Chairperson, thank you very much. I would like to start off where my colleague the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs ended in his reply, and that was that the executive, and I think all of us, should at the beginning of a new term pause and ask ourselves the question: Why do we have an NCOP in this country? It is a very important question. The NCOP is not a "House of Lords", simply with powers to review. It is a very important part of our parliamentary process, with regional powers, derived from the Constitution, and I think there rests on us as the executive, apart from all the other stakeholders, a special responsibility to respect the NCOP. I would like to assure this House, but also the two Chairpersons, that that is what they can expect from the Department of Tourism. But I am also reporting back, or replying, on behalf of the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, and I am quite sure I speak on her behalf as well.
Let me quickly deal with some of the issues in the limited time I have. Issues that were raised by the chairperson, Mr Gamede, were the issue of consultants, management generally in the departments, and financial management. On the issue of consultants, I would like to assure the chairperson and this House that our department will report back to the select committee and this House. I personally feel very strongly that we cannot simply continue as government to appoint consultants when we have staff we pay to do the job that they should be doing. If we appoint consultants, it must be for a limited time, it must be to do a specific job, it must be measurable, and then it must end. And the work must be done by the department. So consultants must be used wisely. I agree with that sentiment, and our department will certainly report back to the select committee on this issue.
On the question of financial management, I would like to report back to this House that the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, which will now be split into different parts and merged with other departments, had a clean audit for the past few years. It is something that I personally am proud of. We had one this past year again, and it is something that I would like to continue in the new Department of Tourism.
There was one problematic area, and that was the Marine Living Resources Fund, the MLRF. From 2002 until about 2004-05, under the previous management, no financial statements were even submitted. We, the previous management in this department, intervened, and turned it around. I gave that undertaking in this House and moved from a situation where no financial statements were tabled, through a year or two of disclaimers, to an unqualified report in 2007-08, and I would like to report back to this House that we also expect an unqualified report for 2008-09.
Then on the issue of transformation in tourism, raised by the chairperson and other members, the codes of good practice have just been gazetted, and this means that all the different parts of the industry that will enter into contracts with the government will now know that those contracts are legally binding.
The hon chairperson remarked on the slow pace of transformation. Over the past two or three years, we have seen some major empowerment deals announced by the big companies, but we still have a challenge with regard to the small, medium and micro enterprises, SMMEs. This is because much of this industry is owned by families. So when measuring transformation, we should not only measure ownership, but the other six elements of transformation as well: procurement, social investment, and all the other elements. But we would like to have that kind of discussion with the select committee, because it is something that we are acutely aware of, and also dealing with and managing.
On the issue of access for people with disabilities, the different associations representing the disability sector had a meeting with me three years ago. We met with the grading council and the other public entities and SA Tourism. What has happened since is that for five-star establishments it is now a requirement to have access for people with disabilities. But let us say to each other that it is not yet enough. We are continuing that discussion on how we should integrate that requirement into the grading system to ensure that it becomes more widely applied.
The hon member Adams raised the issue of Pieter from the Cape Flats, who should know what he can achieve, and what kind of assistance he can get from government. I mentioned in my introduction that just over the past few years we have effected transactions of up to R4 billion from the tourism enterprise programme, just over 5 500 transactions. But my impression is that people are still not yet aware of the services, of the support structure, that we have available from the side of government, and we must certainly make sure that we continue to get that message out.
On the Confederations Cup, I think all of us took note this morning that Mr Blatter, the president of Fifa, said he gave South Africa seven and a half out of ten for the Confederations Cup, and that he was full of confidence that we would be able to host a good World Cup next year. Now I think we can be a little bit self-congratulatory, because there were so many prophets of doom who said: "Well, South Africa will not even be able to host the Confederations Cup." We surprised all of them, but seven and a half is not good enough for us. We want ten out of ten. So we take note of the problems that were experienced with transport, and with accommodation in some areas. I must just say here that I am confident that we will not see a repeat of those same problems next year.
One of those areas was Bloemfontein - there are people here from the Free State. And in Bloemfontein, next year, we shall have available all the hostels from the university, we shall have available the satellite accommodation in other towns, and special flights to Bloemfontein on the day of the matches, so I think we shall deal with that.
But let us also say to one another as South Africans, colleagues, we cannot build infrastructure and hotels in this country that we will not be able to use after 2010. Remember, in Korea they built infrastructure that they had to demolish after their World Cup. And as a developing country, and as government, we cannot now say to people, build new infrastructure and hotels and after 2010 there is nobody to use it. Then we would be wasting money that we should rather use more wisely for housing and other areas.
Let me deal with the issues on behalf of the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs. There are two issues there. The issue of air quality was raised, as well as the issue of climate change.
The chairperson of the other select committee raised an issue regarding air quality. The department has just reviewed the permits of the biggest polluters in the country. They are responsible for 80% of the pollution. I am quite sure that the new department under Minister Sonjica will now take action on the basis of that review.
The Vaal Triangle and the Highveld area have been declared hotspots with special measures to start dealing with the pollution there. The department also announced that 18 ambient air quality monitoring stations have been introduced. They are in operation already, and they will assist us to ensure that the new legislation that all of us passed in 2004 will be phased in properly and come into effect properly.
Then on the issue of climate change which the hon member Worth and other hon members mentioned, members here may be aware that Cabinet adopted the long-term mitigation strategy, certain measures that we as government have to start taking. What some of the colleagues reminded us of today is true. We have to deal with our carbon footprint, and we have to look at more sustainable forms of energy. That is why the President announced that there will be a new department of energy, which will have as one of its key functions dealing with this challenge of sustainable and renewable energy.
Chairperson, let me conclude on a very collegial note, with the issue of an alternative government that the hon member Sinclair raised here at the beginning. I must say it is quite refreshing to hear some political parties starting to refer, as the hon chairperson Mr Gamede said, to themselves not only as opposition parties, but also as alternative governments. It is really quite refreshing.
But it reminded me of a story regarding Henry Kissinger, who was probably the most famous United States secretary of state responsible for foreign affairs. Somebody asked him, "Mr Secretary of State, why don't you consult more with Europe? The United States is no longer the only superpower. Now that all these European states are coming together to form the European Union, you must really consult with them." Mr Kissinger said: "You know, it's very difficult, because when I have to speak to Germany, I know exactly who to phone. If I have to speak to China, I know who to phone. But when I want to speak to the EU, who do I phone?" Now, when President Zuma wants to speak to the ID, he knows exactly who to phone. When he wants to speak to the DA, he knows he must probably phone Mrs Zille. But if he wants to speak to Cope, who does he phone? [Laughter.]
I think if you are an alternative government, you must first decide if you have a leader, and who that leader is. So, I think, Chairperson, the benefit of that is that either Mr Bloem or Mr Sinclair can get a phone call from President Zuma. [Interjections.] I thank you. [Applause.]