Question 20
The Leader of the Opposition (DA) to ask the Deputy President:
What steps has he taken in respect of his responsibilities in the Anti-poverty Campaign to deal with the consequences of the migrant labour system on rural families, especially women?
Reply
Honourable Member, the migrant labour system certainly has contributed to deepening rural poverty and has had dire consequences for the dependents of the migrant workers, notably women and children. Some of the consequences include broken families, limited access to education opportunities for children and lack of work opportunities for women, who often were solely dependent on remittances from men working in towns and cities.
In addition, various academic studies have pointed out that post-apartheid migration patterns have their roots in the homeland system of the apartheid government which ensured that virtually no development took place in regions where the majority of our people were restricted.
Studies also show that migration deprives local communities of human capital as people of working age leave their communities to work in other areas, especially in the mining towns. The health consequences are also dire as those migrating have historically been confined to single sex hostels and more recently to poorly serviced informal settlements where HIV infections are high.
Honourable Member, Government’s response to rural poverty is multi-pronged and consists of the Infrastructure Development Programme, the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme and the War on Poverty Programme.
I wish to draw the Honourable Member’s attention to the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission, which has set itself the task through 18 strategic infrastructure projects, to transform the economic geography of South Africa.
This will be achieved through the building of socio-economic infrastructure in rural communities and former homeland areas. This infrastructure will give our people access to social and economic amenities necessary to facilitate the creation of sustainable jobs and viable rural communities.
In addition, Minister Nkwinti has said in this House that various projects under the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme are being accelerated with the view to creating sustainable livelihoods for rural communities.
Honourable Member,the War on Poverty Programme was created to accelerate service delivery by identifying beneficiaries who are entitled to receive already existing services from government but for some reason or other are not.
Thus, the aim of the War on Poverty Programme is to address service delivery gaps where an existing Government service does not reach the beneficiary and thus facilitates the necessary link to the required service.
In short, Honourable Member the combination of all these interventions should result in a reduction in rural poverty and create the conditions whereby people in rural areas migrate out of choice, for what has been termed “pull factors” and not out of necessity or “push factors”.
I thank you.
Question 21
Mr M G P Lekota (Cope) to ask the Deputy President:
What steps has the Government taken (a) to prevent the abuse of state power and (b) against persons who have been found to have abused state power?
Reply:
The Constitution and other laws governing the conduct of public office bearers and public servants provide clear guidelines as to what public officials may and may not do in exercising state power.
Should it be alleged that a public official has broken the law, the South African Police Service and National Prosecuting Authority should investigate and, if there is enough evidence, prosecute the alleged perpetrator of the offence. We also have the Special Investigating Unit which investigates corruption and maladministration in government and reports to the President and to Parliament.
In addition, the Public Protector and the Auditor General which are provided for in Chapter 9 of our Constitution have the responsibility, in the case of the Public Protector, of investigating conduct in state affairs or in the public administration in any sphere of government that is alleged or suspected to be improper or to result in any improper conduct or prejudice.
In the case of the Auditor General, there is the duty of auditing the accounts, financial statements and financial management of state bodies. These institutions play an important role in determining whether any member of the public or official has abused state power.
There are also a number of other bodies who have the responsibility to investigate abuses of power by officials in specific sectors, such as the Inspecting Judge in the case of Correctional Services, the Inspector General of Intelligence with regard to intelligence matters and the Independent Police Investigation Directorate in the case of the South African Police Service.
What is important is that anyone with evidence of abuse of state power must report such abuse to the bodies that I have listed earlier so that the allegations can be investigated and if found to be true, the perpetrator can be sanctioned.
I thank you.
Question 22
Mr L S Ngonyama (Cope) to ask the Deputy President:
Whether the Government promotes the right of self-determination of:
(a) the peoples of Africa and
(b) those in the African diaspora; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply
South Africa has consistently fought for the right to self-determination of all the peoples of Africa, and our record in multilateral institutions like the African Union and United Nations attest to this fact.
We do so, believing that every people or nation have the right to determine their own destiny without undue interference from others. The history of the Continent and the Caribbean is littered with examples of nations whose development has been undermined due to external interference.
Honourable Member let me emphasise that our position is influenced by our conviction that self-determination, peace and stability are important ingredients for cultural, social and economic advancement.
As the Honourable Member is aware, the 1945 Charter of the United Nations calls for the development of “friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace”.
All of us here in South Africa will recall that the democracy we enjoy today is a culmination of the bitter struggles waged in pursuit of the goal of determining our own political status and the freedom to choose an economic, social and cultural development path.
We acknowledge that this freedom was achieved with the persistent solidarity and support of the international community and in particular our brethren in Africa and its Diaspora.
Finally, the recent Diaspora Summit attended by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, the Caribbean and South America committed to “encourage and support the adoption and implementation, in different Diaspora countries, of policies that will facilitate the elimination of racism and the promotion of equality among races”.
I thank you.
