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08 Oct, 2013
The death of Mpumalanga initiates
Address by Mr Stanley Ntapane, MP in the Parliamentary Debate: The death of Mpumalanga initiates (29 May 2013) Mister Speaker, Ministers and Deputy Ministers and Honourable Members, The UDM expresses its heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the 30 initiates who died recently at various initiation schools in Mpumalanga. There are also unconfirmed reports that 6 initiates have died at initiation schools in Limpopo as well and we are saddened by this. The tragic deaths of these young men could have been avoided had all the relevant stakeholders played their parts. In particular, traditional leaders, as custodians of our culture, are not doing enough to oversee initiation schools in their areas of jurisdiction, leaving the traditional surgeons and amakhankatha to do figure out what to do as they go along. This failure of leadership has left Government with no choice but to intervene in an effort to try to bring stability. Many have complained about this intervention from Government, but let us admit that it is the only thing that has brought a semblance of stability in the tradition. We call on traditional leaders to show leadership on this matter. No culture or tradition can be more important than the lives of our children. Parents on the other hand often wait for a long time before they report to the authorities that their sons are experiencing problems. In such instances, parents should also be held accountable for any injury or loss of life, even if these occurred in a legal initiation school. Such a punitive measure would ensure that parents do not willy-nilly shift the blame to the traditional surgeons and amakhankatha when something goes wrong. This important step will lead to early detection of problems and, once remedial action has been taken, help reduce deaths at initiation schools. Mister Speaker, In the final analysis, the law must take its course on all those who are responsible for the deaths of young men at initiation schools both in the aforementioned provinces and as well as other provinces. Thank you.
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08 Oct, 2013
Budget Vote 26: Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Address by Mr Lennox Gaehler, MP in the Parliamentary Debate: Budget Vote 26: Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (29 May 2013) Chairperson, Minister and Deputy Minister and Honourable Members, The UDM supports Budget Vote 26. Since 2009 we have been hoping that we would reach a point where the Minister would successfully turn the Department around and place it on a path to efficiency and effectiveness, but this has thus far proven to be wishful thinking. Instead, the situation in the Department has taken a turn for the worse. For evidence one has to look no further than the fact that, while the Department has spent more 90% of its budget, only 52% of its targets have been achieved. Two questions now come to mind: “Where did the money go? Has it been diverted to President Zuma’s Zero Hunger Programme?” Minister, the public deserves to know what happened to rest of the money. Chairperson, I have received numerous complaints from emerging farmers around the country about the Department’s mechanisation programme. Many of the complaints echo the UDM’s sentiments that it is difficult to accurately determine who benefits from this project when the Department has no policy on the distribution of tractors. The UDM has been calling on the Department to address this problem for a while now without success. We hope the Department will take this matter seriously this time around. Chairperson, Monitoring and evaluation of existing programmes in the Department is very weak, to say the least. For example, every year the Department gives money to provinces in order to ensure the success of the Comprehensive Agriculture Support Programme (CASP), but it does not monitor how the funds have been used and whether they have been used for the intended purpose. To make matters worse, the officials who are in charge of the CASP programme do not reply to complaints from members of the public about the programme. They also fail to reply to our correspondence about it. I thank you.
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08 Oct, 2013
Parliamentary Debate: Budget Vote 5 – International Relations & Cooperation
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP in the Parliamentary Debate: Budget Vote 5 – International Relations & Cooperation (30 May 2013) Mister Speaker, Ministers and Deputy Ministers and Honourable Members, The UDM supports Budget Vote 5. We wish to thank the Department for all the good things it has done. I will however leave the enumeration of the Department’s achievements to its praise singers. During our oversight visit to the Department’s Head Offices in Pretoria at the beginning of the year, we were shocked to learn that the Director General (DG) of the Department and his senior officials had not been briefed about the 2012 agreement to deploy South African troops in the Central African Republic (CAR). Yet they are the first line of defence with respect to our foreign policy. Whilst still on the subject of CAR deployment, could the Honourable Minister take the Nation into confidence and explain operation Morero and its implications? It would be interesting to know whether the President briefed the Honourable Minister timeously about the 2012 CAR deployment. If yes, why did you not brief your DG and his deputies? If not, would you not agree with someone who says that your mandate as the Head of our foreign policy was hijacked? We ask these questions because the President is duty bound to consult with the Departments of Defence, State Security and International Relations as well as Parliament in all foreign military deployments. Could it be that your Department was also bypassed in government’s dubious decision to support regime change in Libya? If this is the norm, then there is a possibility that the Presidency bypassed your Office and gave direct instructions to the Chief of State Protocol, Bruce Koloane during the Guptagate scandal. Would you deny this Honourable Minister? In any event, I am still wondering why a person who is supposed to have delegated powers should require permission from the Executive to authorise the landing of an aeroplane at an unclassified airport. The fact that the Presidency has no portfolio committee leaves the onus is on you, Honourable Minister, to explain these matters to the public. Thank you.
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08 Oct, 2013
Budget Vote 33: Rural Development and Land Reform
Address by Mr Stanley Ntapane, MP in the Parliamentary Debate: Budget Vote 33: Rural Development and Land Reform (31 May 2013) Mr Speaker and honourable Members, The UDM supports Budget Vote 33. President Zuma announced in the 2013 State of the Nation Address (SONA) that government would reopen the lodgement of claims in order to accommodate those who missed the December 31, 1998 deadline and to accommodate the Koi and San people who were dispossessed of their land prior to the 1913 Land Act. We were too happy to hear this announcement from the President. And as expected, this raised our people’s expectations. However, after scrutinising Government’s track record in processing land claims, we are left wondering whether it has the capacity to deal with new land claims considering that it is still struggling to address the current backlog on outstanding land claims. The Department also has inadequate post-transfer farmer support programmes. Nowhere is this more evident than in the low number of land-reform beneficiaries who are actively farming. And in the majority of cases where there is some agricultural activity, many of the beneficiaries use only a small piece of their land. In addition, an increasing number of farms have become white elephants in the post-transfer period. One such example is a farm in KwaZulu-Natal that used to produce 4000 tons of bananas, which has now become a white elephant. Mister Speaker, We have been receiving complaints from members of the public about the land reform programme. It seems there is a growing perception out there that the majority of land reform beneficiaries are male. We call on the Department to look into this matter and ensure that its land reform programme is line with gender equity policies. We hope that once completed the research report on reopening land claims will, among others, speak directly to these problems. We wish to take this opportunity to commend the Department for all the good work it has done thus far. Thank you.
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08 Oct, 2013
Youth at the centres of economic Opportunities
Address by Mr Stanley Ntapane, MP in the Parliamentary Youth Day Debate: Youth at the centres of economic Opportunities (04 June 2013) Mr Speaker and honourable Members, We commemorate Youth Day at a time when youth unemployment in South Africa has reached crisis levels. Facts and statistics on unemployment from Statistics South Africa’s latest Labour Force Survey show that unemployment for people between the ages of 15-34 in South Africa stands at 70.7 per cent. This means that more young people are idle than ever before. Mister Speaker, This high rate of youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb that threatens to worsen political instability in South Africa, as millions of young people are not only jobless but have also lost hope about ever finding a job. There are numerous contributing factors to this challenge. The most obvious one, however, is the poor quality of our basic education system. The South African education system is failing to equip our youth with basic skills. Unless Government improves the education system, unemployment will be an albatross around our necks for many years to come. Whilst fixing our education system is a medium to long-term project, there are a number of immediate interventions Government can make to remove the youth from the periphery of economic activity. For instance, in some developing countries Governments invest significant resources in the professionalisation and development of informal sector businesses. This has helped to reduce youth unemployment and unemployment in general and could work in South Africa as well. We are aware that channelling youth to the informal sector is not a panacea for the youth unemployment problem, but it does serve as an important source employment. Furthermore, a thriving informal sector would ensure that the youth are able to contribute to the economy, albeit less effectively than they could be. However, such measures are possible only if Government depoliticises youth development organisations, such as the National Youth Development Agency in order to ensure that they effectively discharge their mandates. All in all, to diminish the chronic youth unemployment problem, Government needs to adopt economic policies that ignite economic growth and build an education system capable of unleashing the potential of the South African economy. Thank you.
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08 Oct, 2013
UDM condemns human waste in protests in the Western Cape
UDM condemns human waste in protests in the Western Cape – Member’s Statement in Parliament, by Mr SZ Ntapane, MP (UDM Chief Whip) on 6 June 2013 The United Democratic Movement (UDM) condemns the ANC Youth League’s (ANCYL’s) use of human waste in protest for portable loos in the Western Cape. Whatever the concerns, nothing justifies stooping to such a low level. The UDM has for many years warned the public about ruling party’s use of the principle of ungovernability and anarchy in areas where it is not in power. And this is exactly what is happening now in the Western Cape Province. We have also warned the Democratic Alliance (DA) Provincial Government on numerous occasions about the dangers of failing to meaningfully consult communities that are affected by its boardroom decisions. The UDM calls on the ruling party’s mother-body to rein in its recalcitrant youth that is using innocent people as pawns in their efforts to make the Province ungovernable. We also call on the DA government to meaningfully engage township communities on its portable loos and other Provincial Government policies affecting them.
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08 Oct, 2013
Africa Day
Address by Mr Ntopile Kganyago, MP (UDM Deputy-President) in the Parliamentary Debate: Africa Day (6 June 2013) Mister Speaker and Honourable Members, We owe a big debt of gratitude for the freedoms we now enjoy to the leaders and African Heads of States, who met in Addis Ababa in May 1963 to develop a Master Plan to liberate the peoples of Africa from the brutal rule of the colonial regime. This 50th anniversary of the African Union (AU) provides us an opportunity to reflect on the progress made thus far. There are today a growing number of stable democracies in Africa. African people in many parts of the Continent are able to elect governments of their choice. Economic performance and regional integration in many parts of the Continent are progressing, albeit at a slow space. These two are important if we are to untangle the peoples of Africa from the yoke of poverty and underdevelopment. Despite these achievements, more than a quarter of the African population is poor, uneducated, while thousands die every day from curable diseases. After many years of independence Africa remains plagued with civil wars, coups and countercoups. Africa has more dictators than any Continent in the world. We need bold leadership to rid the Continent of these problems, as they make the task of renewing Africa impossible to accomplish. Mister Speaker, South Africa has lost the influence it once had on the African continent and its leaders. Nowhere is this more evident than in the fact that the South African government no longer plays a leading role on continental issues. The Central African Republic (CAR) fiasco and South Africa’s embarrassing retreat from that country recently have made matters worse. This leadership void has created a breeding ground for the re-colonisation of Africa. The time has come for South Africa to recapture the lost ground as the continental leader. I thank you.
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08 Oct, 2013
Parliamentary Debate: Budget Vote 1 – Presidency
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP in the Parliamentary Debate: Budget Vote 1 – Presidency (12 June 2013) Mister Speaker, honourable President and Deputy President, and honourable Members, The UDM supports Budget Vote 1. We have taken note of Government’s decision to name and shame people who are found guilty of corruption. I would like to join this campaign by sharing with the Nation the negative effect of political directives on government tenders, which create a breeding ground for corruption. You will recall that political directives gave birth to the controversial Arms Deal and other related transactions. For instance, in January this year, Minister Pule received and together with her senior officials from the Department of Communications and Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA), approved a half a billion Rand application from Cell C for the rollout of broadband infrastructure at eMalahleni Local Municipality. Shockingly, this application was approved without being subjected to the normal adjudication process as required by Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005. Had it not been for the refusal on the 16th of April 2013 of Mr Mmatlou Morudu, USAASA Executive: Business Development Service, to implement the project after receiving an instruction from his Chief Executive Officer, Mr Zam Nkosi, half a billion Rand would have been released for it. If your Office does not intervene, chances are that Mr Morudu will most probably be removed from his position in order to ensure unrestrained looting of State resources. It is strange that Government was prepared to pay half a billion Rand to this infrastructure at eMalahleni Local Municipality, when it only paid R13 million for the same infrastructure rollout at Msinga Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, a municipality twice the size of eMalahleni Local Municipality. It makes you wonder! Another example of the rampant looting of State resources in this Department involves a multimillion Rand tender awarded to Mthinthe Communications (Pty) Ltd to rollout broadband infrastructure to 120 centres around the country. According to USAASA’s 2012/2013 Exception Report, the total Rand value amount of the 80 per cent subsidy for Mthinthe should have been R 24.1 million but the final Rand value subsidy amount given to Mthinthe was R33.1 million. This means that Mthinthe was overpaid by a whopping R8.9 million. In addition, this lucky company was further paid R2.3 million for the branding of Mpumalanga centres, which was never done. Close scrutiny of the first phase of the project reveals an interesting statistic, that is, 23 out of these 33 sites are in KwaZulu-Natal, while only 8 are in Mpumalanga and 2 in the North West Province. The deadline for the connection of these centres was set for the 31st of March 2013. However, according to USAASA 2012/2013 Exception Report, as at the 7th of May 2013, only 9 out of 120 Mthinthe centres were operational. Conspicuous in this broadband infrastructure rollout programme is the absence of plans for other Provinces. This leaves the children of other Provinces have to fend for themselves in order to get access to computer laboratories with internet connection. We therefore demand that your Government publishes the infrastructure map – with identified areas, kinds of infrastructure (especially broadband) and timelines – so that South Africans can see where this infrastructure development is happening. I thank you.
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