APPROPRIATION BILL

(Second Reading Debate)

The SPEAKER: We proceed to Motions. Motion 1 reads as follows:

That leave be granted for the Second Reading Debate on the Appropriation Bill.

The hon MEC for Finance, Mr Dingani.

Mr Z A DINGANI (MEC): Hon Speaker, I move accordingly.

APPROVED.

The SPEAKER: The first debate is the General Debate on the Appropriation Bill.

The hon Member, Mr Marais.

Mr A MARAIS: Thank you, Speaker. Hon Premier, hon MEC for Finance and colleagues, budgets are about choices and in our quest for equiponderance, that is the perfect balance between all our competing needs, these choices become even more complex. Some of them may even lead to irreparable losses, but their inevitability is as pronounced as the crimson on the horizon at sun set - you cannot miss it, it is inescapable, unless of course, you opt for the head-in-the-sand ostrich propensity.

Our mission as Committee was to interrogate the budget in order to ascertain whether its principle is an affirmation of the Government’s intention to bring about a better life for all. Proudly I can vouch that this budget as a collective instrument to achieve this ideal, noting the volatile ebb and flow of the money environment, the scarcity of resources, meets this objective.

Politics, ultimately, is about positive human development. It is in this sense that I hasten to proclaim that the Government, of course, does not exist only to make citizens happy by providing services. It also seeks other goals, like equity and equality. Balancing these often-competing goals can often prove very difficult.

Efficiency, effectiveness, equity and responsiveness have been made high priorities in this budget and the multi-year development plan. This and other enshrined initiatives provide ample reason for further endorsement of the principle of this budget.

The valiant effort by Government to lessen the crowding-out effect personnel costs had on its ability to make more resources available for other priorities is commended. The underlying question however, is whether this reduction has produced a rightsized, right skilled workforce; as to whether now a proper match between capacity and strategy exists. In this context we welcome the impending finalisation of the performance agreement regime.

R700 000 is being set aside for the implementation of the strategic plan. At this late stage, hon Premier, through you hon Speaker, I would like to suggest another concept and I would like to refer to this concept as development laboratory.

Because of the total harmony and synchronisation that you need for the positive implementation of this plan, it would then mean that you have to have an in concert movement of both your provincial, local and district Government.

When consideration is given to the appointment of these technical experts, maybe you should also think of bringing about this development laboratory, let it nest under your supervision but let it also have representatives or delegates from the different spheres of Government. I think that will make that synchronism even more effective.

Procurement:

The Committee is of the firm belief that the decentralisation of this aspect is proper. However, our interaction with MECs and their respective delegations has revealed that greater harmony and predictability can be achieved by the introduction of enabling framework legislation.

This comment does not imply that the situation is chaotic or even preposterous. Rather, on the contrary, we believe that it would be more answerable to the decree of our hon President that matters, black empowerment, should permeate every aspect of governance, such a conversational devise would incarnate the principles of transparency, accountability and in my opinion substantive equality.

It is for this reason that the compliance unit’s activities must be harnessed to become even more productive and more harmonised. The speedy development of criteria for the utilisation of the Provincial Special Projects Fund must be given precedence. Prospective investors keenly understand the nexus between sound financial systems and certainty.

Enhanced predictability on its own is an allurement. In promoting economic development, it is useful, if not essential, to encourage local residents to participate more in their own capital markets by, for instance, saving more.

Likewise, the completion of the criteria for the usage of the provincial contingency resource fund should also be placed high on the agenda. Unless we enforce the basic rules of a working market infrastructure, potential investors will remain alien. Investors need accurate and timely information.

The financial crisis experienced by some emerging economies recently revealed that, to and extent, those Governments could not be relied upon to pronounce themselves on stability and lacked the resolve to be committed. Reliable information again is key to investor confidence.

During our interaction with the MECs, the issue of Phakisa again came up and as I had argued in the past, in my understanding Phakisa has both an instrumental and a strategic role - strategic in a sense of engineering and instrumental in a sense that it can enhance greater economic opportunity.

Listening to comrade Cheryl Carolus the other day, they had put a package together of 590 pounds which will enable the British to come down to South Africa, spend about two weeks here and have about two domestic flights and all that is covered under this 590 pounds. It is my view that to optimise economic opportunity that can arise from this project that maybe a quasi - or semi-permanent cluster has to be formed between the Department of Environmental Affairs and the MEC responsible for Phakisa. We believe that a greater in concert movement will further underscore what we intend to do with this budget and even with future budgets.

In conclusion, ordinarily we are not satisfied because we could not invite civil society, NGO’s (non-governmental organisations), CBO’s (community based organisations) and other important stakeholders for the budget deliberation process. No blame is apportioned to anybody here, but what we will do is, we will endeavour to bring them on board as soon as possible and we are aiming to do this not at the end of the process, but during its formulation stages.

Finally, I want to tell you a very short story on behalf of the Finance Committee. Once upon a time a taxi driver and a priest died and they entered heaven at the same time. They were met by St Paul. He took the priest to his permanent resting place, which was a broken shack or a dilapidated shack somewhere there in heaven. He came back and took the taxi driver and he ushered him to a big mansion.

Naturally the priest felt very upset about this and complained to St Peter that he saw this as being grossly unfair. St Peter response was: do you remember when you used to stand in church and preach people would fall asleep, but I can assure you that every time they got into this cab driver’s cab, they started praying.

The moral of the story is that if you put in garbage, you can expect that garbage would come out of that. Results are what count for us; and results are what will drive this Committee in conjunction and in corporation with all the other MECs. I thank you.