The DA is the best alternative for the ANC in government

In every State of the Nation Address by President Ramaphosa, we are serenaded with remixes of classics hits: from Thuma Mina to Khauzela and just last week to a verse by Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Beneath all those sonic seductions, are the echoes of unfulfilled promises.

Mr. President, while you artfully plead for more time from all of us to fix what’s broken in the country, the reality is that many South Africans have no more time left to wait.

The people of Mzilela Village who have never had access to clean drinkable water since 1994 are tired of waiting.

The young graduates who have never had a job since their graduation are tired of waiting.

Victims of rape are tired of waiting for rape kits at police stations every time they report their cases.

All of them want a government that understands the urgency of their plight.

Their patience has been tested over and over again. All they need is more delivery, less promises.

All these claims about being serious about fighting corruption will only be credible
when corrupt politicians start going to jail.

Until then, such calls will remain the repetitive hollow sounds of broken records.

Mr. President, you spent a great deal of time in your speech sharing the extent of multiple consultations, summits, forums, councils and all other glorified WhatsApp groups overelaborating on the simplicity of our problems.

Truth be told, it shouldn’t take such endless consultations to fix what’s broken in our country because the solutions are so obvious for all of us to see.

All it takes is the courage to confront the left-wing ideologues and dump their dogmatic obsessions.

Reaffirm the independence of the South African Reserve Bank. Stop the nationalization of medical health care. Stop the expropriation of land without compensation. Privatize failing state-owned enterprises. Fire all corrupt politicians in government.

If you do this, you will restore the investor confidence that will help create the jobs that so many South Africans desperately needs.

But we all know that all of these are impossible because of the deep ideological differences between the factions you are trying so hard to appease.

Mr. President, now more than ever is the time for policy uniformity in government and not the expedient policy double-speak that currently prevails in your government.

What the country needs is the repetitive singular chorus of policy certainty from your administration not another remix of a classic song as a rallying call.

Fellow South Africans, perhaps now is the time to recognize that the ANC has simply ran out of the best ideas for our country to prosper.

The standard ANC response to every major debate about the future of our country is nationalization!

Nationalise the Reserve Bank! Nationalize health care! Nationalize banks!

Now is the time for a government that protects individual property rights rather than trample on them.

Now is the time for a government that embraces citizens’ right to choose the medical help they prefer rather than take away their rights.

Now is the time for a government has can deliver quality primary education that empowers our children to be amongst the leading nations in reading and writing with meaning and maths literacy.

Now is the time for a government that can devolve powers to provinces to establish provincial police services rather than fight provinces that are trying to fight crime.

As imperfect as we have often been on government, the DA in government in the best possible alternative to the ANC in government.

We have the most consistent record for spending taxpayers’ money wisely.

Where we govern outright – every credible research shows that – the quality of life is better.

Communities are much safer.

Public infrastructure is in a better condition due to regular maintenance.

Poor residents have access to a broad basket of subsidized free basic services than anywhere else in the country.

It is easier to start and run businesses because we have eliminated the red tape that frustrates entrepreneurs.

And yes, we could do better.

And we will.

I thank you.

When local government fails, millions of South Africans suffer

Honourable Speaker/Chairperson Honourable Members, Fellow South Africans,

Mr President, when local government fails to deliver on their responsibilities as mandated in the Constitution, the lives of millions of South Africans are severely impacted negatively – as we hear and see when we visit our constituencies or do oversight all over the country.

We have listened to quite a few plans over the years. While we are still waiting for these plans to come to fruition, I want to focus on the current crippled and incapable Local Government structures of our country.

Mr President, you have said, and often repeated that opposition parties should instead of making noise, offer solutions.

We welcome your acceptance of the DA’s solution for reform of District Municipalities in announcing the District Model.

In the Western Cape, the need for change in the operation of District Municipalities has been discussed for some time in the Premier’s Coordinating – and other forums. This resulted in the initiation of the Joint District Approach Model. The Western Cape government is taking the opportunity to implement the Joint District Planning Approach in all five of the province’s District Municipalities

This model will see the formation of the District Coordination Forums, and the utilization of shared services, especially in rural areas where specialised skills and knowledge are often scarce.

The Joint District Approach creates the ultimate opportunity to align plans, assess them and finally implement them. This will ensure that gaps will be closed and prevent the duplication of processes in service delivery.

Mr President, you referred to the need to address Climate Change. Some of the many environmental hurdles in local government is that of inadequate waste management, air quality and pollution that contribute to the decline of our environment.

Through the Joint District Approach, the Western Cape government has a mission to over time reduce the 162 landfill sites to just 9. This will result in more waste volume in concentrated areas. Consequently, better opportunities will be created for increased recycling, sustainable waste management and job creation.

Mr President, the district model should not be a powers and functions discussion nor a tool to unilaterally take control of unmandated powers and functions.

This should not be a vehicle to broaden the opportunities for corruption and malfunction. It should focus on streamlining resources and service delivery to the people of South Africa.

Several municipalities are failing in service delivery. With many municipalities under administration, now is the time to find proactive solutions to the way interventions are being implemented. Mr President, In September 2019, The Public Affairs Research Institute published a comprehensive report on Section 139 interventions. Our solution is to at least implement one of the many recommendations in this report, namely that Section 139 interventions are not used as a last solution, but as the framework to prevent the collapse of local government.

Bobby Unser said that “success is where preparation and opportunities meet”.

The Joint District Planning Approach is an opportunity – the Western Cape is prepared to implement it. This is what you call building a capable state.

When things fall apart the ANC turns a blind eye

Fellow South Africans

Honourable Members,

Speaker,

Mr President, last week I sat in this House and listened to you. I asked myself on what credibility does this government address us. With the increase in violence against women and children, a country that can’t keep the lights on, collapsing municipalities and Home Affairs that can’t protect our borders. 

On what credibility does this government look at ordinary South Africans across this country who look to this government and only see darkness. We, the people of South Africa, are here to hold you to account Mr President. It’s time to stop being shocked and face the people of South Africa. 

You said nothing about the Department of Home Affairs, you know why? Because everything is falling apart, and when things fall apart the ANC turns a blind eye and continue as if it is business as usual. While you were amongst the first people posing for pictures at the Tshwane home of Jabu Baloyi, who was killed when taxi drivers took a stand on fighting drugs in the city, it is shocking to learn that you stood here and said nothing on securing our borders to prevent more South Africans from dying like Jabu.

In September 2019 we lost nine (9) South Africans when there were xenophobic attacks in our country, at the time your silence was deafening and yet you stood here and chose to say nothing. 

While we wait for your government to finalise the Border Management Authority Bill we expected you to guide us on how you currently plan to secure our borders.

Mr President in your speech you were silent about the fact that on the 2nd of February 2020, a police officer was murdered in Diepsloot by an undocumented foreigner. Crimes committed by undocumented persons are very hard to solve as the perpetrators are almost impossible to trace.

How many murders must go unsolved for your government to realise this is an important matter, that needs urgent attention. Where is the urgency? We cannot be comfortable in this House. Mr. President you cannot be comfortable. 
The DA has a plan to secure our borders and stop illegal immigration.

We believe that it is important to:

1. Assist, support and care for legitimate refugees and asylum seekers; and
2. Attract foreign nationals with scarce skills to South Africa to help us grow our economy and create jobs;

And the DA will secure our borders and stop illegal immigration by:

1. Arresting, detaining and deporting those who repeatedly enter the country illegally;
2. Ensure undocumented immigrants are regularised or assisted in leaving the country if they do not meet the criteria for remaining in the country;
3. Strengthening our border posts. Through proper control and order, we can create corruption-free and effective border security and control;
4. Eradicating the corruption and inefficiency endemic to Home Affairs.
 
I am shocked that you kept mum about long queues at the Department of Home Affairs Offices, its network that is always offline, and allegations that citizens of our country are expected to pay bribes to skip the queues.

If last week’s SONA speech is anything to go by you further demonstrated that you do not care about women of this country when you failed to articulate government’s plan on fighting fraudulent marriages which mostly affects women of this country.

On Gender Based Violence you said “We implemented an emergency action plan and prioritised R1.6 billion to support this plan until the end of the current financial year. There has been progress in several areas”. What progress? What areas? 

Amahle Thabethe from Springs has been missing from the 6th April 2019.

In September Precious Ramabulana was raped and killed in her room.

Belinda from Standerton together with her daughter has been missing since the 28th of January.

While the family members continue to search for their loved ones we will leave no stone unturned searching for your backbone, Mr. President, to take bold decisions on important matters affecting our country.

Your 5-point emergency plan has failed. it has also failed to address shortage of SAPS officials and insufficient resources.

I have conducted oversights at Govan Bethal, Standerton and Sakhile SAPS and our oversight revealed that while the population is growing the government has failed to increase the number of SAPS officials and there is a shortage of vehicles and where they have vehicles their vehicles have 300 000+ kilometres on the clock. 

Though SAPS have adults and minor rape kits they are not provided with buccal swaps which causes delays investigating sexual offences.

Strengthening municipalities that the President is talking about is long overdue iDA iyona  ehamba phambili, eMidvaal sithole ukuhlolwa kwamabhuku ezimali okuhlanzekile iminyaka esithupha ilandelana. 

Kanti ke naseLekwa siqeda ukususa esikhundleni uSodolophu no Somlomo ngezinsolo zokukhwabanisa nokungalethi izinsiza zabahlali baseLekwa, bekuyisiqalo lesi baningi abalandelayo.

Siyathemba kusasa angeke nibabuyisele ngoba Loko kuyokhimbisa ngikusobala ukuthi anibakhathaleli abahlali baseLekwa.

Ngiyabonga Somlomo 

The incapable talking-head of an incapable stat

Honourable Speaker,
 
Over the past few weeks, I have been encouraged to see the President promoting the DA’s
long-held view on building a capable state. 
 
As someone who deliberately chose to build his multimillion Rand mansion in the DA-run City of Cape Town, he was obviously mightily impressed by the quality of service delivery in
this city.
 
So, inspired by our success, the President started talking about the DA’s capable state. 
 
However, he quickly realised that he could never actually build a capable state like we have, because that would mean choosing the country over the corruption of his own party.
 
Per slot van rekening beteken die bou van ‘n bekwame staat juis dat korrupsie en kader ontplooiing uitgeroei moet word, en dat individuele landsburgers bemagtig moet word in plaas van ‘n allesoorheersende staat. 
 
Om te verwag dat die ANC dít sal doen, is soos om ‘n jakkals aan te stel om ‘n ogie te hou oor die hoenderhok.
 
Dit is die rede waarom ons sit met ‘n President wat blykbaar glo dat deur bloot die woorde “bekwame staat” te sê, sy woorde outomaties waar word.
 
This year’s State of the Nation Address was a grotesque example of just how out-of-touch this President truly is. 
 
On the day of SONA, Eskom desperately scrambled to keep the lights on at all costs to enable the annual presidential delusion about a capable state, smart cities and bullet trains.  
 
But as soon as the president was comfortably back at his generator-powered mansion, the rest of the country was immediately plunged right back into darkness. 
 
If the honourable President stepped outside his bubble for a moment, he would see an urgent message from the real-world: the incapable ANC state is collapsing all around us.
 
So, beyond hollow rhetoric, what is the President actually doing about our collapsing state?

Honourable Speaker, let’s see what kind of example he is setting.
 
• Mr President, why haven’t you fired your health minister, who appointed his niece
as chief of staff despite a cloud of corruption hanging over her? 
 
En tog verwag U dat Suid-Afrikaners hierdie minister moet vertrou met hul lewens,
sowel as met honderde miljarde Rande, as deel van U waansinnige plan om
gesondheidsorg te nasionaliseer.
 
• Mr President, what have you done about your water and sanitation minister, who
appointed the disgraced Menzi Simelane and Mo Schaik as special advisers? 
 
Their only experience with sanitation came when they flushed hundreds of millions of taxpayer Rands down the toilet.
 
• Mr President, when are you firing your communications minister for abusing
taxpayer funds to pay for her wedding anniversary celebrations in New York and
Geneva? 
 
• Mr President, what is a Hazenile addict still doing in the ministry of energy when he refuses to free citizens from the tyranny Eskom?
 
When the citizens of this country look around them, they see every single day that the honourable President is nothing more than the incapable talking-head of an incapable state.
 
As die President werklik ‘n duit omgegee het oor die bou van ‘n bekwame staat soos in sy nuwe DA-beheerde tuisdorp, sou hy onmiddellik tot aksie oorgaan om ons staatsdiens te red van finale ineenstorting. 
 
Instead of insulting South Africans by calling them “negative,” he would do his job and give them reasons to be positive.
 
To prevent fiscal implosion, his government would grow a backbone and cut the wage bill.
 
To save basic services like education, health and social protection, the state would hang “for sale” signs on state-owned looting enterprises.
 
And if there was any real interest in building a truly capable state, the government would support the DA’s Professional Public Service Bill to root out cadre deployment and ensure that public servants are appointed on the basis of skill and merit. 
 
But the President and his incapable state does none of this, because it would require them to choose country over party. 
 
There’s at least one bit of good news though, honourable President. The DA remains
absolutely committed to bring the same capable state that convinced you to move to Cape Town, to the whole of South Africa. 
 
Until that day comes and with apologies to Shakespeare: 
“The capable state struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by a hollow man, full of sound and fury, 
Signifying nothing.”

Overhaul our education system that is contributing heavily to youth unemployment and poverty, to save the future of our nation

Somlomo

Malungu Abekekileyo

Bantu Base Mzantsi Afrika

Ndiyanibulisa ngale Ntshona langa

Molweni

Mr President, I stand here today having travelled across the country and interacted with the realities of our students and management in at, at least, 16 TVET and University campuses.

I did so in order to grasp the real issues on the ground rather than listening to glossy presentations in air-conditioned boardrooms.

Growing up in rural Tsolo, I managed to acquire a better education and escape poverty ONLY through the charity of scholarships, which allowed me to access some of the best educational institutes. I, however, remain an outlier of success to the many I completed grade 1 with, enxu JSS emahlubini kuTsolo.

That’s the only reason why I am able to stand on this very podium today.

We know all too well from history that a government controls and keeps its people in the shackles of poverty by giving them a POOR QUALITY education which entrenches dependency.

This is why over 10,4 million South Africans are unemployed of which 58% are young people and many qualified graduates remain unemployable due to being subjected to poor quality education.

I stand here today on behalf of the millions of young South Africans who were not as lucky as I was and have been left behind by your government Mr President, who watched with the hope of finding answers to many of their challenges through your SONA speech, but there were none.

I stand here on behalf of;

– Mr Shedzi an engineering lecturer from eNkangala TVET college in Mpumalnga forced to accept learners produced by our broken basic education system, into an NCV course with no prospects of succeeding.

– Ms Hendricks at False Bay college transferring skills to students through an outdated Nated Curriculum of the 1970s and enrol some in over-saturated courses that are not relevant for industry, the job market nor entrepreneurship.

– The thousands of TVET college students who receive below-average allowances compared to university students yet they reside at the same accommodation, they commute on the same transport and purchase food at the same retailers.

– The 192 000 students who are unable to register due to historic debts that could permanently put their future on a halt.

– Contributing to this whole mess is a corrupt NSFAS that has completely failed at managing the funds of poor students, As we speak 126 Northern Cape Rural TVET students that still await 2018 allowances.

– Bonele a blind student at Nelson Mandela University – and other students living with disabilities – who have to wait for over a year to get their allowances or assistive devices from the corrupt NSFAS.

– Walter Sisulu University students and similar institutions with unmaintained residences that get flooded, campus buildings falling apart, highly unhygienic facilities and no access to reliable WIFI. Yet we want to loosely talk about 4IR!

– Precious Ramabulane, a former Capricorn TVET college student in Limpopo who was raped and stabbed 52 times at an unsafe off-campus accommodation and many other victims of violence on and off our campuses. I still can’t explain the feeling after having visited the house Precious was staying Before she was brutally murdered.

– I stand here on behalf of the 134 000 unemployed graduates sitting at home because the department of higher education and SETAs have failed to produce their certificates to go try look for work since 2008.

Madam Speaker, Mr President these are some of the key issues putting the future of our brothers and sisters on hold.

If you don’t act now Sir, we will continue to produce graduates with outdated skills, through over-saturated courses,  with poor quality skills, unable to compete in the job market nor can solve our problems and become entrepreneurs. You will continue to leave thousands in debt, with no skills to show for it, let alone a certificate or academic record in hand.

I, however, stand here bearing solutions not just to tell you all the problems; Here are some of the immediate action steps you should have announced; in line with DA’s higher education policy that can help strengthen our education system.

1. The Ministry must review the outdated curriculum and ensure that there is engagement with industry, business and academics ensuring that our curriculum is relevant for the 21st Century and future world of work.

2. Completely overhaul NSFAS, reimagine how it operates, and procure qualified IT technician to build a seamless ICT infrastructure to merge data from institutions and NSFAS for timeous distribution of allowances to avoid fraud and corruption that has taken place.

3. Mr President, make an honest commitment towards freeing students from historical debt for both universities and TVETs incl the Missing Middle

4. While we welcome the announcement of the R64 billion in student accommodation (tell us your plan on the how and when) your government plans to take away R750 million from the current infrastructure grant to maintain existing buildings for TVETs and HDIs. Trim the fat from corruption and allocate more money to maintain the already existing infrastructure. Furthermore, engage the departments of public works and human settlements for unused buildings for the purposes of student accommodation and lecture rooms.

5. Working together with the South African Police Services as well as the departments of social development and higher education must put together a safety plan to end student deaths and the scourge of gender-based violence.

6. The State Information Technology agency must urgently work with CSIR, DHET and Umalusi to develop a seamless ICT process in producing certificates in real-time.

7. Ensure that local governments are capable and well run to help give the necessary support to students through services like the DA-led City of Cape integrated transport system, the Nelson Mandela Bay turning problem buildings into student accommodation and the Tshwane metro police patrolling at campuses during peak times.

In conclusion, we as leaders simply cannot keep on coming here to debate with people who have no idea on what’s happening on the ground. Young people are impatient with slogans that keep changing with no proper plan of action nor timelines.

Kudala uthunyiwe Mongameli, susibalisela’ngo khawuleza, khawude wenze ngoku!

I urge you, Mr President, to stop the dreaming, and act on these now and not in 2030!

I thank you!

SA needs quality healthcare, not flawed NHI

Speaker;

The President’s latest SONA has confirmed that he has chosen the politics of his party over fixing the challenges of the country.

His address was stitched together by slogans; based on information that is out of touch and delivered for no one else besides the ANC internal audience.

Once again, the people of South Africa became a distant consideration for him.

The President spoke about the enthusiasm for the proposed National Health Insurance Bill without giving the full context of the South African reality.

Having been to some of the most forgotten parts of this country in the past months, the demand for quality healthcare has been made clear by abantu bethu.

With every public hearing; in whichever town, South Africans told of horror experiences with the health system.

This is because, for the past 25 years, the health system has been shoddily patched up and carried by healthcare workers.

This public participation process has also revealed the lie which has been told to people who are desperate for change.

It became evident that many had been sold a dream that the failures of the ANC government will be immediately rectified by the NHI Bill.

Yet we know that this is not true.

Omama base Free State described the helplessness of waiting for an ambulance until the next day while a loved one is dying in their arms;

They spoke of the fear of needing life-saving ARVs and being told ayikho uze ubuye ngenye imini ngemali phofu abangayaziyo izokuvela phi;

Otata abadala base Vryburg articulated the limitation of facilities that have outdated infrastructure that cannot accommodate those who use it.

This immediately reminded me of the overcrowding that led to the death of 10 babies at Tembisa Hospital in a few weeks;

And the scar that will forever remind us that this government allowed for hundreds of mentally ill patients to die in the most undignified manner;
Many are victims of the nation-wide oncology crisis that has women from ezilalini bebhubha kabuhlungu yi-cervical cancer kuba kungekho ncedo.

The waiting period in Limpopo is close to a year from diagnosis to treatment.

There are cancer patients in this country who have been placed on a death waiting list while the ANC government izingomba isifuba ngokuzisa iinkonzo ebantwini.

The Chairperson of the Health Portfolio Committee, Dr Dhlomo, would know this well, as this was the case during his tenure as the KZN MEC for Health.

We should never be mistaken.

The people of South Africa know what they want.

They want dignity and a quality health system.

What is most tragic though is how the governing party is using the NHI Bill to mask its governance failures, promising an overnight transformation of the health system, when they know this is false.

This government knows that as the Bill stands, it will not improve the quality of healthcare for all South Africans;

It will not invest meaningfully in infrastructure and for better clinics and hospitals;

It will not ensure the filling of critical vacancies of nurses and doctors;

Or fix the tendering system that often leads to critical medication stockouts.

This Bill, misdiagnoses the problem and inevitably does not supply the solution.

South Africa needs universal healthcare. But does not need the flawed NHI Bill.

It is a poor and unaffordable funding model; that will empower the politically connected; create another SOE and still fail the millions who have been short-changed by this government.

In South Africa most people have access to healthcare but it is shockingly poor.

We cannot expect South Africans to wait any longer for the change they deserve.

At the same time, to place 58 million South Africans on a single NHI system without the investment needed will only lead to complete collapse of healthcare.

It is possible to improve the health system while reforming how it funded.

It is possible to clean up the rot and recover the R22 billion lost to corruption annually.

It is possible to choose South Africans over politics.

That is why the DA has brought solutions to the table.

We have tabled the Sizani Universal Healthcare Plan which -if implemented- would address both the question of healthcare funding and quality of care.

This plan would ensure that we afford every South African access to quality healthcare regardless of their economic status.

Unlike the NHI, we would be able to guarantee quality access because of the massive emphasis on investment to improve outcomes.

Mr President, if you truly care about the plight of millions who rely our health system – both public and private- lead your party back to the drawing board on this Bill.

Bring to the table opposition members, civil society, healthcare professionals and abona bantu basebenzisa iinkonzo zempilo to craft a plan on how we would improve healthcare; regulate the private healthcare sector to improve health outcomes and ultimately rescue an already ailing system.

As South Africa stumbles from one crisis to the next, we dare not fail their healthcare needs.

We can no longer afford your refusal and inability to make tough but necessary decisions.

Mr President, on Thursday when you respond to this debate, you will have an opportunity to choose South Africa over the factional battles at Luthuli House.

Choose to see our people – not as voting fodder – but as those who deserve better than empty slogans and stillborn plans.

Eskom is dead. Give power to the people!

Speaker, Mr. President, fellow South Africans,

This debate takes place in the midst of a national electricity crisis, to which few in government will admit.

We sit in darkness for hours every day, despite ongoing promises from the President – the man who in 2014 was tasked to turnaround ESKOM and end loadshedding. It is tragic today to go back and read that News24 headline from December 2014: “Ramaphosa to oversee ESKOM, SAA turnaround.” Mr. President, the only turn these entities took under your watch, was from the emergency room to the funeral parlour.

Our mining sector – once the backbone of our economy – is floundering, because, among other things, it cannot get enough electricity. 5 years after that headline placing ESKOM and SAA under Mr. Ramaphosa, another headline from December 2019 – laid bare the truth: “SA mines shut operations because of ESKOM.”

Yet the ANC clings to Eskom and pretends it can be saved. South Africans know otherwise. ESKOM is dead. It is beyond redemption. And it is time that this government acknowledges this.

It is in this condition for one reason, and one reason only: the mismanagement, lack of planning and sheer corruption of the ANC and its cadres and cronies. Just as every viable state-owned entity has been hollowed out, plundered, and broken, so our nation’s entire electricity supply has been destroyed. 

While ANC government leaders live with generators, permanent security, and state housing, the people of this country go through hardship and pain as the lights go off every day. They walk on dark streets at the mercy of violent crime; rape, robbery, and murder. They cannot study. They cannot cook. Their businesses cannot operate. Their lives and livelihoods are literally being stolen.  

We had hoped that in this critical hour, President Ramaphosa would seize the opportunity last week to take ownership of the problem, deal decisively with ESKOM, and provide South Africa a path to a powered future. But the incapable state and its incapable President never take bold action. 

SONA was the last chance for the ANC to do the right thing and announce the immediate splitting and privatizing of ESKOM. What we got instead, were small changes, small concessions, small retreats – too little, too late – if they come to be at all. 

While bold action was lacking, the Democratic Alliance does welcome some of the commitments the president made about energy transformation. The question he must answer is: When? When will all this take place? Because all the president and the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy will say is “soon”. 

The Democratic Alliance has long called on Minister Mantashe to sign the section 34 determinations which are gathering dust on his desk. The City of Cape Town is going ahead with a court action to force the issue, because he still hasn’t actually done anything, despite a lot of talks. 

We have repeatedly asked him to immediately open bid window 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme. But whenever anyone speaks about renewable energy, in any context, Minister Mantashe accuses them of being a lobbyist. 

And just minutes after the President announced last Thursday that Bid Window 5 would open “soon”, Minister Mantashe backtracked on this commitment, saying “I’m not a fundamentalist about bid window 5” and that “we must be systematic and ensure that it is sustainable”. Given that the first four bid windows are regarded as best practices worldwide, it is surprising that the minister thinks the next needs more tweaking.

Encourage and incentivize residential self-generation. More and more South Africans are prepared to become self-reliant with regard to electricity generation. Instead of making things more difficult, let’s ease up on the regulatory environment and allow them to do so.

The DA stands firmly for every South African being allowed this freedom from ESKOM, and we won’t relent. In this regard, Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act can be amended by the stroke of a pen. Go back to what parliament approved in the first place when the Act was originally adopted. 

When South Africa went to stage 6 load-shedding in December, the minister should have immediately sought to purchase excess power from the existing IPPs, who are constrained to only sell limited quantities to the grid, as determined by their licences and power purchase agreements. Currently, any excess power generated by IPPs goes to waste. The South African Wind Energy Association estimates that about 500MW is immediately available, at a cost of around 40 cents per KWh, and more could be forthcoming as new projects come online.

The Minerals Council of South Africa estimates that up to 1.7 GW of electricity could be produced for own use by mines in the next 4 years, something they have been begging for years. That simple move would encourage investment in our mining sector.

We can’t be talking about nuclear plants or Grand Inga when South Africa’s financial situation is so dire. We also can’t be looking five and ten years down the line. We need to look at how we can make ourselves less reliant on an archaic monopoly like ESKOM, and more energy secure right now!

Mr. President, open up the electricity market now! The private sector can deliver better, cheaper and more efficiently than ESKOM. The DA’s Independent Electricity Management Operator Bill is currently before parliament. This would create a separate, independent market operator to purchase electricity from all producers and make our electricity generation sector more competitive. We call on all parties in this House to support this.

We know that Minister Mantashe has been called a tiger in the bedroom, but he appears more like a grumpy old tomcat curled up next to his coal fireplace when it comes to his constitutional obligations. He is slow to act, reluctant to change the status quo, and absolutely unwilling to upset the unions who are his real masters. Just like the unions are ruling the roost at SAA, it seems the same is true at Eskom. But that’s what the ANC gets for being in bed with COSATU.

Most importantly, Mr. President, we cannot and must not throw pensioners’ life savings into ESKOM. This is just theft from the poor and the elderly to fund ESKOM corruption.

And, Mr. President, if Minister Mantashe is not willing to act NOW on your commitments regarding electricity generation, replace him with someone who will.

Our darkest days will not just be load-shedding if you do not act.

STATE OF THE NATION DEBATE/ Mlindi Nhanha

Honourable Speaker/Chairperson Honourable Members,

Fellow South Africans,

In 1969, I was born in the Eastern Cape city of Port Elizabeth, but in 1978 my family moved to Mdantsane (a township outside East London). My father was the first in his family to obtain a Form 1 certificate – if you are old enough, you would know how important it was to have grade 8 at the time. I lived with my parents, six siblings, my grandmother and two other relatives.

In both our stays in Port Elizabeth and Mdantsane, the 12 of us stayed in a four-roomed house like an RDP house (but of course they were of better quality).

In the evenings, the lounge and kitchen would double up as extra bedrooms. During the holidays and weekends, I  could not sleep past 6am as I was sleeping next to the kitchen door and would be blocking early morning traffic. But what was more painful to my parents was not owning the house they lived in. Instead, they had a 99-year lease.

In 1983 we were on the move again as my father got transferred to Alice. It was in Alice where my father’s dream of owning property became a reality. He bought a three- bedroom house with two outside rooms, a lounge, a dining room and a kitchen.

By our standards this was to us, a mansion, given the four- roomed houses we used to occupy.

Whilst my siblings and I were excited and marveling about the extent of our new home, my father was a
proud and relieved man that he finally could own a property his children could call home.

In case some of you are too young to remember, in November 1959, the Democratic Alliance’s earliest predecessor, the Progressive Party was formed by a group of progressives who left the United Party after the latter in its congress earlier that year passed resolutions that would deny natives civil liberties – amongst those was the right to own land. 

To this day the DA has stood firm in the resolve of its founding fathers. We remain opposed to the proposed constitutional amendment that will give the state sweeping powers to expropriate land without compensation and turn property ownership to long-term leases just like my late father’s.

STATE OF THE NATION DEBATE / Angel Khanyile

Fellow South Africans

Honourable Members,

Speaker,

Mr President, Last week I sat in this house and listened to you when you said absolutely nothing.

However, I noticed that for the very first time you were not shocked and you eventually woke up and stopped dreaming.

I was surprised that you said absolutely nothing about the inability of Home Affairs to secure our border. Remember that this is a very important matter as we all know that due to influx of undocumented foreigners your government is unable to provide basic services. Minister Motsoaledi, when he was still Minister of Health, alluded to the fact that hospitals are failing to provide health services because of the undocumented foreigner accessing health services while they are not budgeted for.

You said nothing about this important department. Do you know why? Because everything is falling apart, and when things fall apart the ANC turns a blind eye and continue as if it is business as usual. While you were amongst the first people posing for pictures at the Tshwane home of Jabu Baloyi, who was killed when taxi drivers took a stand on fighting drugs in the city, it is shocking to learn that you stood here and said nothing on securing our borders to prevent more South Africans from dying like Jabu.

In September 2019 we lost 9 South Africans when there were xenophobic attacks in our country, at the time your silence was deafening and yet you stood here and chose to say nothing.

While we wait for your government to finalise the Border Management Authority Bill we expected you to guide us on how you currently plan to secure our border.

Mr President in your speech you were silent about the fact that on the 2nd February 2020 a police officer was murdered in Diepsloot by an undocumented foreigner. Crimes committed by undocumented persons are very hard to solve as the perpetrators are almost impossible to trace.

How many murders must go unsolved for your government to realise this is an important matter that needs urgent attention.

The DA has a plan to secure our borders and stop illegal immigration. We believe that it is important to:

1. Assist, support and care for legitimate refugees and asylum seekers;
2. Attract foreign nationals with scarce skills to South Africa to help us grow
our economy and create jobs;

And the DA will secure our borders and stop illegal immigration by:

1. Arresting, detaining and deporting those who repeatedly enter our country
illegally;
2. Ensure undocumented immigrants are regularised or assisted in leaving the
country if they do not meet the criteria for remaining in the country;
3. Strengthening our border posts. Through proper control and order, we can
create corruption-free and effective border security and control;
4. Eradicating the corruption and inefficiency endemic to Home Affairs.

I am shocked that you kept mum about long queues at the Department of Home affairs offices, its network that is always offline, and allegations that citizens of our country are expected to pay bribes to skip the queues.

If last week’s SONA speech is anything to go by you further made it obvious that you do not care about women of this country when you failed to articulate government’s plan on fighting fraudulent marriages which mostly affects women of this country.

On Gender Based Violence you said “We implemented an emergency action plan and prioritised R1.6 billion to support this plan until the end of the current financial year. There has been progress in several areas”. What progress? What areas?

Amahle Thabethe from Springs has been missing from the 6th April 2019 to date.

On the first day of 16 days of activism for not violence against women and children campaign, Precious Ramabulana was raped and killed in her room.

Belinda from Standerton together with her daughter has been missing since the 28th Jan.

While the family members continue to search for their loved ones we will leave no stone unturned searching for your backbone, Mr. President, to take bold decisions on important matters affecting our country.

Your 5-point emergency plan has failed, and it has failed to address shortage of SAPS officials, insufficient resources.

I have conducted oversights at Govan Mbeki, Standerton and Sakhile SAPS and our oversight has revealed that while the population is growing the government has failed to increase the number of SAPS officials and there is a shortage of vehicles, where they have vehicles their vehicles have 300 000+ kilometres on the clock.

Though SAPS have adults and minor rape kits they are not provided with buccal swaps which causes delays investigating sexual offences.

Strengthening municipalities that the President is talking about is long overdue according to the Think-tank Good Governance Africa’s annual Government Performance Index omasipala abaphethwe iDA ibona abahamba phambili, eMidvaal sithole ukuhlolwa kwamabhuku ezimali okuhlanzekile iminyaka esithupha ilandelana. Kanti ke naseLekwa siqeda ukususa esikhundleni uSodolophu no Somlomo ngezinsolo zokukhwabanisa nokungalethi izinsiza zabahlali baseLekwa, bekuyisiqalo lesi baningi abalandelayo.

Ngiyabonga Somlomo

STATE OF THE NATION DEBATE / Zakhele Mbhele

If any small business owners were watching and listening to President Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address, hoping to hear the announcement of bold measures and reforms that would foster a more enabling environment for them and their enterprises, they would have been sorely disappointed. Following the tough economic year that was 2019, many small businesses have been struggling to stay afloat. If they weren’t suffocating in a stagnant economic climate, they were being strangled by the impact of fuel price increases or being kicked in the gut by load shedding.

A 2019 study by financial services company Retail Company showed that business was good for only 10% of SMEs, while the other 90% were buckling in the challenging conditions of a low-growth economy, unreliable utilities, and rising operating costs. These figures represent a grave looming threat given that collectively SMEs keep close to 11 million people employed, accounting for approximately 65% of all formal jobs.

When they’re not being subjected to service disruptions and late payments, they are held back by red tape and compliance regulations and facing shrinking demand as households and other businesses tighten their belts. These are thousands of hardworking South Africans – tradespeople, coffee shop, and restaurant owners, local grocers, spaza shop and shisanyama outlets – who get up every day to serve their communities and support their families. They deserve our admiration and more support.

Instead of announcing SME exemption from sectoral wage determinations and the more stringent labour law requirements or introducing much-needed tax exemptions to ease their cash flow burden, the President’s SONA contained a handful of small business-related promises that lacked innovation and hardly packed a punch. Without diminishing or negating the potential value that these could bring if effectively implemented, they do not represent a hope for small businesses that things might turn a corner for the better anytime soon.

The announcement that the National Youth Development Agency and the Department of Small Business Development will provide grant funding and business support to 1 000 young entrepreneurs in the next 100 days is laudable but is it anything new? Does it represent additional money to help young small business owners or would that have happened without the President’s announcement anyway? Hopefully, the President will provide clarity in his reply to this SONA debate.

The President also announced that the government plans to designate 1 000 locally produced products that must be procured from SMMEs, presumably by government departments and state-owned enterprises. While this is a noble sentiment, the implementation is likely to run into major obstacles for at least two reasons.

Firstly, it risks undermining the imperative for an objective and unbiased approach that should underlie procurement processes to ensure cost-effectiveness and valuefor-money. Lest we forget, it was the manipulation of state procurement processes for pre-determined ends that created the state capture monster that has ravaged our public finances and crippled state-owned enterprises and municipalities alike.

Which brings us to the second risk factor to these small business-boosting measures: the legacy of state capture means that the government will be hugely constrained to meet these commitments when budgets are increasingly going to shrink. Against the backdrop of declining economic growth, an increasing public debt-to-GDP ratio and tax revenue targets repeatedly being missed, the government is still struggling with a bloated public sector wage bill, deteriorating public infrastructure and the bottomless black holes that have been some of our bailoutguzzling state-owned enterprises.

Since 2014, Eskom has benefited from over R150 billion in bailouts and has had a government guarantee of R350 billion since 2012. SAA has had over R18 billion in bailouts since 2014 and a government guarantee of over R19 billion. And what do we have to show for all these billions? A power utility that can’t meet the country’s energy demand, hobbling an already strained economy, and an airline that is canceling flights and will soon have to start selling its routes. There isn’t even time to get into the SABC, Post Office and other SOEs.

These figures are not only a devastating indictment of mismanagement and maladministration under ANC misgovernance but also represent a tragic opportunity loss of what could have been achieved if those monies were used effectively, especially in aid of small business. Unless this government fundamentally shifts gear to position small business as the spearhead of growth and development, our future, Mr. President, will be one of doubt and despair.