Speaker of the National Assembly,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Honourable Members,
The debate on The Presidency Budget Vote has been spirited, at times provocative, but above all, a credit to our democratic order.
It is just over a year since the people of South Africa peacefully participated in elections that brought all of us to this Parliament to represent them.
It is through debates such as this one that those who elected us to this House are able to measure whether we are up to the tasks they have given us.
They can measure whether we represent and articulate their aspirations and assess whether we are undertaking interventions that will improve their lives or not.
Even as these debates are robust and at times insulting, they are a key marker of the richness and endurance of our democracy.
It has been just over a year since the establishment of the second Government of National Unity in our country’s democratic history.
The GNU, made up of 10 political parties with different histories and experiences, has continued to hold even as it has weathered many a storm.
There have indeed been disagreements and disputes among the GNU partners.
And yet, despite our differences, as GNU partners, we have chosen to work for the common good.
It is as a Government of National Unity that we will continue in our mission to drive rapid, inclusive and sustainable economic growth; to create a more just society by tackling poverty and the high cost of living; building state capacity; strengthening law enforcement agencies; and deepening social cohesion and nation-building.
There are those, including in this House, who will assert that democracy does not put food on the table; that the constitution cannot be worn, driven or lived in.
Yet they lose sight of a fundamental reality; that in the context of democratic backsliding across the world, South Africa stands tall as a country that upholds, protects and advances the rights of its citizens.
Yesterday, the Honourable Hlophe gave us a laundry list of everything that is wrong with this country.
We are alive to the many challenges we face. At the same time, we should not lose sight of the fact that this democracy, only 31 years old, has made great progress in improving the quality of life of its citizens.
Some countries in the world have democracies dating back hundreds, even thousands of years. Our democracy by comparison is still very young.
Those who decry the allegedly scant progress we have made wish us to discount the millions of homes electrified, the clean water in communities where there was once none, the public housing built for the indigent, and the free basic services provided to society’s most vulnerable.
They wish us to discount the more than 600,000 learners who passed their matric exams last year, the highest recorded pass rate in our country’s democratic history.
They wish us to not consider the more than 1.2 million young South Africans who are being supported to further their studies by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
They wish us to discount the testimony of young South Africans like the Honourable Lufefe Mkutu who spoke with such eloquence in this House yesterday.
This Honourable Member told us how he is a direct product of the transformative interventions of this Government when he was at school right throughout his academic life up to qualifying as an industrial engineering university graduate.
The critics of our democratic era wish us to ignore the workers who are now shareholders in the companies they work for, and the African, Indian and coloured men and women who hold positions of leadership in companies thanks to our employment equity laws.
We are supposed to discount the more than 3.5 million hectares of land that has been restored to communities, and the more than 2.1 million beneficiaries who have been compensated for their land.
These are some of the fruits of our young democracy, the self-same democracy that the South African people continue to believe in, have faith in, and expect us to advance in both word and deed.
That the majority of South Africans are committed to the fundamental principles of our Constitution confers a heavy responsibility on the Government of National Unity that we retain this faith.
It requires that we work as a collective to implement our strategic priorities of inclusive growth and job creation, reducing poverty and the high cost of living, and building a capable, ethical and developmental state.
I can assure the Honourable Mulder that we will not dismiss the proposals put forward by the Freedom Front Plus to ensure that all South Africans progress economically.
We will engage with the Freedom Front’s proposals and we will do so critically. Where we disagree, we will say so.
The Carnegie Report into the ‘poor white problem’ is not a useful guide as we confront the challenges of the democratic South Africa.
The findings and recommendations of the Carnegie Report were influential in the development of apartheid. The commission sought to uplift the conditions of poor whites, but at the expense of blacks. It proposed separating racial groups in labour and living arrangements – of extending labour reservation to protect unskilled whites from competition with black labour.
And despite what the Carnegie Report said about state aid increasing dependency, the actions of the apartheid state were central to the economic empowerment of whites.
Under apartheid laws, blacks were stripped of their land, they were barred from certain occupations, their movement was restricted, they were unable to build up capital to start businesses.
There was a huge disparity between the resources devoted to white schools and universities, white hospitals and clinics. More was spent on social grants, housing, agricultural support and social services for white.
Honourable Mulder, the huge racial disparities we see in access to wealth and opportunities in South Africa were the consequence of the aid provided by the apartheid state to white people.
This is an important discussion and we welcome the Freedom Front’s willingness to engage in it.
But let us not rewrite our history, let us acknowledge the progress that has been made through our economic empowerment policies, let us identify the weaknesses, and let us indeed create a bright future for all our children and grandchildren.
We welcome the Honourable Hadebe’s support for the work of The Presidency in fulfilling its mandate. We agree that this support indeed brings with it the expectation of accountability, because this is a cornerstone of responsive government.
As was rightly characterised, the Presidency is a centre of strategic coordination. It is not an implementing department.
The Presidency does not build roads or fix potholes. The Presidency does not deliver clinics or dispense grants.
The Presidency, and indeed the President, does not try accused persons or put them in orange overalls.
The role of The Presidency is to ensure that the work of Government departments is coordinated, and that Cabinet decisions and priority programmes are implemented.
The role of The Presidency is to unlock implementation.
The role of The Presidency is to ensure there is policy coherence across all the arms of Government, and to give strategic direction to departments as they fulfil their respective mandates.
Honourable Hadebe, we furthermore agree that South Africans have indeed grown wary of well-crafted plans, policies and strategies, and want to see implementation.
That is why the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation is tasked with monitoring the implementation of the Medium Term Development Plan inaugurated under the Seventh Administration.
We should desist from sweeping statements about accountability lacking in government.
The DPME produces a range of public reports.
These include Annual Performance Plans, Performance Monitoring Reports on key sectoral outcomes like health and education, Frontline Service Delivery Monitoring Reports, as well as Citizen-Based Monitoring Reports.
All of these are subjected to Parliamentary oversight.
These are all regular, easily accessible and detailed.
They are there for any member of this House, and indeed any South African, to see, interrogate and use to hold their public representatives to account.
So before we stand here in this House and make generalisations about lack of accountability on the part of Government, let us take the time to read.
In line with its coordinating role, The Presidency is tasked with mobilising support from all social partners for Government’s Programme of Action.
As the Seventh Administration and as GNU partners, we have been firm in our commitment to working with social partners in pursuit of inclusive growth and job creation.
Yesterday, the Honourable Gama delivered a somewhat misguided view of the collaboration between Government and business.
Achieving inclusive and sustainable growth that creates jobs cannot be done without active cooperation with business and industry.
Data produced by Statistics South Africa shows that the private sector accounts for more than 73 percent of all employees in our country.
While Government’s role is, in part, to create an enabling environment for job creation and new businesses to thrive, the private sector is a critical driver of job creation.
Turning our economy around necessitates that we address and overcome the various obstacles to growth and investment, be they regulatory or structural.
At the height of the loadshedding crisis, we invited business and other social partners to come on board to support the work of the National Electricity Crisis Committee.
Through our partnership with business, the private sector committed skills, resources and operational support towards stabilising electricity supply, unlocking investment in clean and renewable energy sources, and laying the ground for an energy-secure future. This has taken place under the strategic leadership of The Presidency.
Through partnerships we have made noteworthy progress in driving much needed economic reforms; in reducing bottlenecks in the energy and logistics sectors; and in driving job creation initiatives in partnership with the private sector.
These partnerships are laying the foundation for a more inclusive economy that benefits all South Africans.
In 2018 we announced the presidential investment drive, with an ambitious goal to attract R1.2 trillion in investment over a five year period.
Since then The Presidency has lent strategic direction to the convening of five South Africa Investment Conferences, and will hold the sixth later this year.
Having reached our target ahead of schedule in 2023, we set ourselves a new target of approximately R2 trillion over the next five-year period up to 2028.
The Investment Envoys in The Presidency have played a formative role in mobilising support for our investment drive.
My Investment Promotion Adviser, Dr Alastair Ruiters, is playing a key role in retaining the momentum of the investment drive, including leveraging participation in multilateral forums.
At the height of the COVID-19 crisis when South Africa chaired the African Union, we also appointed Special Envoys, including Mr Trevor Manuel, to mobilise international economic support for the continental response to the pandemic – with significant successes.
Investment mobilisation is an important area of work for The Presidency. It is aligned to the GNU’s cardinal priority of inclusive growth and job creation and central to our country’s wider economic diplomacy efforts.
We are building partnerships in other areas.
Last year, the total value of new projects announced by both the public and private sectors amounted to R445 billion, the largest fixed investment in infrastructure in South Africa since 2021.
Yesterday I reflected on South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan that is aimed at mobilising finance from a range of public and private sources to support our transition to a low-carbon, inclusive, climate resilient economy and society.
This plan is the outcome of extensive consultations with a range of stakeholders including communities, labour, industry experts and business.
Honourable Members,
The Constitution empowers the President with executive powers to establish commissions of inquiry into any matter of public concern.
Yesterday, the Honourable Nolutshungu sought to discredit the processes around commissions of inquiry, calling them a waste of money and time.
But as we have demonstrated, such processes can have a profound impact. Think about the revitalisation of the South African Revenue Service. The ongoing reform of the state security apparatus. The millions of rands recovered and assets seized by our law-enforcement authorities in pursuit of those implicated in the wholesale capture of our state.
I said yesterday, and I will repeat again today, as a country committed to the rule of law, to procedural fairness and to transparency, we will ensure that the allegations made around corruption in the upper echelons of the South African Police Service will be fully ventilated in the commission of inquiry process.
We agree with the Honourable Zibi that we cannot squander the enduring belief of South Africans in our democracy, and that this same democracy must deliver accountability, development and opportunity.
This accountability means that all those who are responsible for imperilling our democracy through nefarious acts should face justice.
Honourable Members,
The Presidency, together with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, plays a central role in advancing our country’s foreign policy and ensuring our nation’s strategic interests are safeguarded.
Through our participation on multilateral platforms, The Presidency articulates and advocates for the advancement of the African Agenda and the AU’s Agenda 2063, and for a more just, fair world order.
As the Honourable Lamola said yesterday, South Africa is an advocate for the interests of the Global South in line with our commitment to principled solidarity.
That is why The Presidency actively participates in international fora on the most pressing issues facing developing economies, such as rising debt burdens, mobilising funding for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, and calling on advanced economies to meet their obligations to support vulnerable countries to raise the ambition of their climate action.
So we cannot in all honesty argue, as some Members did yesterday, that participation in these important platforms is wastage. Like any other country in the world, a Presidency is the face of a country’s foreign policy.
The Presidency is on the ground engaging with the South African people and advancing the constitutional imperative of participatory democracy.
Through the Presidential Izimbizo, for example, we are providing a platform for citizens to engage with their leaders on their most pressing issues and to hold elected officials accountable for service delivery.
We regard this as a critical tool for taking government to the people and they also fall within the ambit of Budget Vote 1.
The District Development Model that we introduced is more than a way of reorganising local government. It should become an operating philosophy for all spheres for government. When national, provincial and local government cooperate and collaborate to drive development, the overall well-being of citizens is enhanced.
The District Development Model enhances efficiency by having the three spheres of government aligning planning, budgeting and implementation to reduce fragmentation, duplication and wastage across government departments and entities.
During the 7th Administration, The Presidency embarked on a series of engagements with provincial executives on their strategic development priorities and the support required from national Government.
Focusing on the comparative advantages and economic strengths of each province, national and provincial governments will work together to align development priorities and cooperate in the best interests of the people.
Honourable Members,
Vote 1 is for a budget that is in a number of respects exceptional. This is not a budget for the implementation of service delivery as is the case with other government departments.
Rather, this is a budget that will enable coordination, strategic leadership and oversight across all of Government. These are functions that are key to the state functioning effectively.
As the apex of Government, The Presidency ensures there is alignment, that the national priorities are implemented, and that urgent interventions are implemented in times of crisis: as we have seen during the loadshedding and COVID-19 crises.
A vote in support of this Budget is about strengthening the nerve centre of Government itself.
Honourable Petersen, hearing you speak in this House yesterday filled me with immeasurable pride. What confidence, what conviction, at just 23 years old.
You embody the future of this country.
You are the voice not just of your community and constituents, but of the millions of young South Africans who even amidst our many challenges see progress, who continue to believe that there is a place in the sun for us all, and who continue to have hope.
Young people who dare to invent the future, as the Honourable Mkutu put it yesterday.
Nobody in this House disagrees that the challenges we face as a country are immense. Nobody can disagree that we are not nearly as far along the road to a shared future as we had hoped to be.
And yet who do we serve with our malcontents, our laments and defeatism? Do we want to break or do we want to build?
As we journey to the National Dialogue where we will face the hard truths and forge a common brighter future, let us take courage from the words of this young patriot who said yesterday that this budget should be a turning point.
Where words become actions.
Where plans become progress.
Where South Africa truly becomes a nation that works for all its people.
I thank you.
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