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24 Apr, 2015
Statement By The President Of The Republic On The Violence In Kwazulu-natal
Address Mr BH Holomisa MP in the National Assembly Hon Speaker and members A country with high levels of poverty, high unemployment rate, high levels of inequality, blended with leadership whose attention is on filling their pockets through corrupt activities, breeds all social evils including criminality. Compounding the situation is that the African Agenda we were once known to be its champions, has taken a back seat. We must agree that, indeed the violence we see today in KZN with a potential to spread to other provinces can be best described as recklessness, inhumane, barbaric and criminal. This debate must immensely contribute to the stoppage of this inhumanity in the history of our democracy. We must also acknowledge that the levels of lawlessness in this country are increasing daily, this has to come to a stop, if we are to redeem our image and attract investors as a country. To respond and address this situation a number of things needs to be done immediately; amongst are the following: • An immediate Presidential visit to the Kingdom of the Zulu nation has to done immediately after this house concludes this debate to share with the King the spirit of the house on this important matter. (Nxamalala ndikulungele ukuhamba nawe siyo Phunga ne Silo Samabandla) • We must contain the current situation in KZN by amongst others enforce the law to the fullest. Such a step must communicate to all, that South Africa is not a lawless society. • The state of our intelligence services requires urgent attention because these activities should have been detected before their occurrence. • Special police units as well as special courts to deal with incidents of sporadic lawlessness must be established nationally. • A comprehensive audit must be conducted on foreigners already in our country, what are they doing where, how and with whom are they engage in those activities. This will help to expose those who are in the country for wrong reasons like corrupt activities including drug and human trafficking. • The poor and slack labour relations regime with regard to foreigners within our labour market needs and urgent review. Included to this is to ensure that those who trade, do so in accordance with the applicable laws of the country. • Aggressively reduce unemployment by amongst others, create more entrepreneurs on soft skills to run small business in the township, salons, small shops, car washes and others. Target young people in particular, train them in these areas and providing seed funding and support to run sustainable business. • Build a sense of responsibility and collectivism amongst the people, motivate them to move away from hand out syndrome into action for their livelihood. • Implement a civic education programme on Africanism targeting young people in-particular to change attitudes towards other Africans and citizens of the world. • We must revisit our policies on people entering and leaving South Africa to ensure full control of our borders. In the words of Kwame Krumah, “Africa must Unite”. I thank you
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04 Nov, 2014
Debate: Development Bank of Southern Africa Amendment Bill (DBSA)
Speaker and Honourable Members, The UDM supports the Bill. We support the extension of the mandate of the Development Bank of Southern Africa to provide infrastructure development finance to key infrastructure sectors, such as water and sanitation, energy, transport, education, health and ICT beyond the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), that is, to the rest of the African continent. This step will in our view go a long way towards enhancing trade, economic growth and development on the continent. There are however several areas of concern to consider. First, there have been many instances in the past, where the work of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Land Bank clashed with the mandate of DBSA. As already indicated earlier, there is potential for the mandate of DBSA to clash and overlap with that of the African Development Bank. Therefore, more effort needs to be put into refocusing the mandate of all these institutions in order to ensure value for money and to prevent a wastage of government resources that results from duplication of work. Second, a large chunk of DBSA’s disbursements go to municipalities. It therefore follows that, while it is prudent not to amend the Act in order to allow for representation of local government or other “interest group” – as the Committee aptly put it, we cannot overemphasise the importance of DBSA forging close relationships with municipalities, as they are its biggest clients. Third, the increase in authorised share capital is welcome. We however hope that by not identifying certain areas of focus on the continent, we are not stretching ourselves too thin. By biting more than we can chew we run the risk of DBSA not being effective in its infrastructure development programme in South Africa and the continent. Even worse it might find itself encountering financial difficulties in future. Thank you
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18 Sep, 2014
Motion of no confidence in the Speaker of the National Assembly: Baleka Mbete
by Bantu Holomisa in the National Assembly Honourable Deputy-Chairperson Honourable Deputy President Honourable Ministers and Deputy-Ministers Honourable Members The United Democratic Movement (UDM) endorses the motion of no confidence in the current Speaker, Baleka Mbete, on grounds already presented in this house. Before she was elected into office, the Speaker is on record distorting and attacking outcomes of the Public Protector’s investigations on Nkandla. This distortion and attack has since been sustained by the organisation she presides over as its National Chairperson. In this regard, her objectivity on the work of the parliamentary committee considering this matter is highly questionable and may compromise the independence of this house. Irrespective of the outcome of this process, today, surely we can all agree that there is a great and urgent need to evaluate whether parliament has been discharging its mandate over the last 20 years in accordance with the principles of inclusive participatory democracy. Where so required, make such necessary changes to give effect to a democratically managed people’s parliament. Accordingly, the UDM will write to the Ethics Committee of this house to cause the current speaker to explain her alleged involvement and role in the Goldfields saga. In the same vein, we will seek to get clarity on whether the current speaker is remunerated in accordance with the package she got when she resigned as the Deputy President of the Republic or whether in addition to the package granted, she further enjoys speaker’s package. I thank you
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11 Sep, 2014
High incidence of violence and abuse against women and children
Address by Ms CN Majeke MP in the National Assembly regarding the high incidence of violence and abuse against women and children Hon Speaker, and Honourable Members Twenty years into our democracy, our women and children continue to be victims of gender and child abuse. We still need a radical social paradigm shift about gender – equality that should usher in a new generation of women and men working together to create a human world order that is safe for our children. The numbers reported daily through the media of the various forms of violence against children and women; continue to escalate even during campaigns when the nation is giving specific focus to these vulnerable groups in society. Despite successful battles by women, securing many basic rights, many of which have since been legislated including the rights of children yet in the private sphere of women and children, in their homes, abuse and inequality remains a battle to be fought collectively. Research by a non-government organisation Community Agency for Social Enquiry states that causes for this situation can range from “personal experiences of abuse and the impact of dysfunctional families, to broader social factors such as high levels of poverty, the acceptance of violence in society, unequal gender relations, the disintegration of family life, certain cultural traditions and substance abuse”. Whilst efforts to educate women and society at large about the rights of women and children and the responsibility of all citizens with respect to ensuring that such rights and legislations are respected and adhered to, many women remain unaware of their rights. Some women are afraid of further and increased violence from perpetrators if they were to report to the SAPS their situation they find themselves in their private homes. There are institutions created by the Constitution and various other legislations to attend to violence against women and children, however, the geographic locations limits physical access to them and their programmes for rural women and children who are hit hard by violence. Some of these do not have free call centres or lines that run 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Certainly, as a nation, we have a responsibility and duty, to unite against the violence and abuse of women and children. We also need to pay more and special attention to the women and children in villages, farms and informal settlements. We must as well give sufficient attention to women and children with handicapped, because they suffer double jeopardy. The fight against violence and abuse of women and children demands that a zero-tolerance system to punish, deter and rehabilitate offenders whilst supporting and restoring dignity and justice to victims. We must move with speed to eliminate all obstacles that limit women’s access to wealth creation, Thank you
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04 Sep, 2014
Statement by the Minister of Finance on retirement fund rumours
Address by Mr NL Kwankwa, MP in the National Assembly Hon Speaker and honourable Members Savings and Investment are critical tools for a sustainable economic development and improvement of conditions of life of all nations. The reported shift from the panic “I can’t afford the cost of living” to action; cutting back on spending and paying down or avoiding debts and invest more, is a positive development, however, it is enabling few from urban and historical advantaged citizens. Each year, a certain percentage of households confirm to be earning more than the previous year, yet this is not directly translated into equal percentage increase on savings and investments instead increases the level and margins of daily consumption. Old Mutual Saving Monitor reported in July 2012, that there is a decrease in informal saving yet such has not resulted to any significant swing in favour of a particular type of saving. Further, this report showed that South Africans saving and investment were recorded in 2014 as follows: • 37% Life assurance / death and disability covers; • 24% Retirement Annuity; • 57% Pension/Provident Fund; • 27% Education; • 72% Funeral policy / plan and • 34% No formal retirement savings Facts are that, most people are saving for lavish funerals than life after formal employment and this affects mainly the historically disadvantaged citizens. This trend, if left as is, will certainly result to increase of citizens who retire to be beneficiaries of government grants. Accordingly, any attempts by government and the people of South Africa to intervene and ensure improvement in terms of savings and investment calls for our collective support as this house. Further, and in particular for those in the dark about the importance of a saving and investing nation more investment by government on education and education is one of the tools to be used to turn around the situation. We must as a nation and deliberately resist the temptation to expand the margins of the state security bracket. I thank you
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02 Sep, 2014
Speech in the national assembly on the subject of rhino poaching and its impact on our heritage
Address by Mr BH Holomisa, MP Honourable Speaker Honourable Members The poaching of rhino in South Africa is currently taking its toll on one of the most lucrative sectors, namely heritage tourism. The destruction of our heritage and unsustainable resource consumption results to lose of employment opportunities. In terms of statistical evidence, periodically released by various local and global institutions, indications are that we are losing the battle against rhino poaching. These statistics confirms that it is not well and that we have a national crisis. It further embarrasses the nation when such act of criminality, cruelty against animals and the threat to sustainability of our heritage is done with concurrence of some officials in collaboration with criminals. The question that we must ask ourselves as people of South Africa, is whether as a country concerned with future economic growth and its heritage, are giving due consideration to the actual economic value of these animals. It is reported that, involved in these acts is amongst others; South African citizens and one or more neighbouring countries. Whilst, we commend the department of environmental affairs and all citizens for their efforts in confronting this matter; a further decisive intervention will be for the South African President to engage the Heads of the relevant countries and bring and immediate end to rhino poaching.
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29 Aug, 2014
Eastern Cape: Education budget vote – Speech by the Honourable Mpulu in the Eastern Cape Legislature
• Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker • Honourable Premier and the Executive • Honourable members of the legislature • Officials present here • Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen Honourable Speaker I wish to indicate that I have observed a defeatist image in the Department of Education, but when you come close you can see that there are greater strides achieved both politically and administratively. We were at time of celebrating stability and progress in this department until we were informed that the head of department was suspended. There are four institutions in South Africa that you always avoid if you still love your career; it is SAFA, SABC, department education and department of health in the Eastern Cape. Honourable speaker it is a known fact that every effective and performing organisation needs permanency, those who are charged by acting responsibility have no full mandate because they themselves operate under as induced cloud, first they must prove to their predecessors that they have not always being eyeing their jobs so they would not want to make drastic action to tamper with their legacy lest they come become with venom. But the dichotomy is that they don’t want to rock the boat for the incumbent and that creates a state of vacillation. We are particularly not please by the lack permanency in the department, we wish to appeal to the MEC that post needs to filled with speed notwithstanding the pending matters in terms of labour relations. Honourable Speaker the second issue that we are keen to raise is that this department must be given space to focus on its core business, it is not pleasing to discover that some of the problems are logistically problems that relates to education such as the construction of schools. The non-payment of teachers remain to be sour point in this department, we are projecting the people in government yet our people are suffering under their watch and the sad part about the whole situation is the fact this perennial issues are issues that we have control over but teachers who have served with their sweat can look back and enjoy their retirement and the department put on the health and some might die if before they see their monies. What is more frustrating Honourable speaker is the non-payment of teachers in budgeted post, where get employed and months pass without remuneration. This cannot accepted at all. Honourable Speaker I might have missed this issue of rural allowance and I notice there little mention if any. The UDM is particular interest in whether this issues do have a positive impact in attracting good teachers in the rural areas. The UDM welcomes the EPWP programme that is geared towards ensuring that the education sector contributes to job creation, however Honourable Speaker we think that a more comprehensive approach could be implemented to make sure that these opportunities can be sustained even when the EPWP coffers dries up. We wish to call upon the department to rethink the strategic intervention of these jobs. They cannot be left in the manner where the department has allocated because have a potential to be a sour point in the school.
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26 Aug, 2014
UDM on Provision of water and sanitation to our people and elimination of the bucket system
Address by Mr LB Gaehler MP in the National Council of Provinces in the debate on Local Government: “Moving with utmost speed to provide water and sanitation to our people and eliminate the bucket system” Honourable Chairperson Honourable Members The United Democratic Movement (UDM) supports attempts by government to increase the speed at which the restoration of people’s dignity by amongst others providing quality, clean water to the people and quality sanitation and eradication of the remaining bucket toilets in our communities. Surely we can’t afford to always shift the target on this matter as it borders on constitutional rights. The 2012 Fourth Quarter Statistic South Africa Report, revised in October 2013 and released in May 2014, reveals amongst others, the following important information on this subject. • Out of 90.8% of South African households with access to piped water in 2012, only 79% of Eastern Cape households enjoyed such access. Although, we agree that this is an improvement compared with 56.3% of 2002, this gap affects more the most vulnerable and impoverish rural citizens and further expose them to other opportunistic deceases when the health systems is also in a state of collapse. There delayed intervention in this regards has multiple other social and economic consequences. • Nationally, 60.1% of households rated the quality of water-related services they received as ‘good’. However, this satisfaction rate is lower than the 76.4% recorded in 2005. Residents of Free State, Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape are reported to have consistently been least satisfied with the quality of water. Once again, the poor quality of water has adverse consequences for the social and economic wellbeing of the people and in particular rural citizens of the mentioned provinces. • The percentage of households with no toilets or bucket toilets decreased from 12, 3% in 2002 to 5, 3% in 2012. Households in the Eastern Cape accounts for 13, 4%, Mpumalanga (6, 4%) and Limpopo (6, 3%) were reported to be most likely to lack access to toilet facilities or to still use bucket toilets. The former, Minister of Human Settlement in her response to the Human Rights Commission report on Water and Sanitation in March 2014 said, “as government we have tirelessly worked in our quest to restore our people’s dignity, through, amongst other things, the Bucket Eradication Programme…..phase one of BEP will see the eradication of buckets in formalised townships of the Free State, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape. ….these provinces have the highest volume of bucket toilets….phase two will ensure the eradication of buckets in each of the South Africa’s nine provinces”. These commitments, Madam Chairperson, must at all times guide government commitment to the restoration of people’s dignity. At the centre of this programme is the immediate attention to be given to water and sanitation infrastructure in terms provision, upgrading and of regular maintenance. In some instances you have taps in communities where there is not a drop of water. The current sanitation infrastructure crisis confronting the ordinary citizens of Makana Local Municipality as well as the reported water infrastructure syndicate in KZN must receive an immediate attention and intervention as they are but just a tip of an iceberg on what maybe a greater challenge in an attempt to move with speed and provide water and sanitation to the people and in particular the rural poor. This infrastructure improvement and maintenance must be designed such that they also create local job opportunities and skills development. If deliberately, skills are developed and transferred to local people, then maintenance of water generators and other related matters can be transferred to ownership of local people. This approach will also ensure effective and direct democratic participation of citizens at local level.
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20 Aug, 2014
National Women’s Day debate in National Assembly
Address by Ms CN Majeke, MP, in the National Assembly Honourable Speaker, Mr President Mr Deputy President Ministers and Deputy Ministers Honourable Members The United Democratic Movement (UDM) joins the millions of citizens of this country and the world to pay tribute to the women of South Africa for the central role they continue to play in liberating this country. These heroines acted as a conscious and formidable force of the liberation struggle, some even sacrificing their lives for freedom. Accordingly, any process which undermines the emancipation of women is fundamentally hostile to the objectives of a non-racial and non-sexist South Africa. In this regard and as this parliament, together with the people of South Africa, it is important to answer the question whether we have made and continue to make progress with regard to the emancipation and empowerment of women. We must continuously measure the progress we make in this area so that we can determine what we should do next. There is no doubt that some progress has been made on women emancipation and empowerment particularly in the public sector. On this important day that celebrates our heroines, we make a call on the corporate world to meaningfully join the movement towards a non-sexist society. Certainly, it is not possible to realise our full economic potential with women on the margins of economic development agenda and process. Honarble Speaker, the empowerment of women does not only relate to high positions in the public and private sectors. It must amongst others, entail that, the ordinary women in the rural areas are freed from the daily arduous and back breaking task of walking long distance to fetch wood and carry river water. The ordinary rural women should be freed from abusive stereotypical cultural practices that undermine their humanity and freedom. Emancipation must mean that we make the necessary progress to arm women with education, skills and information so that they can participate meaningfully in the economic and social development opportunities that are available to them. Government should, amongst others, strengthen its tender processes so that through its interventions, visible change in the lives of ordinary South African women are seen. Both the public and private sectors should source their services and products from women-owned and managed businesses, taking the necessary measures to promote, mentor and empower such business women. The commitment by government to “buy local” must deliberately favour women. Government must engage both trade unions and employers to act together to bring to an end the continuing sexual abuse of women in the work place as well as those seeking employment. Women’s right must be protected if we are to decisively move towards a non-racial and non-sexist South Africa. As this parliament and the nation, we have a responsibility and duty, to unite against the barbaric acts of rape and abuse of women and children. We must ask ourselves, what has happened to Ubuntu when these inhuman things happen. We should not shirk our responsibility and ignore the abuse of women and children on the basis that it is the task of police to deal with these matters. We must decisively discharge our responsibilities within the confines of law. We also need to pay more attention to the challenge of gender and disability, because women with disabilities face a double jeopardy which applies to those young and old. This is important because we sometimes find that women with disabilities are open to more abuse than other women. The task of women empowerment and emancipation demands that South Africans work together. Indeed by doing all these things together, we will perfectly celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Women’s Charter and twenty years of freedom whilst moving towards a non-racial and non-sexist South Africa. Thank you
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19 Aug, 2014
Solidarity with the Cuban Five and demanding for the release and freedom of the remaining four of the Cuban Five
Address by Mr ML Filtane, MP in the National Assembly Honourable Speaker and Members The United Democratic Movement believes in productive engagement with all people of the world to improve the prospects for peace, cultural enrichment and economic well being of the people both here at home and anywhere in the globe. Further, we strongly believe in the vital importance of the United Nations and its constituent bodies in the creation of a new world order and the aspiration of mankind. A new world order that recognises all member states equally not what is currently prevailing, where there are member states who enjoys more power than others. In this regard, the UDM will enthusiastically support the United Nations and its agencies and will fully move for full cooperation with such bodies in pursuance of a regional and world peace and the elimination of social and economic inequalities and eradication of human rights violations which continue to degrade the quality of life of the majority of the world population. Our international relations must foster for the respect for, and the promotion of, universal human rights, justice and democracy. Accordingly, UDM supports and joins over 350 communities that have been established throughout the world demanding immediate freedom for Gerardo, Ramon, Antonio and Fernando. We hope Rene is really free and enjoying his freedom with his family and people of Cuba. This is further made urgent by the decision of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, whose five judges, ruled in May 2005 that there were irregularities in the five’s trial, effectively denying them a fair trial. The working group, in its only decision regarding a trial in the United States, calls for the United States government to remedy the injustice. The only way is to release the four Cubans who remain in custody. We believe that their freedom will not depend only on the arduous work of their legal team in the legal front but just as importantly, on the public support including that of this house representing the citizens of our country. Our resolution here today will add to many other parliamentarians including those from Britain, Italy, Europe and Latin America. We also call on the government of the United States of America to lead by example on democracy and violation of human rights. Thank you.
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19 Aug, 2014
Member’s statement: Taxi industry
Mr ML Filtane, MP in the National Assembly Honourable Speaker Honourable Members, Noting that in the year 2000, there were approximately 126 000 taxi vehicles operating in South Africa that were ten years old and not fit for public transport. Since the inception of the taxi recapitalisation programme in October 2006, a total of 59 029 old taxi vehicles had been scrapped with 7 060 of these from the Eastern Cape. We further note that, this industry remains one of the greatest challenges of our public transport system that requires regular and close attention of government. Noting that, amongst many challenges confronting the taxi industry, it has to compete against government subsidised buses and the unregulated hitch-hiking resulting to harassment of innocent travellers and sometimes death. We therefore suggest that an in depth investigation be conducted into the status of the taxi industry including the factors that contributed to the non-conclusion of the recapitalisation programme. We further suggest that such an investigation should include the possibility of the regulation of hitch-hiking as well as support of this industry. I thank you.
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19 Aug, 2014
Condolences upon the passing away of Dr Mario Gaspare Oriani-Ambrosini
delivered on behalf of the UDM by Ms Majeke, MP in the National Assembly Honourable Speaker Honourable Members The United Democratic Movement (UDM) expresses its sadness with the passing away of Dr Oriani-Ambrosini. We would like to pass our deepest condolences to his family, the leader of IFP, Prince Bhuthelezi, MP, his friends and comrades. Leaders are born, live and die. Dr Oriani-Ambrosini was one of those extraordinary leaders that had passion, gave constructive criticism and had vision. He was a diligent, eloquent and focused person to the point where his articulations in this house were not based on personalities and political allegiances, but premised on practical matters such as the socio-economic conditions confronting in particular the poor people of South Africa. His stood for a just society and presented his ideas without fear. He may have passed away, but his contribution ever since he became a member of parliament in 2009 will never be forgotten. We as UDM and the people of this country we will miss that bold fast persuasive voice; a voice that, when he spoke, no one would talk. This country has lost a leader indeed. Our souls are deeply sad by his sudden death. To his family, we want to tell you that you are not alone in these sad moments. The UDM cries with you and we know that the people of this country are crying too. No one can take over the pain you feel, but our Creator because He is the one that gives and takes. It is our responsibility to take the leads where Dr Oriani-Ambrosini left them and carry on. Mrs Ambrosini, Carin and Luke, please know that we are in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. May the peace of almighty gracious God be with you; this will also pass. To the leader of the party, Honourable Shenge, please find space in your heart to be strong and let him to rest. Akuhlanga lungehlanga. To the national assembly, the IFP and his constituency at large, you have lost; we have lost; and the country has lost. May his soul rest in eternal peace. Thank you
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29 Jul, 2014
Nelson Mandela Day – address by Mr Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, MP in the National Assembly
Madam Speaker, Deputy President and Honourable Members President Nelson Mandela’s election and inauguration in 1994 marked the end of many years oppression and caused South Africans of all races to fill the streets, all celebrating our victory in the fight for the self-evident right to determine our own destiny. Some shouted from their rooftops lines from SEK Mqhayi’s poem, Ukutshona kukaMendi, the SS Mendi steamship, which sank in 1917 killing all the troops on board. These lines have over the years been used to describe not only the bravery of the men, who died in this tragic incident, but to also explain a course of events that has been predetermined by fate. Mqhayi says, and I quote: “Sibona kamhlophe sithi bekumele, Sithethe engqondweni sithi bekufanele, Xa bekungenjalo bekungasayi kulunga, Ngoko ke Sotase kwaqala ukulunga.” End quote. Speaker, We did this precisely because Madiba was a man of courage, who refused to withdraw when difficulties ensued. He fought gallantly to deliver freedom and justice for all. During his term in office, Madiba meticulously stitched together a people as diverse as our country’s scenery into a Rainbow nation. We must however admit that race relations have regressed since the Madiba days. Anger, resentment and racism sometimes belie the seemingly well-adjusted Rainbow Nation. We therefore have to work hard to build a cohesive Nation that works towards the well-being of all the people. Speaker, Madiba did not only leave us a legacy of peace, forgiveness and justice, but he also left us one of the best Constitutions in the world, which is fortified by a number of institutions that support our constitutional democracy. While talking about democratic institutions, Honourable Members, our conduct in this House over the past few weeks has left much to be desired. It has chipped away at the foundation of Parliament and the very same very same Madiba legacy we seek to uphold and preserve. I submit that nations around the world use Parliament as a dipstick through which to measure the quality of a nation’s discourse, as well as the quality and the maturity of its leaders. Considering how badly we been behaving in this House, we should not complain when people mistake Parliament for a gathering of gangsters and hooligans. We must maintain the decorum of the House and treat each other with respect at all times. In honour of Madiba, we have to use this House to fight poverty, unemployment and inequality and to build a just and better South Africa for all. Fellow Compatriots, In conclusion, in his parliamentary farewell speech to Madiba in 1999, former President Mbeki said the following words, which still ring true today, because Madiba is with us in spirit and I quote: “We have you, Madiba, as our nearest and brightest star to guide us on our way. We will not get lost.” End quote. Thank you.
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24 Jul, 2014
Eastern Cape: Budget vote Provincial Treasury
Speech by Mr Mhlati, leader of the UDM in the Eastern Cape Legislature Honourable Speaker, Honourable Premier and Executive, Honourable Members and government officials I would like to express a word of appreciation to the former MEC for Finance and Treasury for the wonderful work he did during his tenure to uplift the standard of performance by Treasury as stipulated in Section 18 of the Public Finance Management Act. Treasury has succeeded in assisting the various Departments to manage the financial resources of the Province in full compliance of the provisions of the PFMA and Treasury Regulations. If the Department was a plane I would say the pilot can just put it on auto flight because it can now cruise on its own without manual assistance. The only outstanding matter which I would like treasury to take up with the office of the premier up to Pretoria is the upgrading of the salary scales of the internal auditors so that they can be attracted to work for the government. The endeavours made by treasury to assist the municipalities in their financial management issues as required by the provisions of the Municipal Finance Management Act is being hampered by the failure of the Municipalities to appoint personnel with the requisite skills and qualifications for the positions as required in terms of the provisions of the Municipal Systems Act. It is high time that the Honourable MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs working together with the Premier of the province should address the political instability in Municipalities which have a negative effect on the performance of the Municipalities. Even if we can work together without changing the working environment in Municipalities we will never move South Africa forward. They are the centres for service delivery to our people. Treasury had canvassed us to encourage civil servants to take early pension before we do that he must show us the commitment that people who exit the civil service are paid their exit benefits within a month of leaving the service. Some people have died waiting for the payment of their benefits. In every budget funds for the payment of these benefits should be ring-fenced in each Department as most of the people who are going on retirement are well known within the Department. A word of appreciation also goes to the chairperson of this committee for inviting all chairpersons to be present at the meeting of the Committee when dealing with transversal matters. I think that the exposure has opened the minds of the Honourable Members on how the funds of the Province are handled. However, there appears to be a need for a workshop to be conducted among the members on how the budget of the Province is being crafted up to the last stage to avoid unplanned requests for increases towards the end of the process. The UDM fully supports the report of the Committee and its recommendations. I thank you
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23 Jul, 2014
Eastern Cape Health budget
Address by Mr M Mhlati in the Eastern Cape Legislature Honourable Speaker, Honourable Premier and members of the executive and Honourable Members the report of the Committee of the budget of the department of health of which I am part of is fully exhaustive of the issues canvassed with the Department and I fully support findings and recommendations thereof. I would like to implore the department to plan and negotiate timeously with treasury for the absorption of the student nurses into the vacant positions once they complete their training. We have been complaining as Eastern Cape about the shortage of nurses but when we train them we fail to appoint them thus allowing them to seek work in other Provinces who are committed to address the shortages in the nursing profession. The non-filling of senior management positions in the Supply Chain Management Unit is unacceptable as this opens a gap for fraud and corruption to manifest itself unchecked. With regard to the matter of de-complexing it is clear that the resolutions of this Legislature are not taken seriously by the department. This Legislature resolved during the year 2012 on de-complexing but even today, they are still dragging their feet on this matter. We want clear time frames now. The strides made by the department in addressing the accruals is greatly appreciated, treasury must show consistency in what they are promoting. They request Departments to encourage officers to take early pension but on the other side they do not provide funds to Departments to pay out exit benefits. It is scandalous for people who have spent their lives working for government but when they leave they are reduced into beggars. We still have a long way to go to reach the desired level of health care service we aspire for due to the shortage of the Professional Personnel. Even though the envisaged decentralization of powers is supported I would like to warn the Department to take precautions of ensuring that the officers delegated the duties have the necessary capacity to perform the functions. The Accounting Officer should bear in mind the provisions of Section 44(2)(d) of the PFMA which states that, “ a delegation does not divest the accounting officer of the responsibility concerning the exercise of the delegated power or the performance of the assigned duty.” The budget is supported by the UDM I thank you
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23 Jul, 2014
Budget Vote 22 : Defence and Military Veterans
Address by Mr BH Holomisa, MP (UDM President) on Budget Vote 22: Defence and Military Veterans on 23 July 2014 in the National Assembly Chairperson Honourable Minister and Deputy Minister Honourable Members The United Democratic Movement supports budget vote 22. The department is one of the fortunate to have retained its Minister after 2014 elections therefore promising continuity of strategy and direction. As a member of the Defence Service Commission, I concur with defence force programme and plans as announced by the Minister today. Whilst appreciating minister’s input, however, as a country we need to look at some of the mandates given to us especially peace keeping related tasks. South Africa must always consider these tasks against its own safety, the safety of the troops deployed and its people. Conditions of service and equipment of the South African National Defence Force has not yet reached the expected standards and levels, much still need to be done. This situation is further exacerbated by a bloated bureaucracy and lack of professionalism within the defence force. Whilst the concept of civilian oversight, we all endorse, this house need to evaluate as to what extent is the approach affecting the capacity of the defence force in discharging its Constitutional mandate. The defence is an instruction based institution underpinned by key fundamental principles of high level discipline, speed and control. President Zuma, in 2010 appointed an Interim Force Service Commission to look at the challenges confronting the defence force at the time, as we all know the findings of the commission are well documented. The frustrating part is the slow pace in implementing the recommendations of the commission. It becomes more frustrating learning that some allocated budgets are under-utilised and returned to the fiscus. The United Democratic Movement recommends that this house, reconsider returning the Accounting Officer’s powers back to the Commander of the Defence Force and retain the civilian oversight in the Minister’s office. Such a bold step shall drastically increase the speed at which the conditions of service of our Defence Force are improved. It will further reduce the amount of bureaucratic red tape. Thank you
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22 Jul, 2014
Eastern Cape: Budget vote Roads and Public Works
Speech by Mr Mhlati, leader of the UDM in the legislature Honourable Speaker, Honourable Premier and the Executive, Honourable Members, government officials in supporting the budget allocation of the department, the UDM would like to place more emphasis on the acute shortage of skilled personnel within the department. It is unthinkable that a government department can just literally depend on consultants for it to perform its functions. I plead with the Executive to give their full support in the recruitment drive to put the staffing of the department to the acceptable levels. As matters stand we are not sure whether the companies are forming cartels or not against this government as price escalations have become the order of the day. Although the establishment of the yellow fleet within the department is appreciated the lack of quality supervision is of great concern. Some of these yellow fleet teams are selling the diesel earmarked for the machinery to people who have trucks and tractors and you always find the employees roaming about in the rural areas and when you ask them why the machinery is standing idle, there is no diesel. It is also important that the traditional leaders should be called upon to perform their function as eyes and ears of government and to report any fraudulent activities by the members of the yellow fleet. The department should please ensure that companies awarded tenders in rural roads have the appropriate equipment for road -making not just a grader, we expect quality work for the quality money we pay out. A clear line of demarcation of responsibilities between the department and other departments such as health and education of which this department has a part to play. Clear memorandums of understanding among the parties should be drawn putting the areas of responsibility of each player up until the final product is completed and quality assured. The Government should come out in the open as to whether we want quality roads and buildings or we want to promote emerging contractors at the expense of quality work. This issue comes out of the N2 road through Mthatha to Viedgesville which has not yet finished two years but is being done patch work on a daily basis. I faced some managers for the shoddy work which they do for the Government and they put the blame on the emerging contractors they are forced to take. Stringent steps should be taken by the Department to complete the development of the asset Register of Government properties in the Province and must make use of the Surveyors to search and identify the properties. Furthermore, illegal occupants of Government properties should be prosecuted and caused to pay rental. The total budget of R4,025 444 billion for the Department is fully supported. I thank you
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22 Jul, 2014
Budget Vote 2: Parliament
Address by Mr Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, MP in the National Assembly Budget Vote 2: Parliament Madam Speaker, Deputy President and Honourable Members, Parliament derives its power directly from the people. We are therefore all here to implement the will of the people. Once elected, our people therefore expect us to rise above ideological cleavages and narrow partisan interests to build a better South Africa for all, both Black and White. Deputy Speaker, Speaking time is essential for pluralist and representative debates that communicate the will of the people of South Africa and the constituencies the various political parties in this House represent. We are concerned that the current proportional speaking formula in Parliament does not provide us, the so-called smaller opposition parties or other parties as we prefer to call ourselves, enough opportunity to clearly articulate the will of our people and constituencies. Applying the crude principle of proportionality on speaking times does not bode well for both the reputation and image of this august Institution. For example, at times speakers’ times expire before the speakers had managed to put their points across – thus leaving the public questioning the purpose and quality of contribution. It is therefore important for Parliament to look into ways in which speaking times allow all parties to add maximum value to what are often complex parliamentary debates. We are aware that political parties have since the beginning of this term worked together to improve the situation and we appreciate the efforts. However, we believe there is still more room for improvement. Our view is that the minimum speaking time for parliamentary debates should be five minutes. Deputy Speaker, In the last term, there were instances, where people complained about the lack of proper consultation on Bills before this House. There were also a number of cases, where Bills were withdrawn to allow for further consultation. The Info Bill was example where the public consultation process was not done properly. There have also been cases, where Bills were passed by this House only to be declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. We have to work hard to improve the quality of the legislation we pass. We also have a duty to ensure that the public is central to the lawmaking process of Parliament. Our laws should be based on and informed by the will of the people. Put differently, the People Must Govern! Deputy Speaker, We commend support systems that Parliament has been put in place, such as the Budget Office, to shore up the work of individual Members of Parliament (MPs) and the Committees. This will go a long way towards improving the effectiveness of MPs and Parliament in their oversight role and in holding Government accountable for its programmes. The UDM supports Budget Vote 2. Thank you.
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22 Jul, 2014
Budget Vote 5: International Relations and Cooperation
Speech by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP and UDM President in the National Assembly Honourable Chairperson Minister and Deputy Minister Honourable Members The United Democratic Movement believes that the national interests of South Africa should be defined and pursued strictly according to the norms and principles, expressed in the Constitution of the Republic in the execution of the country’s relations with the outside world. The recent and rapid developments in the global political landscape, demands of the South African Parliament, plays an active and central role in the conduct of foreign policy. The mandate of the Parliamentary portfolio committee for International Relations and Cooperation should stretch beyond oversight on activities of the department to include assessment and evaluation of executive decisions and commitments made in the execution of our foreign policy and actions. In this way, Parliament like in many other countries will be at the centre of foreign relations. Such an approach would allow us an opportunity to present a united front in conflicts such as in the Middle East. In this regard, a radical intervention from South Africa must seek to champion the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions on the Middle East. South Africa should engage all other states who tend to undermine the multi lateral decisions on this ongoing conflict. On the 9 September 2013, I penned a letter to the President of the Republic, the then Minister of Public Service and Administration and carbon copied the then and current Minister of International Relations and Cooperation; in which I alerted the President to serious and disturbing information of alleged looting of state resources by Director General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). These concerns were also reported to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation by the Audit Committee of the department. The audit committee held an opinion “that the management report together with the audit report (for the financial year ended 31 March 2013), are materially misleading, not true reflection of the state of affairs and are not fair presentation of the financial position” of the department. The amounts involved here exceed half a billion rands with allegations of possible executive directives leading to unauthorised and irregular expenditure. More than 10 months since I raised the matter with all the relevant offices, either than empty promises from the office of the Minister, we have no record of what has been done with these serious allegations. It is in the public interest that this matter be disposed of as soon as possible. Until this has been addressed, the United Democratic Movement cannot support budget vote 5. Thank you
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21 Jul, 2014
Budget Vote 10: National Treasury
Chairperson, Honourable Minister and Deputy Minister, Honourable Members, Once more, Budget Vote 10 is delivered against the backdrop of severe economic challenges facing the world today. It takes place at a time when some economies around the world are making a slow economic recovery, while others are still in economic deepfreeze. We acknowledge that appropriate economic policy responses have been undertaken in order to place the country on a path to economic growth and prosperity. However, challenges remain. South Africa is still grappling with a chronic unemployment problem, especially among the youth. The current economic growth rate of approximately 2 per cent per annum is not sufficient to save the poor from the yoke of poverty. The low economic growth does not only negatively affect job creation, but it also means less money for Government to deliver services to our people. Hence the need for the 4 per cent budget deficit to finance the country’s development needs. To make matters worse, big businesses and wealthy individuals devise all manner of strategies to both avoid and evade tax. This needless to say erodes the same tax base from which the revenue for service delivery must come. I am aware that plans are afoot to deal with this problem. We however wish to add our voice in calling for tough sanctions to be imposed on the culprits. Mister Minister, It is going to be difficult to address spatial gaps and inequalities, when State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) seem to lack the capacity to spend funds allocated for infrastructure development. You are aware as I already indicated in the Public Enterprises Budget Vote that over the past two years, SOEs s over the past two years spent approximately 70 per cent of the funds committed to infrastructure development. In addition, in far too many cases the quality of the basic human settlements infrastructure leaves much to be desired. Drastic steps should be taken to improve the capacity of the Departments responsible for implementing Government’s job creation and service delivery. We have to double our efforts to ensure that with increased budget allocations come commensurate rises in our people’s standards of living. Mister Minister, We are concerned that Government’s debt and deficit reduction programme seems to principally depend on optimistic economic growth forecasts. Output growth in South Africa has been sluggish for quite some time and judging by Government’s failure to achieve past targets, we are not convinced that the new targets will be achieved. The UDM believes that output growth forecasts should be realistic so that we can begin the process of setting the country’s finances on a path to fiscal consolidation. The UDM supports Budget Vote 10. Thank you.
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17 Jul, 2014
Budget Vote 11: Public Enterprises
Address by UDM Deputy Secretary General, Mr Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, MP at Committee Room E249 Chairperson, Honourable Minister and Deputy Minister, Honourable Members, For many years, South Africa’s economic growth potential has been shackled by a lack of properly planned infrastructure investment. This resulted in immense disparities in the quality of the infrastructure between rural and urban communities. The poor and rural communities have to make do with inadequate and poor quality infrastructure, which confines them to the margins of economic activity. Through properly planned infrastructure development and rural development programmes, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have an important role to play to boost economic growth in order to ensure equal opportunity for all people to participate in our country’s economy. However, this objective will be difficult to achieve if drastic steps are not taken to improve the capacity of SOEs to spend their allocated budgets. For instance, over the past two years, SOEs have been spending approximately 70 per cent of the funds committed to infrastructure development. To make matters worse, SOE managers also achieve approximately 70 per cent of their performance agreements. These factors together with the number of times Government has had to bailout some of the SOEs reveals that SOEs are far less productive than private sector companies. How does one then justify the high salaries paid to the executives of the SOEs? The United Democratic Movement (UDM) believes capacity levels at SOEs need to be improved if they (SOEs) are to truly serve as an engine for economic growth and development. We are also of the view that steps should be taken to ensure that the right people are employed into right positions at our SOEs, with clear and strict performance contracts. We believe that in large infrastructure development programmes, the Department needs to rope in the private sector to either invest in or play a part in them. Honourable Minister, We were too happy to hear that the Department has reduced its vacancy rate from 16.7 per cent in 2009 to 11.9 per cent 2013. However, our celebration was short-lived, when we discovered that the use of consultants features prominently in the plans of the Department for the current financial year. We believe that filling vacancies should result in lower usage of consultants, and not the opposite. The UDM supports Budget Vote 11. I thank you.
