7. Mr M P Sibande (African National Congress (ANC) -Mpumalanga) to ask the Deputy President:
1. What is the government’s foreign policy position regarding (a) political developments in Swaziland (details furnished) and (b) the new Swaziland Constitution that was endorsed by the European Union (details furnished);
2. whether Swaziland has stipulated what the loan by South Africa will be used for; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
3. whether South Africa has attached any conditions to the granting of the loan to Swaziland to ensure that it is not used to (a) suppress political activities and (b) fund the lavish lives of (i) politicians and (ii) the monarch; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
4. what has South Africa considered to achieve in granting such a loan under the current political conditions in Swaziland? CO34E
Reply
1. Honourable Mr Sibande, let me start by quoting from the United Nations Declaration on Principles of International Law of 24 October 1970 which states the following: "All states enjoy sovereign equality. They have equal rights and duties and are equal members of the international community, notwithstanding differences of an economic, social, political and other nature.
In particular sovereign equality includes the following elements:
a. States are judicially equal;
b. Each State enjoys the rights inherent in full sovereignty;
c. Each State has the duty to respect the personality of the other States;
d. The territorial integrity and political independence of the State are inviolable;
e. Each State has the right freely to choose and develop its political, social, economic and cultural systems;
f. Each State has the duty to comply fully and in good faith with its international obligations strictly and to live in peace with other States."
It is therefore important that all of us are familiar with these principles that are the basis of South Africa’s constitution and foreign policy.
Furthermore, Swaziland was a member of the African Union (the former Organisation of African Unity) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) (the former Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference) long before we established a free and democratic South Africa in 1994. At the same time she is a founding member of Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), the oldest existing customs union in the world that was established in 1910.
Let me also recall that SADC’s vision “is one of a common future, within a regional community that will ensure economic well-being, improvement of the standards of living and quality of life, freedom and social justice; peace and security for the peoples of Southern Africa.
This shared vision is anchored on the common values and principles and the historical and cultural affinities that exist amongst the peoples of Southern Africa.”
Honourable Members, our bilateral and other relations with Swaziland are basically informed by these factors.
2. Swaziland was facing a severe cash crisis. Therefore the main reason for this loan is to help it through this budget predicament. Our financial and technical assistance to the Kingdom of Swaziland is aimed at preventing what is essentially at the moment a cash-flow crisis, from becoming a financial and economic crisis.
3. South Africa’s loan will be offered in three instalments to be transferred to the Central Bank of Swaziland. The first instalment will be given immediately after the signing of agreements. The next equal payments will follow in October and in February next year.
Under the loan's terms, Swaziland must protect the peg between the liLangeni, the kingdom's currency, and the South African Rand. It must also strengthen financial reporting and auditing of its accounts. In other words Swaziland must implement both governance and fiscal reforms.
But most importantly it must increase dialogue with the Swazi people. The terms of the agreement include that the government of Swaziland meet the following objectives: promote economic and social development, democracy, human rights and good governance.
Swaziland must also comply with the fiscal reforms recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These will be monitored by a task team from the World Bank, the IMF, the South African National Treasury and the African Development Bank.
It was also agreed that South Africa will also work with Swaziland to build governance and fiscal capacity.
4. The promotion of political and economic integration of the continent continues to drive the African Agenda. As such, a commitment exists to provide impetus to this objective which is rooted in the need to strengthen Africa’s political, economic and social development as well as its peace and security agenda.
The South African government has committed to a deepened contribution to regional and continental security and stability and sustainable development. Within this context, strengthening regional integration in SACU and SADC remains a major priority that will contribute to the sustained integration of the region into the global economy.
South Africa places particular emphasis on political cohesion, economic integration and the building of efficient and responsive economic infrastructure.
I thank you.
8. Ms N D Ntwanambi (ANC-Western Cape) to ask the Deputy President:
1. Whether the government and/or any structure of government, including the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) has established any programmes in line with the Charter of Positive Values to mobilise communities to shun any attempt by any individual or criminal elements to perpetuate brutal, violent attacks and killing of defenceless persons such as women, children and foreign nationals in our communities; if not, why not; if so, (a) what is the nature of such programmes and (b) what messages are conveyed to communities in this regard;
2. whether the government will consider such programmes, especially during important dates and periods such as Women’s Month, Women’s Day, Child Protection Week, World Refuge Day, Africa Day and other dates and periods; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CO381E
Reply
Honourable Members, as you are aware, the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) is a partnership between Government and Civil Society.
The MRM has developed a Charter of Positive Values and this Charter forms the basis of all programmes that it runs.
The MRM is in particular holding Social Dialogues in communities where people discuss matters of concern and explore how the Charter of Positive Values can be applied as a useful instrument to deal with social misnomers like domestic violence. For obvious reasons, there is a specific focus on young people who can use the Charter as a guide to mould their lives.
The leadership of the MRM also speaks of the Charter of Positive Values whenever they are required to address civil society organisations or when doing interviews on radio.
The Moral Regeneration Movement is an integral part of the planning and leveraging of Heritage Month, Women’s Month, and 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence. July is also designated as Moral Regeneration Month during which there are activities in all provinces aimed at helping communities to re-dedicate and recommit to moral renewal as well as to foster social cohesion.
For example, last July the MRM organised sporting activities between Somalis and locals in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. In KwaZulu-Natal they organised cultural and musical events that included people from the Great Lakes Region. These are helping to foster greater understanding between foreign nationals and local communities.
I thank you.
9. Mr B L Mashile (ANC- Mpumalanga) to ask the Deputy President:
1. What is the (a) latest statistics on HIV and Aids and (b) trend on HIV and Aids infection;
2. whether South Africa is winning the battle against HIV and Aids; if not, what corrective or enhancement measures are being taken by the government in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details? CO386E
Reply
Honourable Mashile, according to Statistics South Africa, it is estimated that the number of people living with HIV in 2011, is 5.38 million. This translates into HIV prevalence of 10.6% for the overall population and 16.6% for the 15 to 29 year age group. Among pregnant women HIV prevalence has gradually levelled off to just below 30%.
In terms of HIV incidence, which is the rate of new infections, estimates suggest annual incidence of 2.0 to 2.4% in the first half of the decade starting in 2000, and about 1.2 to 1.7% in the second half of the last decade.
The rate of new infections continues to outpace our prevention efforts, and thus prevention programmes will be prioritised in the new National Strategic Plan which is being developed for 2012 to 2016.
In reflecting on the question of whether South Africa is winning the battle against HIV and AIDS, it is instructive to note that South Africa has invested a large amount of resources into its HIV response. There are a number of interventions for prevention, treatment, care and support as well as programmes to mitigate the impact of HIV among those infected as well as their families and communities.
In this regard, a number of successful programmes have begun to show impact.
These include:
The programme for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV has yielded remarkable results. Recent health statistics show that transmission rates have declined from 10% to 3.5% over the last three years with KwaZulu-Natal reporting further improvements down to 2%.
South Africa has the largest antiretroviral treatment programme with over 1.3 million people currently receiving treatment. In addition, on 12 August, government announced a new policy that people who are infected with HIV and have a CD4 cell count of 350 and less will be eligible for antiretroviral treatment. This means that more people will have access to treatment before they become too ill.
An important issue to note is that the number of deaths due to HIV-related causes is beginning to show a decline due to the intensification of antiretroviral treatment.
Research conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council(HSRC) also shows that young people are engaging in safer sex practices by using condoms and this has led to a slight decrease in new infections among young people.
Over the last 15 months South Africa embarked on the world’s largest HIV counselling and testing campaign which resulted in more than 14 million people being tested, of which two million people were found to be HIV positive.
Honourable Member, given the fact that South Africa has a huge challenge and burden of disease due to HIV, the impact of current interventions will bear fruit over a period of time due to the nature of the infection. However, it is critical to emphasise that prevention is the key pillar of our response and all sectors of society must collaborate and unite in efforts to reduce new infections.
I thank you.
10. Mr D B Feldman (Congress of the People (COPE) - Gauteng) to ask the Deputy President:
Whether, regarding his sustained and high profile leadership of the War on Poverty Campaign, South Africa is no longer the world’s most unequal nation as determined by the Gini coefficient; if not; by when will this campaign help the 4.5 million persons or the 36.5% of the workforce to find sustainable jobs seeing that during the past eleven years only 350 000 new jobs were created; if so, what measures did he employ to (a) increase employment, (b) defeat widespread and poverty endemic and (c) bring South Africa down on the list of most unequal nations? CO390E
Reply
I would like to thank Honourable Feldman for raising the important question of the high level of inequality in our society. Whether we measure this inequality by means of the distribution of income, assets, access to services, or access to opportunities, it is true that the differences we see in our society between and within various groups of the population is undesirable whether we are the world’s most unequal society or not.
It is undoubtedly true that South Africa remains one of the more unequal societies amongst those that are reliably measured. It is a consolation, however, that we have considerably reduced the poverty rate since the early 1990s, mainly through initiatives that I will mention shortly.
The reasons for persistent inequality are not hard to find:
- In contexts of high inequality, growth is often concentrated among sectors that benefit the advantaged; the poor, on the other hand, are likely to be excluded from market opportunities or lack the resources to benefit from growth and participate meaningfully in the economy;
- High levels of inequality make it harder to reduce poverty even when economies are growing;
- Inequality makes it harder to incorporate the poor and disadvantaged in the growth process; inequalities constrain their productive capacity and their potential contribution to development;
- In highly unequal societies, the poor are more likely to be locked in the informal and subsistence economy. This may limit the size of the domestic market and thus retard the potential for sustained growth; and
- High levels of inequality may undermine the realisation of civil, political and social rights; they may raise the level of deviant behaviour and sow disharmony.
Thus, when you grow in a historically unequal society, unless you deliberately intervene to reduce inequality, the situation will remain unequal or even worsen.
It is for these reasons that we find the current levels of inequality undesirable.
In understanding the multidimensional nature of poverty and inequality, government has adopted a multi-faceted response that simultaneously deals with deprivation and exclusion.
Accordingly, we have programmes to encourage investment in job creation by the private sector in urban and rural areas; we have temporary public employment programmes such as the Community Work Programme and the Expanded Public Works Programme; we have programmes to improve the quality of health care and education as a basis for growth; we have very substantial social security programmes including child support and old age pensions, and we have major investment programmes in infrastructure to increase our competitiveness and our quality of life.
These programmes have helped us to reduce poverty, especially amongst the poorest, even if inequality remains unacceptably high.
Many jobs were created in the past decade. In March 2001 employment stood at 11.1 million and the rate of unemployment was 29 per cent.
In the first quarter of 2011, even after losing close to a million jobs in the worldwide recession, employment stood at 13.1 million and the unemployment rate was 25%. So, in fact, close to three million jobs were created, but sadly nearly one million of those were lost in the worldwide recession.
Honourable Members,
While much progress was made in the area of job creation up to 2008, the global economic crisis has had a significant impact on the South African labour market and consequently reversed some of the gains in the fight against poverty and equality. Nevertheless, we still have much higher levels of employment and lower levels of poverty than we had in the South Africa we inherited.
Looking ahead, achieving the necessary decreases in unemployment, poverty and inequality requires strong, sustainable and inclusive growth that underpins much faster job creation.
In this regard, the New Growth Path targets five million jobs by 2020 and provides a framework within which we can address the critical challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality, and in addition improve the pace and quality of service delivery.
We are confident that the policies and programmes of this government, including the New Growth Path, will help us to roll back unemployment and considerably reduce inequality.
I thank you.
11. Mr D A Worth (Democratic Alliance (DA) - Free State) to ask the Deputy President:
In view of his statement regarding Women’s Month that patriarchal attitudes were one of the main gender-related problems (details furnished), (a) how is it envisaged that the proposed gender equality bill will address these problems and (b) how does he intend to focus attention on attitudinal change? CO391E
Reply
Honourable Member, when I addressed the National Women’s Conference in Gauteng on 3 August this year, I spoke about the problems of patriarchy and the need to engage men and boys in the work of gender equality.
I went on to say that changing patriarchal attitudes and practices goes to the centre of democracy and the spirit of the Constitution and that there is recognition that patriarchy and economic exclusion are the root of discrimination against women.
It was in this context that I referred to the planned Gender Equality Bill.
The Bill will align and strengthen coordination between the various laws, policies and practices (including those that talk to patriarchy) that are intended to promote gender equality, as well as coordination within government itself, and between government and its key social and development partners.
The Bill is being piloted by the Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities and it would thus be better to engage directly with her regarding the details.
However, as you may be aware I also stated in my address at the Conference that policy and legislation are critical in changing practices based on patriarchal attitudes and behaviour but it is difficult to legislate attitudes away and for this purpose there needs to be work that is focusing on attitudinal change.
Whilst these attitudes permeate all sections of society, Government is in particular seeking to engage traditional leaders as the custodians of culture and to work towards the incorporation of gender aspects in their initiation schools.
We are also seeking to include gender issues as part of the schools curriculum of the Department of Basic Education.
I trust that Members of this National Council will also assist in engaging their constituents and constituencies in promoting attitudinal change on matters of patriarchy.
I thank you.
12. Mr L P M Nzimande (ANC- KwaZulu-Natal) to ask the Deputy President:
1. (a) What are the urgent and immediate mechanisms of operation of the Presidential Commission on job creation, (b) who are the (i) membership and (ii) stakeholders of the commission and (c) to whom will the commission be reporting;
2. whether, in light of the government’s commitment to sustainable and decent jobs, the commission will consider transforming (a) employment schemes, (b) the expanded public works programmes and (c) general short term contracts into long term sustainable jobs; if not, why not; if so, how;
3. whether, with reference to the continuous lagging behind and the non-realisation of employment equity for persons with disabilities, the commission will (a) prioritise and (b) create concerted focus on the employment of (i) persons with disabilities and (ii) women with children who receive child support grants; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;
4. whether the commission will consider introducing disability wage subsidies to mitigate for the cost of accommodation and to encourage job allocation to persons with disabilities; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
5. whether the commission will have special focus on sheltered employment and workshops; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?CO395E
Reply
Honourable Member, the Commission has as yet not been established. The Presidency, the Department of Economic Development and other Economic Cluster departments are still working out specific details.
I thank you.
