Oral Replies by Deputy President David Mabuza to the National Council of Provinces, Parliament, Cape Town
Question: On progress achieved in addressing outstanding matters regarding the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan.
Reply by Deputy President Mabuza:
Honourable Chairperson,
We welcome this question as it gives us an opportunity to explain to the people of South Africa, why we have expended so much time, resources and energy on matters far afield as those in South Sudan. We are happy to report that yes indeed there is progress.
Our involvement in South Sudan and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development region, has always been about lending a hand of support in assisting the South Sudanese people to find solutions to their challenges through dialogue, as well as to assist them to constitute the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity.
At the centre of the mandate of this unity government, is to ensure that the process of national reconciliation and healing is realised through restoration of permanent and sustainable peace, security and stability in South Sudan.
The conflict that erupted in 2013 had led to the losses of life and displacement of people, especially women and children as well as serious fragmentation of the security forces.
The issue of the number of States and their boundaries and the unification of the necessary forces, were the two key outstanding Pre-Transitional tasks whose non-completion had led to two successive extensions of the Pre-Transitional Period in May and November 2019. All these factors led to the deterioration of the political situation.
On the number of states, the matter was settled, when President Salva Kiir made a proclamation to return the country to 10 states with three administrative areas. This paved the way for the formation of the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity.
On the matter of transitional security arrangements, discernible progress has been registered, which is a good foundation for further progress.
On 22 February 2020, we attended the swearing-in of the Vice Presidents and the inauguration of the revitalised unity government, which in all intents and purposes, marks the beginning of a process of national healing and national unity.
Honourable Chairperson,
We are aware that the leaders in South Sudan have much work to do in these coming 36 months of the Transitional Period as they draft a permanent constitution and prepare for democratic elections.
In pursuit of the African agenda of building a stable, secure and peaceful Africa, South Africa will continue to support South Sudan on post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts, especially in establishing strong and resilient institutions to anchor democratic governance, peace, security and stability.
Thank you very much.
Question: On progress made by government to fast-track the Land Reform Programme.
Reply by Deputy President Mabuza:
Honourable Members,
It cannot be denied that access to land and equitable ownership, remains a fundamental pillar of building a socially inclusive and cohesive society. For us, the historical injustice of land dispossessions and resultant skewed patterns of its ownership, impose a moral obligation to correct the wrongs of the past by expanding access to land to promote greater economic inclusion and social cohesion.
To achieve this, government is currently implementing a comprehensive land reform programme in a systematic, orderly, and responsible manner consistent with the rule of law.
We have committed ourselves that through the release and redistribution of strategically located state-owned land, we will ensure that land is made available for agricultural development, human settlements, and economic development, including targeted focus on stimulating rural and township economies.
In this approach, there is no room for chaos and anarchy perpetrated under the guise of land reform. We are concerned about reports of sporadic land grabs in various areas around the country, including in the North West where Honourable Du Toit is coming from.
Incitement of violence and lawlessness is an antithesis of what we stand for as a constitutional state. As government, we condemn any incitement to lawlessness, particularly one that results in land grabs, as these are in violation of the laws and the Constitution of our country.
We reiterate our call to the citizens of our country to exercise restraint, and to allow Government to implement the necessary policy and constitutional reforms aimed at redressing the imbalances of the past as reflected in skewed and inequitable patterns of land access and ownership.
To discourage unplanned and disorderly occupation and use of land, government has put in place legislative measures that guide planning and land use management decisions at all levels, including local government. The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act designates various land portions for specific use, depending on spatial development priorities for earmarked land in any given locality. Various land uses could range from human settlements, agriculture, social infrastructure, to industrial use.
Therefore, it goes without saying that land grabs disrupt orderly and systematic planning and development, including the provision of requisite infrastructure to support land use decisions.
As part of discouraging incitement to violence and land grabs, it is critical for municipalities to put in place by-laws to regulate processes for dealing with issues of land access and use in areas under their jurisdiction.
Where blatant violations, and incitement of violence and land grabs occur, the law will take its course. You can rest assured of the capacity of our criminal justice system to enforce compliance, in line with our commitment to the rule of law.
Thank you very much.
Question: On government efforts to bring stability to the National Power Utility, Eskom.
Reply by Deputy President Mabuza:
Honourable Chairperson,
As government, we are committed to resolving the energy supply challenge that continues to cause inconvenience to our daily lives, causing constraint to the development and growth of the economy. A combination of short-term, medium term and long-term interventions is required to address the electricity supply and demand gap.
Last year, the Minister of Minerals and Energy published the Integrated Resource Plan 2019, as a guiding blue-print for the implementation of targeted interventions to respond to the electricity supply challenge.
This Integrated Resource Plan is aimed at ensuring energy security by developing adequate generation capacity to meet the country’s electricity demand.
To this end, one of the key interventions in the energy mix is the accelerated implementation of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.
Honourable Members would be aware that this Programme is already in the process of implementation. Bid Windows 1, 2 and 3 are already supplying power to the grid. The Department of Minerals and Energy is in talks with Independent Power Producers to explore options available to bring projects in Bid Window 4 on stream sooner than the originally expected date, in order to assist with the current supply constraints.
The Department of Minerals and Energy is also finalising consultations with Eskom, the National Treasury, and the Department of Public Enterprises on the time table and modalities for the procurement Bid Window 5.
The details of the implementation timelines will be outlined by the Minister of Minerals and Energy in due course, once all the consultations processes have been finalised.
However, it is important to point out that the Minister has already submitted to NERSA the necessary determination in terms of Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act. Once NERSA has finalised its processes, the Department of Minerals and Energy will proceed with the procurement.
The Department of Minerals and Energy has developed regulations under the Electricity Regulation Act, outlining the framework of the development or procurement by municipalities of their own power generation capacity. These regulations will be published for public consultation during which time SALGA and municipalities will have an opportunity to make comments.
Thank you very much.
Question: On government plans to stabilise State-Owned Companies, in particular Eskom, South African Airways and Denel.
Reply by Deputy President Mabuza:
Honourable Chairperson,
In the 2020 State of the Nation Address, His Excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted some of the steps that will be undertaken to address governance failures in State Owned Enterprises. Amongst others, the Presidential SOE Council, will undertake a process of rationalisation of all state owned enterprises to ensure that they serve strategic economic and developmental needs of the country.
In this regard, Cabinet has on numerous occasions, been apprised by the Minister of Public Enterprises, on the work being done in improving performance and governance of Eskom, SAA and other State Owned Enterprises. The rationalisation of State Owned Companies is work in progress, which will be undertaken until all of them are in a healthy position to sustain themselves.
Currently, all Boards of State Owned Companies are in a process of being reviewed and strengthened. They have further been directed to focus on addressing all governance failures that have impacted negatively on the performance of our State Owned Companies. At Denel, changes have been effected with the announcement of a new interim Board. So are similar interventions at SAA and Eskom.
The Board of Denel has been repositioning the company and stabilising it’s financing. This also includes expanding the order book of Denel and its recapitalisation in terms of provision of funding requirements for the restructuring.
Denel is currently implementing a comprehensive Turnaround Plan to put the company on a sustainable recovery path.
Amongst others, the key pillars of the Turnaround Plan includes:
- Improving corporate governance and oversight to ensure effective management and accountability. This also entails enhancing financial management and addressing liquidity challenges,
- Divesting non-core assets to generate revenue, reduce costs and achieve operational efficiencies,
- Retention of core skills and delivery capabilities to restore impaired reputation.
With regards to SAA, during the State of the Nation Address, President Ramaphosa announced that the Business Rescue Practitioners are expected to unveil their plans for restructuring the airline in the next few weeks.
In December 2019, the President announced the re-establishment of the Energy War Room to deal with energy supply in the country.
Since then, the Task Team on Eskom, chaired by the Deputy President, has been established and consists of Ministries of The Presidency, Public Enterprises, Energy, Finance, Cooperative Governance, State Security Agency and Eskom.
This Task Team is a critical institutional platform, to coordinate support interventions towards ensuring that Eskom has the requisite capacity to meet its obligation of providing electricity. Independent experts will be brought into this Task Team, as and when they are required, in order to share their expertise across a key range of performance areas.
The situation seems improving and there is a clearer plan by Eskom leadership. They have begun with plant maintenance programme to improve generation capacity. We are thus confident that ESKOM leadership will do whatever is possible to put the organisation on a sustainable recovery path, including addressing governance challenges.
Thank you very much.
Question: On the Constitutional powers of the Courts.
Reply by Deputy President Mabuza:
Honourable Chairperson,
Ours is a constitutional democracy. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996, makes provision for the principle of the Separation of Powers.
According to this principle, the power of the state is divided into three different, but inter-dependent components, namely the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
Neither the Cabinet, which is the Executive Authority, nor Parliament, which is the legislative authority, may supersede, ignore or undermine the Constitutional powers of the Courts, which are tasked with judicial authority.
Thank you very much.
Question: On strategies led by government to stimulate provincial economies, especially in townships and rural areas as a vehicle to ensure economic growth that is more inclusive and creates job opportunities.
Reply by Deputy President Mabuza:
Honourable Members,
Our overall approach to stimulating economic growth, deepening broad-based economic inclusion and meaningful participation is predicated on the understanding that we need to transform townships and rural villages into thriving economic hubs and integrate them into the mainstream of the economy.
Townships and rural economies represent an untapped potential that could unlock new frontiers of growth and diversification of industrial development and investments in areas where the majority of poor and underprivileged communities live.
Embedded in the government’s implementation of the District Development Model, is a clear articulation of our targeted approach towards investing in economic sectors to support entrepreneurship and job creation in townships and rural areas. Within a defined spatial development perspective, government’s One Plan is intended to integrate and align government’s investments to achieve maximum impact that will contribute to the long-term development of a specific District or Metro.
As part of government’s plan to support Provincial Growth and Development Strategies, we are currently working with Provinces to align their Provincial Economic Development Plans with the broader goals of the National Development Plan.
At a District level, we are identifying high impact investment projects that will drive growth based on individual comparative advantages of each District or Metropolitan area. The portfolio of projects includes those that are implemented in deep rural villages and townships to promote agricultural production and beneficiation, as well as infrastructure investment to support local industrial development, network industries such as water, roads and telecommunications.
This will be enhanced through proper coordination by the newly established Infrastructure and Investment Unit in the Presidency.
Honourable Chairperson,
Special Economic Zones and the revitalisation of industrial parks are but one part of our industrialisation programme, and are critical platforms to integrate township and rural small businesses into domestic and global market value chains. They play a catalytic role to promote entrepreneurship, skills development and infrastructure development in townships and rural areas.
For instance, the refurbishment of warehousing facilities in places like KaBokweni and the envisaged Nkomazi Special Economic Zone in Ehlanzeni District where Honourable Nyambi comes from, has the potential to create opportunities for small businesses to participate in agriculture and agro-processing value chains, thereby accessing domestic and export markets for their products.
As part of supporting small businesses, including those in townships and rural areas, we are working with Provinces to ensure that we provide funding and mentorship support to improve their prospects of success. The Township Entrepreneurship Fund is intended to provide needed support to rural and township enterprises, and will be rolled out within the context of the District Development Model.
Honourable Chairperson,
Working with the Planning Commission, we have initiated collaborative engagements with provincial teams to formulate a functional framework to empower township and rural businesses.
In this regard, leveraging Government procurement has been identified as the key tool to kick-start and accelerate the empowerment of township and rural enterprises. For example, the government nutrition programme presents opportunities for the procurement of fresh produce directly from farmers to supply government institutions such schools, hospitals, prisons etc. As the National Council of Provinces, you should play a monitoring role over provinces in their implementation of these initiatives.
Our government infrastructure programmes have the capacity to stimulate the manufacture of construction materials such as bricks, trusses, window and door frames for the construction of houses, schools, hospitals and the paving of roads. We are working with national and provincial governments to ensure that the government budget spending is directed to the development of rural and township businesses and in order to address unemployment.
National government is also working with Provinces and municipalities to improve the regulatory environment for small businesses in township and rural villages.
Honourable Members, it is our firm commitment to ensure that government promotes inclusive economic growth in previously neglected and marginalised township and rural areas.
Thank you very much.
