Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, Cape Town
10 February 2009
Madam Speaker of the National Assembly,
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly,
Deputy President of the Republic,
Honourable leaders of our political parties and Honourable Members of the
National Assembly,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Distinguished guests, friends and comrades,
People of South Africa
I wish to thank all members who took part in the debate, for their well
considered responses to the President's State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Although they differed significantly, I was struck by the influence that the
impending national and provincial elections had on the debate.
It is a privilege to lead the National Executive in completing the mandate
accorded the African National Congress (ANC) in the 2004 elections.
Despite whoever is at the helm of government at any one point during a term
of office, the mandate of the ruling party remains the same.
When it was elected into power, the ruling party was, by that very fact,
mandated by the electorate to address the challenges affecting the lives of the
majority of our people.
Over the years, I have learnt the value of the right of all people -
particularly the poor, the working people and the marginalised in society - to
have a better life in a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and
prosperous South Africa.
To this end, appreciating the value of public service, I became the
President of the Republic in the full knowledge that I was to serve all the
people of South Africa regardless of race, creed, gender or political
affiliation.
There is an obvious gap in this debate concerning the expectations of
honourable members - about which some seemed to be rather perplexed. As we all
know, the February 2009 State of the Nation Address, coming at the end of term
of the third democratic Parliament necessarily reported and accounted for
progress in fulfilling the electoral mandate of this government.
The new government to be installed shortly after the election will carry the
baton further, striving for a better life for all our people.
Government's role is to create an enabling environment for all sectors of
society. Consequently, as we all would know, what we were meant to reflect on
is the state of the nation in this debate and not merely the state of
government!
Madam Speaker, we need to congratulate the democratic Parliament on work
well done over the last five years and indeed since the first democratic
elections in 1994.
We have no fear of contradiction in stating that our democracy has benefited
a great deal from, among other things, the oversight that Parliament has
exercised over the executive.
Accordingly, we need to remind ourselves of the key defining role of
Parliament, as ably stated by the honourable Madam Speaker in her address to
this honourable House yesterday.
Her words regarding the functions of this august people's assembly are worth
repeating, and I quote:
"Parliament is, in line with the Constitution, expected to perform five
functions in its interactions with the other arms of government and the general
public, including the international community. They are to: pass laws, oversee
and scrutinise executive functions, facilitate public participation, facilitate
co-operative governance, and facilitate international participation."
Over the 15 years of our constitutional democracy, Parliament has played a
central role in entrenching democracy in our nation.
Madam Speaker, the Honourable uMtwana Buthelezi has raised an important
matter about what he perceives as the threat to our Constitution and I
quote:
"The President made reference to the inspiring values of our Constitution
which are indeed of paramount importance. But there is no hiding from the fact
that our Constitution has been betrayed and the people of South Africa have
rightly grown disillusioned with those called upon to promote these
values."
I want to assure all of us here, and all South Africans out there, that the
Constitution of our Republic is not under any form of threat from any quarter.
Instead the events of the last few months attest to the contrary.
Matters of national interest which often stir up robust and heated debates
in society must be understood as the necessary oxygen of democracy. When
society launches into such debates it is because we are all driven by
patriotism and a desire to build a better society.
Admittedly, in the course of giving full expression to our
constitutionally-guaranteed rights of expression, we may at times overstep the
bounds; and I am certain that this is what Honourable Buthelezi was warning
about.
Since 1994 we have had regular successful democratic general elections, all
of them free and fair. National and provincial elections this year will further
deepen the democratic culture in our nation.
There is therefore no validity to the concerns about the putative peril of
our Constitution.
Madam Speaker,
Turning to the current global financial crisis, I wish to thank all
participants who reflected on this matter for their appreciation of the efforts
being made, working with social partners, to address the challenges.
It is rather surprising that members of the National Assembly chose to
mishear our stated position on what government is doing to mitigate the
negative effects of the current global economic meltdown.
Arising out of discussions at the India Brazil and South Africa New Delhi
Summit, the Washington G20 Summit and the Addis Ababa African Union (AU) Summit
which included Ministers of Finance and Governors of Reserve Banks, was a view
that we must not pull back from investing in bulk infrastructure.
Government will continue with its public investment projects, the value of
which has increased to R690 billion for the next three years; we will intensify
public-sector employment programmes; we will work with the private sector to
counteract an investment slowdown and unnecessary closures of production lines;
and government will sustain and expand social expenditure.
The task team made up of various social partners, will report to the
Presidential Joint Economic Working Group on final proposals soon. In addition,
we will take into account issues that have been raised by Honourable Members;
and the Presidency would welcome any further written contributions in this
regard.
Honourable Members may wish further to reflect on the proposal made by
Honourable Holomisa on wider consultations on these matters, and the role
Parliament and political parties should play.
Madam Speaker,
South Africa remains committed to reducing carbon emissions in line with
international standards and protocol. We must note that these emissions have
been increasing with higher economic growth.
In 2009, government will host a policy summit on climate change to devise
more mitigation programmes. This will initiate the formal consultation about a
national policy on climate change.
Steps have already been taken to pull together all the diverse work that has
been done on climate change - and various stakeholders and social partners are
involved in planning to mitigate the impact on energy, health, transport and
agriculture.
Our initiatives should include "greening programmes," as Honourable Holomisa
argued; this point was taken up eloquently and comprehensively by Honourable
Mfeketo and I agree with her when she says that:
"This government has consistently championed a progressive response to the
environmental dimensions of development challenges facing Africa and the
countries of the south."
I listened intently to the instance quoted by Honourable Pieter Mulder on
what he claims are the effects of affirmative action on young white South
Africans who wish to contribute to the development of our common home.
I therefore wish to reiterate our commitment â and I believe Honourable
Mulder â to the principle of correcting previous injustices and ensuring that
discrimination historically visited upon black people is eliminated. This is
not only logical; but also a Constitutional imperative.
As we have always maintained, affirmative action aims at involving all South
Africans at all levels of the economy and social life.
We need only cite a few statistics to show just how racial disparities still
characterise our society.
For instance, as far back as 2007, the unemployment rate in this country,
according to Labour Force Survey, showed that the percentage of unemployed
black people was at 30 percent, as opposed to only four percent among white
South Africans.
Statistics from the September 2008 survey, indicate that of African
university graduates 5,5 percent are unemployed while for other population
groups the figure of unemployed is negligible.
With regard to the racial breakdown of management in the private sector, 54
percent are White, 29 percent are African, 9 percent are Indian and 7 percent
are Coloured.
The dire consequence of these disparities on our efforts at rebuilding the
country is self-evident.
Coming back to the specific issue that Honourable Mulder raised, we wish to
emphasise that, if the kinds of strange things that he described arise in the
course of correcting the historical injustice and involving all South Africans
in building their country, these should be dealt with concretely. However, this
should not result in us questioning the policy of affirmative action as
such.
On the issues of crime and corruption, I would like to agree with Honourable
Minister of Safety and Security, Nathi Mthethwa about interventions required to
revamp the criminal justice system.
In this regard, it is worth pointing out that government has adopted the
four-pillar approach as a model, which sets out the different areas in which
crime prevention should be developed. This model is intended to provide a basis
for the development of crime-prevention initiatives at provincial and municipal
levels, as well as through civil society initiatives.
The four pillars of the revamping of our Criminal Justice System, which were
elaborated extensively yesterday by the Minister of Safety and Security,
indicates a comprehensive revamp of the fight against crime from prevention of
crime to detection, to prosecution and investigation right through to the
rehabilitation of offenders.
This shows our absolute determination to defeat crime and create safer
communities for all people to move freely.
Honourable Sandra Botha and numerous members repeat the call for a judicial
enquiry into the strategic defence procurement package.
If we appointed a Commission of Inquiry as the Honourable Members request,
that would constitute a parallel legal process since the ordinary process of
the law is sufficient to get to the bottom of any well-based allegations of a
criminal nature against anyone.
The latter process should reach anyone at any level of government in arms
procurement. And all formations of society, including the Honourable Members of
this House, should support and assist the criminal justice and other
authorities to do just this.
Additionally, we will recall that this matter was investigated by the Joint
Investigating Team comprising the Public Protector, Auditor-General and the
National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP). In the concluding section of
the report, these three agencies said that any and all allegations and
information brought to the attention of the investigators would be followed up
by the NDPP. That is the right course to follow: and anyone in society with
information that can assist the law-enforcement agencies should pass it on to
the investigators.
I am aware of the oversight work by the National Assembly's Standing
Committee on Public Accounts to look at any new evidence on the Strategic
Defence Procurement Package (SCOPA). We await their report.
Allow me to emphasise: if there is any wrong-doing that evidence must be
brought to NDPP to ensure that the wrong-doer is punished.
Madam Speaker
We live in a world that is beset with challenges of persistent levels of
poverty and underdevelopment. Our developmental goals require practical means
of supporting poor households who cannot afford to keep up with rising prices
of commodities such as maize, milk, vegetables, cooking oil, and samp.
We are committed to accelerating agricultural land production, social safety
nets, and financial support for small and medium sized farmers.
Significantly, we aim to give support to women, who are the frontline
combatants in the fight against poverty and hunger, and implementing short to
long-term initiatives such as:
* the expansion of the household food production programme,
* the expansion of the school feeding programme to include nursery schools,
and
* alignment to the war on poverty and other poverty reduction strategies.
In addition, government is geared towards the expansion of agricultural
starter packs from 70 000 to 140 000 households per annum.
Therefore, the developmental objectives we have put forward include
improving access to basic services such as healthcare and clean water,
promoting income security and support for the vulnerable groups.
We have to realise that a major challenge confronting us is price
affordability and not necessarily, or solely, food availability.
Honourable members would know that when government started the bucket
eradication programme (in formal settlements) in 2005. 96 percent of buckets
used in the 252 000 households have been eradicated. The bottlenecks we face in
the remaining areas are largely related to bulk infrastructure and government
is doing everything possible to speed up the pace of providing such
infrastructure.
With regard to water supply, we have ensured that 517 923 people got new
access to fresh water between April and September last year.
This is also the result of the partnership between the Department of Water
Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), the Department of Provincial and Local Government
(DPLG), the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the South African
Institute of Civil Engineers (SAICE).
These institutions have worked together to ensure that we deploy engineers
and technicians to municipalities to help in project identification,
preparation of feasibility studies and technical reports, project designs,
implementation support and monitoring.
As part of our second economy interventions, the Expanded Public Works
Programme (EPWP) has helped us to extend the reach of the home and community
based care initiative.
Through this initiative, we also seek to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS
and create an enabling environment for care, treatment and support.
By the second quarter of the 2008/09 financial year, we already had over 2,5
million people who benefited from this initiative.
It is encouraging to mention that, during that time, we had a total number
of 39 270 caregivers receiving a stipend as part of this EPWP initiative.
With regard to education and literacy, the Kha Ri Gude campaign started with
classes on 14 April 2008 is positively empowering 200 000 adults to utilise
basic life skills.
In this regard, job opportunities were created for about 14 700 people as
volunteer educators in this campaign.
Madam Speaker, the Honourable Themba Godi has raised many important issues
including those pertaining to the taxi industry and the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
System and the continuity of service delivery. The aforegoing account addresses
most of the issues raised.
In the view of government, the taxi industry will be providing crucial
assistance for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The taxi industry will be the nucleus of the Bus Rapid Transit system,
providing transport outside the areas of operation and on days when there are
no games. We envisage taxi operators as being part owners of such systems where
their routes are affected.
It is important to dispel the notion that there have not been consultations
with those affected. Government continues to consult with relevant stakeholders
in the taxi industry and where there are outstanding issues every effort is
being made to address those.
In relation to the provision of basic services, we have acknowledged as
government and partners that there are areas that require improved rigour and
speed, including the matter of sanitation.
In 2008, we reaffirmed the commitment to "implement intensive campaign to
meet targets for water, sanitation and electricity: speed up implementation of
programme to attain universal access by 2014," as part of our Apex
Priorities.
Let me emphasise that all the 24 Apex Priorities are receiving attention in
actual practical implementation. In addition to issues such as poverty
reduction, Second economy interventions, provision of basic services and
anti-crime campaigns â to which I have already referred â these priorities
include the expansion of early childhood development, improving civic services,
and an intensive campaign on energy security. These matters are reported on
regularly to Cabinet; and the updates are published on the government
website.
The Honourable Pheko called for the release of all Azanian People's
Liberation Army (APLA) members.
As Honourable Members will recall, in response to calls from the ANC, Inkata
Freedom Party (IFP), Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) and others,
President Mbeki announced a process to assist the President in dealing with
requests for Presidential Pardons. In terms of this process, a Presidential
Reference Group consisting of all political parties represented in Parliament
was established to consider these applications. The reference group submitted
an interim report to the President in December last year. I am expecting to
receive the final report within the next few days. Once the report is received
I will pass it on to the Minister and Department of Justice (DoJ) and
thereafter consider their recommendations.
Madam Speaker, we are much heartened at the recognition from this House that
there is progress in Zimbabwe. Shortly, Mr Morgan Tsvangarai will be sworn in
as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe along with two deputy prime ministers.
In essence this is a vindication that our approach to the crisis of Zimbabwe
all along has been correct, despite scepticism in certain quarters.
We are heartened that today we are addressing issues about the economic
reconstruction and development of that country and that, on this issue, all of
us â the representatives of the people of South Africa - are moving from the
tacit assumption that there is no need to entangle ourselves in discussion
relating to the political solution of Zimbabwe. That is the task of the
Zimbabwean people.
We need to restate that the people of Zimbabwe understood full well that
securing their future was possible through the formation of the inclusive
government to prepare conditions for the holding of free elections. This
government is both inclusive and democratic as it is based on the results of
the 29 March harmonised elections accepted by all. Allow me to remind members
about the outcome of the 29 March Parliamentary elections: the Movement for
Democratic Change T(MDC-T has 100 seats, the Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) has 99 seats, the MDC-M has 10 seats and on
independent seat. Accordingly, these elections produced a hung parliament and
did not yield any presidential candidate with more than 50 percent of the vote.
The inclusive government, which was agreed by all the parties, is based on this
outcome.
The challenge is to deal with both the humanitarian crisis plus the
reconstruction of the economy. We therefore call on the international community
to come to the aid of Zimbabwe and its people.
To this end, Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the AU have
called on the international community end sanctions against Zimbabwe and to
assist the people.
The Zimbabwe Humanitarian and Development Assistance Framework (ZHDAF) was
launched by SADC in Zimbabwe in December last year in response to the crushing
challenges, including food, water, health, agricultural inputs and other social
needs, which are besetting Zimbabwe.
Honourable Speaker,
In keeping with the key objective of striving for a better Africa, we have
over the last 15 years of democracy steadily lent a helping hand in the
peace-keeping and post-conflict reconstruction efforts on our continent.
Members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) have served with
pride in countries such as Congo-DR, Sudan, and Burundi in different capacities
such as stability of the security situation (Congo), AU/UN Hybrid Mission
(Sudan), and the protection of leaders of the Palipehutu-FNL leaders and
combatants (Burundi).
Madam Speaker, let me, on behalf of our nation, take this opportunity to
thank all members of the SANDF for service to the nation and their role in all
the peace-keeping missions as well as reconstruction and development on the
African continent. I say to each and every one of them: 'help us to hold our
heads high as a free nation dedicated to peace and progress in a dangerous
world.'
All of us move from the common understanding that we need to continue to
fulfil our international responsibility, especially on the African continent,
to help bring about a better Africa and a better world.
Madam Speaker, this session of Parliament sees the last appearance of some
of our long-serving members of Parliament. In this regard, I wish the following
Honourable members, who spoke yesterday, well in their chosen future
careers:
Tony Leon, Sandra Botha and Tertius Delport
I wish all these members well in their future endeavours and, I hope, in
continuing service to the people of South Africa.
Madam Speaker: We call on Parliament to hold an appropriate session to say
farewell to all members of Parliament who will not return.
With all the challenges strewn on our way, it is incumbent upon us to join
hands as we strive to bring about a better life for all our people.
As we enter the season of elections, once again, we call upon all our people
to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with our democratic ethos.
Let us expand the floor for political tolerance, ensuring that in whatever
we do we guarantee a climate of freedom of assembly, expression, and
association.
The right of all political parties to campaign in a politically-free
atmosphere must be respected at all times.
Honourable Speaker, I also take this opportunity to announce the date of the
Fourth National and Provincial Election for our country: 22 April 2009.
I must, however, emphasise that the actual proclamation of this date will be
made later.
With this coming election, the maturation of our democracy receives yet
another shot in the arm.
In conclusion, I wish to thank the Deputy President, Honourable Baleka
Mbete, Minister in the Presidency, Dr. Manto Tshabalala Msimang, the former
President Mbeki, the former Deputy President Jacob Zuma, the former Deputy
President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and former Minister in The Presidency, Essop
Pahad, ministers, deputy ministers, the public service, the directors general
for their dedication, commitment and support to ensure that we have an
effective and efficient government for this term of office. Further, I wish to
pay tribute to the staff, advisors and management in The Presidency for their
exceptional support. Finally, I wish to thank my advisors, Dr. Khulu Mbatha and
Mr Ebrahim Rasool, Parliamentary Counsellor, Honourable John Jeffery, the Chief
Operations Officer, Mr Trevor Fowler, and two of the longest serving directors
general, Mr Joel Netshitenzhe and Reverend Frank Chikane as Head of PCAS and
Secretary of the Cabinet, respectively, for their dedication and service to
government for over two decades combined.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
10 February 2009
