Speech of the Deputy President of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, on the occasion of The Presidency Budget Vote, National Assembly, Cape Town, June 24 2009

The President of the Republic, The Honourable Jacob Zuma;
Honourable Speaker of the National Assembly;
Madam Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly;
Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers;
Honourable Members;
Distinguished guests, friends;
Ladies and gentlemen, and
Fellow South Africans:

I am honoured to have the opportunity to address the Members of the National Assembly on the occasion of the Annual Debate of the Budget Vote of the Presidency.

This year's debate is taking place against the background of the FIFA Confederations Cup tournament, a prelude to the FIFA 2010 World Cup, which our nation will deservedly host.

Needless to say this event is a striking expression of confidence in our country's ability to hold its own internationally.

In this regard, I wish to take this moment to congratulate Bafana Bafana, our national team, on reaching the crucial semi-finals stage, and hope that they will proceed to win this Confederations Cup tournament which will redound to our nation's credit!

I also wish to congratulate Die Bokke on their win against the British and Irish Lions and hope that, like Bafana Bafana, they too will triumph over their opponents.

Even though our cricket team choked in the semi finals of the ICC T20 tournament, everyone agrees that they remain the team to beat and I am sure our support for them remains as strong as ever.

Honourable Speaker,
In his address, the President of the Republic has clearly restated the refrain that this fourth democratic government is a caring government.

Inspired by this vision, government seeks to build strong and durable social partnerships, confident that only through dialogue and consultation can we advance towards our goals of growth and development as a nation.
To this end the Presidency seeks to lead by example, given its place at the apex of our system of governance, so that working together we can do more to achieve our goals.

A key area of work for the Presidency is to give leadership to the implementation of the soon to be launched Human Resource Development Strategy (HRDS).

The strategy was canvassed very widely amongst practitioners and stakeholders and has been welcomed by social partners as a critical mechanism to address our skills shortages.

The Human Resource Development Strategy will be managed in the Department of Higher Education and Training.

I, as Deputy President, will soon appoint the stakeholder-based Human Resource Development Council whose purpose is sector mobilisation and to provide advice on scarce and priority skills in the context of the priorities set out in the Human Resource Development Strategy.

Honourable Speaker,
Poverty continues to be an unsightly stain on the face of our social landscape.

In addition to its dehumanising effect on people, it also restricts individuals from realising their full potential, and thus robs society of the immeasurable contribution that these individuals could otherwise make.

Intensifying efforts against this challenge, the Presidency, working with the Social and Economic Clusters of government and in consultation with social partners across the nation, has developed a comprehensive Anti-Poverty Strategy (APS) designed to integrate and improve our current efforts to deal with the unacceptable levels of poverty in society.

At the core of this strategy is the creation of economic opportunities and empowering communities and individuals to access these opportunities.

While interventions such as social grants remain a critical element of our anti-poverty efforts, we seek more effectively to bring marginalised communities into sustainable economic activities.

We are in the process of finalising a concrete Action Plan which will ensure that the objectives in the strategy are brought to life in action across the country.

As Honourable Members may be aware, we also decided that whilst developing this new approach, we should initiate a War on Poverty Campaign, which puts into practice an integrated effort directed at individual households.

The war on poverty brings together a range of national, provincial and local actors.

Already, the leadership that has been assembled after the elections has started to intensify this campaign.

In particular, the Ministry of Rural Development and Land Affairs has started work in various parts of the country, starting with Giyani in the Limpopo Province, to widen the net of localities where this campaign will be undertaken, the better to help communities and draw lessons critical to the actualisation of the comprehensive Anti-Poverty Strategy.

Our anti-poverty campaign targets particularly vulnerable sections in society, including children, women, youth, people living in rural areas and urban informal settlements, people with disabilities or chronic illnesses, as well as the elderly.

Deriving from this experience, proper institutions will be set up reflecting an integrated service delivery model to ensure that the Anti-Poverty programme becomes a critical focus of activities among all national departments and across all the spheres of government

As part of the implementation of the Anti-Poverty Strategy, government will develop a single central database of affected households and ensure that interventions are systematic; that individuals with the potential to lift their families out of poverty are identified and accordingly supported; and to ensure that there is a follow up on each household so that practical positive results come out of each interaction.

As part of fighting poverty, we need to maximise efficiency levels in our work, so as to enhance chances of achieving our goals.

To this end the recession we are experiencing makes efficiency by government departments even more urgent so that scarce resources are used optimally.

Necessarily, we will strengthen strategic management and leadership capability across government to position ourselves better for the challenge of effective governance.

This is all the more important since many ordinary South Africans are already affected by the pervasive effects of this challenge.

So far many have lost jobs, houses, vehicles and property- and still are losing these. This state of affairs, if not addressed, will further sink more lives into poverty.

It does not make economic or ethical sense for government to be spendthrift with its financial management in the face of this financial menace to the populace.

Part of this prudence we are envisioning in government is to avoid the trap of overruns in our departmental expenditures.

For our anti-poverty efforts to succeed government needs to ensure at all times that it manages public resources in a sustainable manner.

Conscious that the current global recession is likely to compound our struggle against poverty, government has set its sights on the public investment programme as a key countervailing measure against the negative effects of this global crisis.

Already R787bn over the three financial years to March 2012 will be used in expanding and improving infrastructure and related facilities.

Activities will include maintenance of current infrastructure using labour intensive methods wherever possible.

As Deputy President, working with other Cabinet colleagues, I will continue to oversee these efforts.

Honourable Members,

As you would know, the Leader of Government Business fulfils a function of aligning and co-ordinating the programmes of the Executive and Parliament especially around the processing of legislation.

We recognise the crucial role that Parliament has to play in holding the executive to account and performing oversight over the workings of government.

We are encouraged that this Parliament is intending to play a more activist role in this regard.

We will ensure that members of the executive fulfil their Constitutional responsibilities towards Parliament and encourage Ministers to respond promptly to matters raised in reports adopted by the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.

This applies equally to Parliamentary Questions and the provision of regular reports to Parliament or the Parliamentary committees on the activities of their Departments.

We recognise the need for Parliament to be provided with an accurate programme of the Bills that Ministers intend introducing.

We are developing mechanisms to improve the quality of this programme and ensure that deadlines for introduction are met.

We are acutely aware of the importance of Parliament having sufficient time to consider Bills and to engage with stakeholders and the public at large in the legislative process.

In order to ensure improved relations between the Executive and Parliament, I will be interacting on a regular basis with the main role-players in Parliament, in particular the Presiding Officers, the Whips, the Committee Chairs and opposition parties.

Honourable Members;

Over the years the world has been ravaged by HIV and AIDS, a deadly pandemic that threatens to cut a swathe through developing nations, especially Southern Africa.

Government remains determined to tackle this mortal threat head-on.

In this regard, the partnership between government, business and civil society in the fight against HIV and AIDS as well as tuberculosis needs to be strengthened.

Through the South African National Aids Council (SANAC), we are expanding the national response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

We are pleased that all our social partners are accelerating the implementation of their plans deriving from the National Strategic Plan (NSP) 2007-2011 on HIV and AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). An independent mid-term review of this work is being commissioned by the Department of Health on behalf of SANAC. We are also introducing a SANAC Sector Leaders Forum to strengthen feedback mechanisms and sectoral accountability.

Lest we forget, the message on this pandemic remains the three simple letters: ABC (abstain, be faithful, condomise)!

At the same time, we continue to encourage a variety of initiatives to stem the tide of the pandemic.

This includes the provision of Antiretroviral Treatment, research on medicines and other measures.

As part of this work, SANAC has agreed that we should embark on national consultations on male circumcision, given the scientific work that has been presented on this issue.

Another challenge in this respect is the lack of capacity of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to obtain funding.

Both government and the private sector within and outside SANAC have to reach out to the non-profit sector to arrest funding challenges.

We also expect positive funding flows from the Global Fund application that we have successfully submitted.

Working together, we can and will ensure that these initiatives contribute to our ultimate goal of creating an HIV-free generation.

Honourable Speaker,

Government recognises the important role of traditional leadership as a salient repository of our customs, history and cultural heritage.

By all accounts the Presidency has been effective in exercising political oversight over selected affairs of traditional leaders and this we have been able to do working in collaboration with the erstwhile Department of Provincial and Local Government (now called Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs) and the National House of Traditional Leaders (NHTL).

The work of the National House is readily acknowledged for contributing to the agenda of national unity, development and social cohesion within our nation.
In this regard, let me express government's appreciation of the invaluable leadership demonstrated by this august institution.
The Presidency also took an active part in the implementation of the National Programme of Support for Traditional Leaders which is meant to standardise support in all provinces, and ensure that clear guidelines are issued at national level for provinces regarding all matters of support to the institution of traditional leadership.
Honourable Speaker,
We wish to reiterate the President's commitment that, as the Chair of SADC, South Africa will continue to support the Inclusive Government in Zimbabwe and render whatever assistance is requested by the collective Zimbabwean leadership in order to deal with unresolved matters.
In this context, we note and welcome the pledge by the various governments across the world to increase their assistance to Zimbabwe.

In concert with the leadership of Zimbabwe, we are convinced that more can be done to strengthen this support.

We also hope that the visit of the IMF fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe will result in positive engagement in the future.

We have long maintained that for the region to thrive, we need to push for political and economic cohesion.

For this reason, we have committed ourselves to ensure the implementation of SADC Protocols aimed at improving security and stability, infrastructure including transport, public administration and other sectors, and in harmonising industrial policies.

Moreover, we fully endorse the efforts towards addressing sources of disagreement among members of the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) on issues such as trade policy and revenue sharing.

This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of our diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Through the Bi-National Commission (BNC) led by the Deputy Heads of State of both countries, we are finalising a comprehensive programme that will also ensure a people to people engagement through our respective parliaments, as well as academic and business organisations.

Honourable Members,

Working with other stakeholders such as the 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC), we are glad to announce that we have made significant progress in pursuit of our goal to host a successful 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The oversight visits conducted by members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee have helped us ensure that we meet our deadlines, not least to speed up the infrastructure programme.

However, we need to take into account the difficulties identified with a view to resolving them as soon as possible.

This includes arresting budget overruns by host cities, especially in the current economic environment so as to ensure that our expenditure is within budget.

We are, however, confident that the economic benefits flowing from the 2010 FIFA World Cup Competition will soften some of the cutting effects of this economic crisis.

We have noted concerns regarding delays experienced in Mpumalanga over the construction of the Mbombela Stadium.

We continue to interact with the affected parties in an urgent bid to resolve all outstanding matters.

We have also started to pay focussed attention to all the 2010 legacy projects so that the facilities are used for the maximum benefit of our people and our country beyond 2010.

For instance, it is part of our role to ascertain the processing of the post-2010 stadium maintenance programme, which will assist us in sustaining the quality and standards of our stadia.

If anything was needed to confirm our country's readiness to host the FIFA 2010 World Cup, the Confederations Cup now underway has demonstrated that we are on course to meet our objectives and surpass the expectations of the global football fraternity.

Indeed, the Confederations Cup has also helped us identify areas that require improvement, the better to deliver the best World Cup ever.

We are also convinced that our national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, building on recent successes, will continue improving with time, so that, come 2010, they can make a handsome return on the nation's material and emotional investment.

Honourable Speaker, as South Africans we share not only a common territory but also a historical identity that defines our nationhood.

Spurred on by our fourth democratic elections as a nascent democracy, we are determined to pull out all the stops to expedite the process to build a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.

Working together, we are confident of realising this long-cherished goal!

Thank You.

Source: The Presidency

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