Round negotiations. We are confident that the political leadership of this department is equal to any task and that during your leadership rural areas will benefit more.
I have already invited the Deputy Minister, uMaNtuli, to my constituency when there was a briefing, while going around to the izimbizo, so that rural areas can also get services. We would also like to thank the officials from the department. We have engaged with them and we will continue to do our oversight role vigorously.
I wouldn't be doing the matter justice if I did not remind members that we should all remember Nelson Mandela Day. Nelson Mandela went around South Africa saying the same thing over and over again. At every turn he emphasised in words and actions the importance of the ANC's ideal of non- racialism and reconciliation. To prove that, he had tea with Betsie Verwoerd, wife of apartheid architect, Hendrik Verwoerd. [Time expired.] [Applause.]