Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP at the celebration of Human Rights Day at Marikana, North West on 21 March 2013 Programme Director, Deputy President, Secretary General, UDM National Executive Committee Members, UDM Public Representatives and members of the Party, People of the Bojanala Region Fellow South Africans Thank you to all of you who have come today to make this celebration possible. The structures of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) in the North West in particular have worked very hard to bring us all together; thank you. To our Secretary General, Mr Bongani Msomi, our National Treasurer, Mrs Thandi Nontenja, a special word of thanks for the hard work and hours of sweat. HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA Human Rights Day is a reminder of the tragic 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, in which the police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against the apartheid pass laws. Today, South Africans of all races use this day to celebrate our unique Constitution which gives equal rights to all. We also take stock of the progress we made to promote, develop and protect human rights in South Africa. Despite the quantum leap from an oppressive regime to one of the most liberal constitutions in the world, human rights violations in South Africa occur all too frequently. INEQUALITY OF SOUTH AFRICA’S CITIZENS It cannot be denied that much has been done for our people, but we must be honest and say that there are too many of us that have no houses, no access to water and sanitation, others walks miles to get to hospitals and clinics, children are taught in mud schools and people don’t have jobs. Millions of our people go to bed on an empty stomach. We all know that poverty is the greatest human rights violation. Co-existing with these high levels of poverty, is extreme inequality, with the gap between the rich and poor widening on a daily basis. ROLE OF UNIONS Another issue related to human rights is the critical question of how best to put the majority citizens in the mainstream of the economy. That said, it is worth noting that the Lonmin workers decided to take the fight about remuneration and working conditions to their employers. You took it upon yourselves to unshackle the workers from the yoke of poverty and inequality. It was brave of you to bypass the middleman, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), when you realised that it was no longer serving your best interests. It is encouraging to see that you continue to fight for your rights despite the challenges facing you. However, you should remember that removing the middleman was just the first step. One of the most critical steps in this process, is that you should continue to familiarise yourselves with the laws of the land. This is extremely important in helping you to frame the appropriate response to whatever challenges come your way. In this regard, we commend the leadership of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) for the sterling work in guiding and supporting you during the negotiations. Mining houses must invest more to cultivate direct relationships with their employees. We call on the management of mines to have an open-door policy and give their employees the opportunity to talk about the matters close to their hearts. I would, however, like to give you a word of advice on the controversial issue pertaining to the access, or lack thereof, of the mineworkers’ to a provident fund worth R22 billion and NUM’s investments schemes. For many years I have been helping ex-mineworkers to claim for their pension funds without success. It is worrying that none of these ex-mineworkers have ever benefited from these schemes of the investment arms of the trade unions. I have yet to come across a mineworker who has received dividends from these investments. It seems as if some trade unions are using workers as their cash cows. This is daylight robbery! We must say NO to this exploitation of workers! In this regard, I would advise you to approach the Farlam Commission and request it to summon the South African Chamber of Mines, NUM, the Department of Labour and the Department of Health to explain where the workers’ monies are. The root of the unhappiness that led to unnecessary deaths of mineworkers was the conditions of service and as such we expect that the Commission would be keen to assist you to trace your invested monies. Even if it means that Judge Farlam must ask the President to extend the Commission’s terms of reference to cater for this important matter. NATIONALISATION OF MINES – SHARING IN THE WEALTH The debate around the nationalisation of mines has been raging for quite some time and I bet that last word was not said at Mangaung. As long as there is no transparency about who really benefits from mining in South Africa, this problem will not go away. Our fathers have been working in these shafts for years without reaping the benefits from this wealth. It seems that we were foolish to think that after 1994 things would change. Instead we see a selected few, parachuted into the mining industry under the guise of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), who have absolutely not ownership and no control. Perhaps, if we had share schemes for the mineworkers we would be talking a different language today. It is for this reason that the UDM has been calling for an economic indaba, on the same scale as Codesa, so that we can thresh out these contentious issues. A GOVERNMENT MAKES IT WORSE INSTEAD OF BETTER The ANC-led government’s decision after 1994 to hastily remove subsidies from key industries, such as agriculture, textile, and so on, is on of the reasons for high levels of poverty and unemployment. To make matters worse, the money Government used to pay for the subsidies is now being channelled to dysfunctional institutions and cadre enrichment schemes. The Tripartite Alliance has also institutionalised corruption, in that, through its investment arms it is always first in line for government tenders. This means that the ANC is both player and referee. The current government does not have its priorities straight. Even if you look at the budget allocations of provinces, there seems to be disparity between what the requirements are and how much resources are given. One can only be baffled when you hear of another elite project to be launched that will line the pockets of the Comrades in Corruption. MARIKANA MASSACRE We stand today on piece of ground that has seen much heartache and sadness. What happened here is a stark reminder of how easily human rights are infringed upon. It is unfortunate that the voices of the people are so suppressed, not only in Marikana, but in other parts of the Country. It reminds us of the Apartheid era, when the Government did not want to listen to its people and they abused their power by sending the police to silence the people. By doing this, the Government played the police against the people and destroyed the hard-earned trust. The Farlam Commission would have failed in its duty if it does not scratch deep enough to determine the extent of involvement of the political heads of this Country in sending the security forces to crush peaceful protests. CONCLUSION In the past, no opposition party would have been given a chance to speak to the people of this area. We thank AMCU for their non-partisanship and that they made it possible for political leaders and other stakeholders to talk to the mineworkers. As a result of this attitude, you now know that you have monies that are due to you. As we leave here today, we must live the dream that is described in our Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is the cornerstone of our democracy and enshrines the rights of ALL the people of this country; it affirms the value of human dignity, equality and freedom. It is no good to pay lip service and say: “Never again”. We must each have our rights, but we also have our responsibilities as citizens of this Country. We must work hard to find each other and make South Africa a Winning Nation. I thank you.
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP in the Parliamentary Debate on deployment of SA National Defence Force to Central African Republic 23 April 2013 Mister Speaker, Mister President and Honourable Members, “They had gone to CAR to assist. We never anticipated that we would be attacked. Somebody said when they were interviewing me, is it that maybe we were failed by our intelligence that had not picked up that we were going to be attacked”. This is what the Honourable Minister of Defence told the Nation two weeks ago. The Minister would have given better answers had she demanded an operational report from her Commanders. Her argument that she “did not anticipate to be attacked” is incomprehensible, considering that the CAR government briefed her of the imminent offensive from the rebel forces during her visit to that country late last year. It was during this meeting that the CAR government requested reinforcement from the South Africa government. The Minister came back and briefed the President about this request. Subsequently, President Zuma announced the deployment of an additional 400 troops in CAR with the mandate to disarm, demobilise and integrate the rebel forces into the army as well as protect the SANDF’s 26 trainers in CAR. Given this unambiguous mandate, it is puzzling to hear the Honourable Minister claim that she and her Commanders did not anticipate to be attacked. The existence of the operational report mentioned above would have given us specifics on details about the people who failed our troops in CAR and in the process disgraced our country. This report is important if we are to avoid making similar mistakes in future and to ensure that we take punitive steps against those who did not carry out orders. The same report would interrogate the allegations that our troops were deployed in that country to protect former President Bozizé and the business interests and assets of some politically connected South Africans. While talking of former President Bozizé, he made a startling revelation in December last year, when he publicly complained that his government was being targeted for giving mining rights to South Africa and China. The question now remains: “To what extent have these mining rights been diverted away from South African State owned mining companies in favour of a select few politically connected individuals and companies, such as Chancellor House, as reported?” It is becoming a norm in the African continent for countries to help other countries in exchange for their resources. In light of all the above, we should ask ourselves whether our presence in CAR served national interests or narrow party political interests. However, the reluctance of Government to establish a Commission of Inquiry to look into this matter compels us to be in agreement with those who claim that our troops in CAR were used to ensure that the looting spree in that country continued unabated. I wish to conclude by stating that, no amount of cover-ups and misinformation will prevent the truth about what happened in CAR from eventually coming out. Thank you.
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP on Freedom Day in the Vhembe Distrtict in Limpopo on 27 April 2013 Programme Director, Deputy President of the UDM Secretary General of the UDM, UDM National Executive Committee Members, UDM Limpopo Provincial Leadership, UDM Public Representatives and members of the Party, People of Vhembe Region, Fellow South Africans; Thank you to all of you, who have come today, to make this celebration possible. The structures of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) in Limpopo have worked very hard to bring us all together; thank you. The commemoration of Freedom Day reminds us of the heavy price our struggle heroes and heroines paid for the freedom we now enjoy. This day gives us an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made since the advent of democracy in 1994 as well as the challenges we face today. Truth be told, we started well in 1994. We built a democratic dispensation based on the noble ideals of protecting human rights and promoting freedom. This, together with the exemplary manner with which we managed the pre-1994 negotiations and the transition that gave birth to a new political dispensation, made South Africa a beacon of hope for Africa and the rest of the world. Indeed, we made tremendous progress since then. However, nineteen years later, a closer look at our country reveals serious regression. Today, South Africans have to put up with a faltering and underperforming economy that seems incapable of growing at the levels required to reduce unemployment, to eradicate poverty and inequality. This underperformance occurs against the background of the ever-increasing gap between the haves and haves-not. Our education system ranks among the worst performers in world. This happens despite the huge amount of resources the country ploughs into it. The poor state of our education fails our children and jeopardises their future. Our primary healthcare system is falling apart. Hospitals and clinics are short-staffed, they have no medicines and patients are treated with disdain. Corruption in the government is rife despite its assurances to the contrary. The Comrades in Corruption loot state resources daily and with impunity through tenderpreneurship and bogus schemes. This handicaps service delivery and results in many violent service delivery riots around the country. Even prospective investors shun South Africa as an investment destination because of the high levels of corruption, and our people pay the price. Government uses every opportunity to abuse power by intimidating those who challenge or disagree with it. The ruling alliance’s overreaction to Bret Murray’s Spear Painting is a case in point. To make matters worse, government officials are appointed based on political affiliation rather than merit. Government prioritises elite projects and spend billions of Rands on projects, such as the Gautrain, instead of ploughing this money into service delivery. Weak leadership paralyses every sphere of government. Nowhere is this more evident than in the high rate of policy turnover; each new minister brings a new policy. With each new appointment, there is poor or no implementation of either the inherited or new government programmes. This creates confusion and instability, because the people do not know what to expect from government and, more importantly, how evaluate its performance. This regime does not respect the rule of law. We see how it reacts when the courts do not rule in its favour. You will recall that in 2009 the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) took an administrative decision to drop all corruption charges against President Zuma paving his way to the Union Buildings. This has caused irreparable damage to the reputation of our justice system, because people now believe that, in our justice system, politically connected and powerful individuals “are more equal than others”. Compare the way in which President Zuma was treated, to that of the former ANC Youth League (ANCYL) President, Julius Malema. State institutions have been used to harass and destroy him. I am not here to defend Mr Malema; he is a shrewd politician he can do that for himself. Contrary to the monster his detractors portray him to be, Mr Malema has carried himself in a dignified manner during this difficult time in his life. In fact, he has thus far displayed more respect for the rule of law than some of the senior leaders of the ruling party. Other challenges facing our Nation today include, but are not limited to, high levels of crime, dysfunctional local government councils and a lack of sustainable development programmes. With the bleak picture I have sketched thus far, it is not difficult to conclude that we are on a slippery slope to a dysfunctional state and anarchy. To turn this situation around, we need to intensify our efforts to ensure that elected leaders consult with the electorate and account for their political decisions and programmes. Improving the efficacy of this vertical form of accountability has numerous benefits. Chief among these benefits is that it enables the people to keep track and evaluate the performance of their government. There are instances where people are afraid to question the performance of government departments due to fear of reprisal. We should use this process to ensure that no one is victimised for demanding delivery. There are also cases where government deliberately misinforms the public, such as the recent controversy around deployment of South African troops to the Central African Republic (CAR) for an unspecified mission. Democracy is subverted when elected politicians do not consult and account to the electorate, and when they deliberately misinform the public about some of their decisions. Given the victimisation of our people, as mentioned above, I applaud you for your courage in collecting the service delivery complaints of the people of Limpopo. You did this despite the fact that you might be victimised. A special thanks therefore to the people of the Capricorn, Thulamela and Aganang Municipalities for forwarding their complaints to us. The UDM councillors and the leadership of this province have done a sterling job of encouraging communities to come forward with their service delivery complaints and concerns. I thank you for your hard work. Ladies and gentlemen, this process is gathering momentum. As I am speaking to you, we will be receiving more complaints from the people of this province. A quick look at the list of service delivery complaints from 20 villages in Ward 22 reveals the same regression I mentioned earlier. Tomorrow I will however meet with Chief Lambani and the people of this community at the Chief’s kraal to talk about their worries. As with the other people, with whom we have interacted in this province, the people in these villages complain about (among others) having no water and no electricity; their roads are impassable and their schools and clinics poorly equipped. With such a long list of service delivery complaints, some of which constitute serious human rights violations, we wonder whether the Human Rights Commission is playing its proper role. You wonder whether it has not also just become another employment agency for the ruling party’s cadres. Once we have received all your complaints, we will hand them over to President Zuma for attention. To the UDM structures in the province, these complaints provide a clear indication that our people are unhappy with the current government. You will recall that the UDM was once the main opposition party in this province. The floor-crossing legislation however cost us that status. We need to work hard regain it. We have to crisscross the province to recruit members and to swell our ranks. We must make it clear to all and sundry that the UDM is here to stay and that we have an important role to play in South Africa. We will not surrender, nor will we allow ourselves to be swallowed by another political party. We have to make people understand that efficacy of the service delivery chain would, among other things, be achieved in the face of adequate electoral competition between South Africa’s various political parties. One party dominance breeds arrogance of power, complacency, corruption and poor service delivery. I thank you.
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP in the Parliamentary Debate: Budget Vote 28 on Economic Development (07 May 2013) Mister Speaker, Ministers and Deputy Ministers and Honourable Members, The UDM supports Budget Vote 28. According to Statistics South Africa’s latest Labour Force Survey the rate of unemployment in South Africa has increased to 25.2 percent during the first quarter in 2013 from 24.9 percent in the last quarter in 2012. This means that more than 100 000 South Africans are without work since the last quarter in 2012. The unemployment rate deteriorates to approximately 36.7 percent when the number of discouraged work seekers is factored in. This dismal performance regarding employment proves beyond reasonable doubt that government’s economic policies have failed to grow our economy at the levels required to reduce unemployment and eradicate poverty. This occurs against the background of the ever-increasing gap between the haves and haves-not. In addition, South Africa seems to be on a fiscal slippage. In the year 2007/2008 our budget balance declined from a surplus of 1.7 percent, to a deficit of 5.2 percent in the year 2012/2013. Our debt-to-GDP ratio has increased from 23 percent in 2008 to approximately 40 percent in 2012/2013. Corruption and wasteful expenditure in government have reached crisis levels. With the bleak picture I have sketched thus far, it is not difficult to conclude that South Africa is on the slippery slope to become a sub-investment grade country. We need to take decisive steps to turn the situation around and there are unfortunately no shortcuts to long-term success. To reduce unemployment, government needs to develop an environment that is conducive for small and large businesses to flourish. Not the current situation where you find companies that employ workers from neighbouring countries. So-called outside investors, that we find in every corner of South Africa, do not give work to South Africans, but exclusively employ their family and friends. We have to consider whether businesses should not be compelled to ensure that 60 to 70 percent of their staff complement is made-up of South Africans. Government can develop the aforementioned environment by, amongst other things, ensuring that there is the required level of labour flexibility in the economy. This means that the labour market framework should enable businesses to frame appropriate responses to changes in market conditions. For this to succeed, government would need to reign in its alliance partner, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), which seems to only be interested in protecting the interests of the employed at the expense of the unemployed. In the past, many raw materials were processed domestically, but today most of these factories close down in droves. The common denominator is their inability to compete with imports from countries where such products are subsidised by their governments. Government needs to root out corruption and wasteful expenditure in the system and needs to adopt policies that are aimed at reducing its deficits and debt accumulation. In conclusion, government’s proposed review of the current tax system should not see the light of day until the aforementioned measures have been taken into account and until such time that taxpayers get value for the money they pump into the fiscus. I thank you.
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP in the Parliamentary Debate: Budget Vote 38 on Water Affairs (21 May 2013) Chairperson, honourable Minister and Deputy Minister and honourable Members, The UDM supports Budget Vote 38. The work of this Department is fairly straight forward. To see whether this Department is performing its function, one has to look no further than the number of communities that have water and those that do not. Significant progress in providing water to many communities around the country has admittedly been made since 1994, but there are still many small towns and rural communities that have no access to clean water. To increase the severity of this problem, when these communities do have access to water the supply is unreliable. This often leads to a situation where they go for weeks without water. Add to the water supply challenge the fact that the water infrastructure in small towns is not designed to support current population levels which have increased due to urbanisation. The Department of Water Affairs needs to work hard to address these problems. We have said many times that the current water delivery system is very opaque and that this opens it to political abuse, as the politically connected and the powerful continue to jump the queue willy-nilly. Last year the UDM proposed a solution to this problem. We proposed that the Department develops a National Register for all water applications. The aim of this register is to ensure that there is transparency and fairness in the delivery of water. Fairness would ensure that water delivery occurs on a first-come first-served basis and this would prevent the queue-jumping mentioned above. I am not sure if anything has been done about this proposal. Today we would like to propose that the water infrastructure delivery programme be included in the overall government infrastructure development programme. Once this is done, government should then development an infrastructure development map that citizens can use to keep track of water and general government infrastructure delivery. Then the necessary financial resources should be allocated to ensure that every aspect of infrastructure development, particularly the water infrastructure, proceeds with the requisite speed and urgency. We hope that the Department adopts some of these proposals because it is practical solutions that will help us to improve the material conditions of our people and not meaningless philosophical debates that are conducted in arcane academic language which run the risk of reducing this Budget Vote into a futile exercise. I thank you.
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP in the Parliamentary Debate: Use of Waterkloof Air Force Base (22 May 2013) Mister Speaker and Honourable Members, One would have expected Government to furnish us a copy of the report in order to enhance this debate. However, we are not surprised by this because here we are dealing with a government that took a dubious decision to investigate itself. This must have been the easiest investigations for Government to conduct considering the close proximity of the Guptas to the Cabinet and the Directors General. This generally corrupt relationship between Cabinet and the Guptas has allowed the Guptas to use State Owned Enterprises as their cash cow in their controversial free of charge breakfast shows with the national broadcaster. Mister Speaker, it is a blatant lie to assert that the Gupta planes did not obtain authorisation to land at the Waterkloof Air Force Base. Without authorisation, none of these planes would have entered our airspace. The fact that they obtained authorisation proves beyond reasonable doubt that the Guptas have been getting away with using the Waterkloof as their parking bay each time they host important visitors from abroad. They just happened to be caught red-handed this time around. There are a lot of things that do not add up about Government’s Guptagate report. Firstly, if the Waterkloof Air Force Base is not a National Key Point why waste our time by lining up and parading Ministers from the Security Cluster to address the Nation on the matter? Secondly, given the fact that the planes did not obtain authorisation how and by whom were they refuelled? The only deduction that one can make from this fiasco is that the mere mention of the Gupta name is enough to send the entire Cabinet into a tailspin. In addition to the inconsistencies I have mentioned above, if the Waterkloof Air Force Base is not a National Key Point, why have the senior officials who allegedly authorised the landing been suspended? In light of the fact that these officials should have delegated powers to authorise landing at an unclassified airport, why were they expected to obtain Executive authority? The point I am trying to make here is that it makes no sense to suspend the officials for authorising landing at an unclassified airport. In conclusion, the South African Revenue Service complained that it was not informed about this matter, while other Departments, such as Home Affairs confirmed that they were informed in advance. This led to a situation where some of the gifts the visitors brought with them were not declared when they entered the country. I am aware that many of these gifts were given to current and former Cabinet Ministers. In the interest of good governance, should they not return them? Thank you
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP in the Parliamentary Debate: Budget Vote 12 Public Service and Administration (22 May 2013) Chairperson, Honourable Minister and Deputy Minister and Honourable Members, The UDM supports Budget Vote 12. We have noted the concerns of the public about the low levels of competence in our civil service and are encouraged by the Minister’s attempts to address this problem and thus professionalise the civil service. We have also noted government threats that it is going to deal decisively with civil servants who are not doing their jobs. We hope the Minister will make use of the powers given to her by the Public Service Act to turnaround public administration. In this regard, the Public Service Commission has an important role to play in ensuring that this professionalisation happens and that suitably qualified people are appointed. For some time now civil servants have been appointed into positions without regard for their competence and suitability for the jobs. These people then often use government departments as employment agencies for their ethnic groups. For example, it is not uncommon to find that when Ministers are Xhosa they turn their departments into Xhosa land and when they are Indian Ministers they turn their departments into an Indian Ocean, and so on. It is also common in the current government to appoint people who have not made it into the National Assembly list as advisers to state departments, even though they might be clueless about their work. To address this problem, the office of the President together with the Public Service Commission should ensure that Ministers do not have the final say on who becomes their Directors General and advisers. This is important if we are to win the fight against nepotism and corruption. In addition, the appointment of inappropriately qualified people discourages many who regard civil service as a career. I have come across many senior officials who lack the requisite knowledge, training and experience to run departments. Often these officials have not even undergone basic training in Induction Courses, Supervision and Management, Accounting as well as Human Resources Management. To address this problem, the Minister has to, among other things, invest in the development of suitably qualified Work Study Officers for all departments. Such a step would boost employee morale as Work Study Officers would have pertinent insight in employee performance and departmental structural issues and would also play an important role during salary negotiations. Finally, the Minister would have failed in her duties if she does not restore the powers of Directors General as accounting officers. We have seen how political directives have created mayhem in the entire tender system. Thank you.
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP in the Parliamentary Debate: Budget Vote 22 – Defence (23 May 2013) Mister Speaker, honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers and Honourable Members, The UDM supports Budget Vote 22. President Zuma’s decision to reshuffle the cabinet a few months ago slowed down the progress the Department had made since 2009. The inordinate amount of time the Department is taking to finalise the Defence Review and the appointment of permanent Defence Force Service Commissioners bears testimony to this. When questioned about this delay, the Department often tells us that the Minister is still busy familiarising herself with the Department. The question is: “How long does it take for the Honourable Minister to familiarise herself with her Department?” This House will recall that the Interim National Defence Force Service Commission tabled a report which recommended that Government reviews the 1998 Defence Review with a view to allocate adequate resources to the task of building an effective Defence Force, among others. This is particularly critical in the light of our obligations and mandate to maintain peace and stability here at home and on the Continent. Honourable Minister, The Nation is concerned about the fact that you are spending most of your time out of the country attending to some insignificant issues, rather than in the country running your Department. If the majority of your trips had any significance, the Department would have benefited from them. With regards to your overseas trips, the UDM is still considering where to direct a sensitive question about the close proximity of a UK-based company and a certain Zimbabwean citizen to your office. Your failure to prioritise the Department and its needs could be seen in the dismal manner in which you handled the Central African Republic (CAR) fiasco. Whilst you were busy gallivanting around Durban during the Brics bash, our troops were engaged in a 13 hour battle with the rebels in the CAR. You did not even deem it appropriate to leave the bash and join the SANDF Commanders in Pretoria. It took almost 48 hours to hear from you. Honourable Minister, you failed to provide leadership in the CAR fiasco in that you have thus far neither established a board of inquiry to look into the matter, nor have you briefed this House on your Department’s Operational Report on it, if there is any. Thank you.