President Cyril Ramaphosa Answers Questions In Parliament “Helen Zille Comments About GNU”, VBS

honorable delegates I would like to remind you that rules in particular sub Rule 21 22 and 23 of rule 103 applies in accordance with Council rule 229 sub r one there will be no notices of motion or motion without notice honorable delegates before we proceed to question one I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the president of the Republic of South Africa president Mr Sira and all permanent delegates present here with us the M's and all special delegates and Sala representatives to the house further I would like to remind delegates that in terms of rule 229 of the council rules the time for reply by the president to the question is 5 minutes only four supplementary questions have allowed per question a member who has asked the initial question would be the first to be afforded an opportunity to ask a supplementary question in time the time for asking a supplement supplementary question is 2 minutes the time for reply to the supplementary question by the president is 4 minutes the supplementary question must emanate from the initial question that was asked honorable delegates I now call upon the honorable president to respond to question number one as asked by honorable muang honorable president you may take the podium honorable chairperson honorable members the development of public infrastructure is essentially necessary for Effective Service delivery and economic development this is why we are determined as this Administration to massively increase the scale of investment in infrastructure through this investments in infrastructure we have determined that we want to and will turn South Africa into a building site however public infrastructure projects that are delayed or abundant do have a negative impact on the ability of communities to access services to address this challenge chairperson the Department of Public Works and infrastructure began the identification of delayed and abandoned projects within its portfolio during the sixth Democratic Administration through a presidential proclamation in 2019 the infrastructure development Act was moved to the minister of Public Works and infrastructure this moving of the act has enabled the minister to develop a more holistic approach to infrastructure development in all spheres of government and the private sector through infrastructure South Africa the Department of Public Works and infrastructure has identified a number of key pillars that drive the infrastructure investment process in our country such as ensuring that we have the institutional arrangements for the implementation of the national infrastructure plan for 2050 one of the other pillars is to ensure that there is better preparation and prioritization of infrastructure projects this has been a lack of capacity in a number of our government structures other proposed reforms forms include multi-year budgeting for infrastructure planning as well as for infrastructure delivery and also the speeding up of permit granting and the approval processes the task of identifying incomplete and abundant infrastructure projects is being implemented throughout our provinces the completion of these projects does require dedicated capacity that may not be readily available to address this the department has issued calls for various Professionals in the built environment to provide expertise to the department and to collaborate and work with them as required one of the mechanisms at an executive level to monitor progress on the identified projects is through our siola program in this program side visits are conducted to check the status of projects as well as to see whether the plans that have been put in place are being implemented follow-up visits are also conducted after a few months to ensure that the recovery plans are implemented this siola program is bringing stakeholders such as the local and District municipalities together to unblock any issues related to block infrastructure and outstanding approvals and through our district development model we will be able to make even greater progress in this regard this program demonstrates effect interventions that can be achieved as we move along enhancing the intergovernmental working process that we have embarked upon and as we move on we are finding that the district development model is being strengthened and is being embraced more and more by various key players thank you honorable chairperson thank you honorable president the follow up question will be asked by honorable MIM from the African National Congress over to you thank you uh honorable chairperson uh your Excellency the president we welcome the implementation of the seola program to address all incomplete delayed or even abandon public infrastructure as the president in his uh response has indicated your Excellency next week the National Council of Province will visit all nine provinces to undertake a rigorous uh assessment and oversight of this incomplete delay or even abandoned public infrastructure projects following the briefing that we had with the three ministers as part of our ministerial briefing this week my question is what support uh in terms of coordination will the president uh give to the Department of Public Works and infrastructure and National treasury uh in ensuring that there is an undertaking of a holistic cost assessment and situational analysis as well as cost of incomplete delayed projects so that there is accountability to Parliament but also accountability to the the people of South Africa on the progress that we are making to make sure that as we launch South Africa is a construction site this chapter is closed thank you honorable president thank you honorable chair thank you honorable member honorable president please respond thank you honorable chairperson honorable muang thank you very much for informing me that the National Council of provinces will be visiting all nine provinces to go and examine the status of activity or progress on uh projects that have not been taken forward or unimplemented or incomplete one of the things that Minister mcferson minister of uh infrastructure uh and Public Works did on his assuming duties was to come and spend quite a bit of time with me to discuss precisely what his mandate is and also to outline to me what the department that he leads together with Deputy Minister zikalala intends to do I was quite satisfied in the focus that they want to bring to bear on their work and also in turning South Africa into to a construction site and the Assurance I gave him was that I would lend as much support as possible from the presidency to ensure that their work Rises to a higher Tempo because I could see the great enthusiasm that the he has in ensuring that there are building sites all over the country and indeed that they should also through the seola program start tackling incomplete or uncompleted uh building sites or projects and I informed him that similarly we would be interacting with treasury to ensure that treasury gives them as much support as possible to ensure that they do do their work we've identified infrastructure as one of the key drivers of economic progress and development in our country and also a job Creator so we will be bringing to Bear every assistant measure that we can give them to ensure that this end is achieved I'm particularly pleased to hear that from Parliament particularly the National Council of provinces you are taking this matter as seriously as you will be by visiting various provinces uh it is important that the whole of the state both Parliament the executive uh work together and the executive at all levels National provincial and local as well as District to ensure that we focus on infrastructure development and also address the many projects in our country that lie follow that have not been completed and to go to the depth of the reasons why those are like that but also to remove all the impediments uh to enable those projects to be completed so we will be together focusing on that and I informed the minister uh that they have my full support and every measure of assistance that we can give them from the presidency to enable them to do their work I love the built environment and I do believe that the built environment is a key marker of the progress of any country and wherever one goes if you see how the built environment is being improved that's when you see that indeed the country is moving forward and there is economic development and so we want to see Yow yellow equipment throughout the country strong throughout the country and we want to see just uh being turned into buildings and into projects that are going to serve the interest of our people thank you honorable CHP the next followup is from Freedom front plus which will be asked by honorable briet thank you uh Madame chairperson M Mr President I was so fortunate when you now said that you are looking at investigations with regards to why these projects are where they are and aren't incomplete and and The Honorable Chief wh mentioned um the costs and and treasury involved and that is kind of where where my question leads to go because many of these incomplete delayed and abandoned infrastructure projects and you can specifically see it in the Free State have been subject of corruption and in many instances also of litigation and I would like to know whether you and your relevant C cabinet ministers um have instigated any investigations or legal action against individuals or groups involved in extortion or corruption um Within These these infrastructure projects and also then just further to say what new programs or reforms are being proposed to prevent these criminal elements from infiltrating public infrastructure projects and um How do you project will we will we stop that in future thank you thank you honorable member honorable president thank you very much honorable P indeed uh we are as we begin the process of increasing uh our focus on infrastructure build are going to be as I said be focusing on why some of those projects have been abandoned have been left unfinished because there are reasons and some of the reasons are have to do with corruption uh some of the reasons have to do with incapacity where either those who were asked to develop those projects either under budgeted or overpriced and all those will be gone into because we do need to go to the root cause of the abandonment uh of all the projects that now today lie as sore thumbs throughout the landscape of this country uh it is a very s sorry site as one travels around and you see projects that were started and some of them are just foundations uh slabs that have been constructed where houses were supposed to rise and not much has been done or a achieved and so those are being investigated some of those uh were focused on by the commission on state capture and some of those are being done by the special investigating unit and some of those are already being prosecuted uh there are individuals and people who embarked on these projects fraudulently and they now facing ing the might of the Lord so we are saying that things are going to move forward and we are going to ensure that those who are responsible for any Act of corruption particularly in the infrastructure space where projects have not been concluded will be investigated and followed up and at the same time the reforms that we are embarking upon uh going to be aimed at ensuring that this does not happen again and one of those was to reform our procurement process but the other important one because most of these projects are executed at local government level we are through the ministry of corporate governance and traditional Affairs focusing on how to strengthen local government and to make local government work more effectively in the interest of the people and so that we close all loopholes for those who may well want to be uh fraudulent and uh execute acts of corruption at that level so the reform process that we involved in uh is all encompassing and is also going to be focusing on the execution of projects and the focus that the National Council of provinces is having by visiting provinces is also going to help because it is going to shed light as we are going to from the central national government level on what is done at all levels of government because when light is shared and when people know that they are being watched and things are going to be followed up it will be reducing the Temptation for acts of corruption and also fraud so our increased focus on all these matters that have to do with project is in my view going to lead to a much better governance system that will lessen and finally get rid of Acts of corruption in all these matters thank you very much honorable member thank you honorable president the next followup question will be asked by honorable makini from f f thank you National chairperson country manag honorable president thank you honorable chairperson honorable makini thank you very much for raising all these matters and particularly some of what gives rise to the abandonment of projects and as you have enumerated some of the reasons are lack of capacity uh in evaluating projects properly and that would be possibly technical capacity Financial understanding of evaluating projects properly and also the issue that you raised of corruption and the other issue of course is overpricing some of these projects uh through acts of corruption and fraud are overpriced and in the end those who are meant to execute them find that they are not able to finally execute them and of course the other one is lack of skills where people don't have the requisite skills as you correctly said this focus on building cities is something that I spoke about and the good thing about it is that as you go through our various provinces a number of our provinces are now beginning to focus on developments that could lead to building cities Ken for instance is in the process of finalizing building a smart City around L area and this in itself was inspired by what I said at the national level uh other provinces are also beginning to focus on developing new cities and if you look at the area between Johannesburg and Petoria what we have done in the 30 years is to develop that whole area largely driven by yes by the private sector and this is where for instance just a new built environment area or landscape has just risen and risen and the public sector now needs also to focus on a number of areas in our country and King in many ways is going to be taking the lead in building a smart city in the leria area and indeed many other provinces are beginning to focus on that building a city does take quite a while particularly given all the reasons that you enumerated and as they say Rome was never built in a day it does take time but the important thing is that we beginning to raise our ambition we're beginning to see what is possible and of course we are constrained by a number of issues including the reasons that you enumerated but the ambition is there and I am beginning to see a number of our provinces beginning to Aspire towards having infrastructure built that is going to develop our country and as we said as we focus on infrastructure we will be building structures both h public facilities for our people and the private sector will come in tow as well so it's going to be an overarching type of build environment Improvement uh process that we will Embark upon and in the end we will be able to turn South Africa into a building side I see it coming I see it on the horizon and this is the time in the seventh Administration when we will begin to gain momentum because the things that we are now focusing on through the infrastructure South Africa is to focus on capacitating those who can work on infrastructure putting in place the financing mechanisms ensuring that we embark on reforms that will prevent corruption and increasing the skills that are going to be needed for increasing our built environment so yes we are going to turn South Africa into a construction site and it is going to happen whether we like it or not it is coming thank you very much thank you honorable president the last question on the first question the followup is from um honorable britz from da Mr President it is a sad indictment that 30 years after democracy South Africans cannot travel between cities by train they cannot even travel 20 kilometers from outside the city center into the CBD by train he is therefore clear that current infrastructure is inadequate to to deliver this and that a holistic approach is needed for South Africans to have the Dignity of of a life where they don't need to wake up at 4:30 in the morning just to get to the CBD at 8:00 in the morning by public transport when a functioning RO system would allow them to drastically reduce travel TR time and cost Mr President you just signed a three spere Western Cape mou on police will you do the same on transport to get our people moving honorable president thank you honorable chairperson the movement of our people is one of the areas that we are focusing on and this is one of the ways in which we want to reduce the cost cost of living the cost of living for our people has largely also risen around their transportation and this in many ways is also due to the party special architecture which relegated poor people to far away places from where they work and do business and we are now focusing on how we can increase and even repair transport lines public transport is one of the defining markers of a really good developing economy where we can transport people through public means whether it be by buses or by rail is what we are seeking to reform yes indeed our rail system has fallen into disrepair but we are in the process of rebuilding it particularly for commuters that is one of the areas that we've been focusing on lines that had been closed in a number of urban areas are now becoming opened and uh I have heard stories of individuals who say uh my my my transport costs have now come down considerably because I now can get on a train and go uh to work work whereas I used to have to pay a lot of money in some cases almost 30 to 40% of people's income goes towards transport so reducing the costs that people are having to incur when it comes to transportation is one of the areas of focus yes and we have taken steps not only to repair rail but also to capacitate levels of government to say yes you can uh focus on ensuring that your the rail system that goes through your area uh is is well run and also well executed uh that is one of the areas that we focus on yes you ask having embarked on or overseen the signing of a memorandum of understanding between three levels of government National provincial as well as local when it comes to policing there needs to be greater cooperation amongst all those levels of government to ensure that in the end we reduce the costs of Transport cost of trans travel for our people so yes the answer we would like to see enhanced cooperation and this Falls within the broad realm of uh cooperation uh in government uh intergovernmental cooperation should affect all sectors and not just the police but various sectors so that we all work together as structures of government to improve the lives of our people so transport is one of the areas that yes we want to focus on and we want to raise our gaze as well so that we have interprovincial trans uh travel that is made easier and that is why we've also approved uh a project where we will have easier transport between major metros and build uh train lines improve train lines so that our people can travel better for instance we are going to embark on travel between Johannesburg and atwi or deran and that is going to be a major commuter artery and between Johannesburg and for instance MSA and many of these areas are going to be focused on as we move on so they are on our radar screen they are on our sides and we are going to embark on that as we improve infrastructure in our country thank you honorable thank you honorable President we are now moving to question two which is asked by honorable Pina to the president over to you honorable president honorable chairperson we launched the presidential Health compact initiative in 2019 the Health compact that was entered into then is a framework of cooperation between critical sectors in our country to improve health outcomes and through this we were able to bring together various key role players in our country in government in business in labor in Civil Society in Academia as well as traditional Health practitioners and also Allied Health practitioners and patient user groups including those who manufacture Health Products s now this was a formidable coming together of all these key role players in one of the most important areas that affect our people's lives in 2023 we convened the second presidential Health Summit and produced what we call the second presidential Health compact for 2024 to 2029 on the 27th 22nd rather of August Deputy president Paul mashati signed the compact on my behalf as I had an eye infection at the time uh and that was the signing of the Health compact that brought together signatories from a number of Representatives or sectors the compact aims to ensure multi Cal involvement in the health systems to strengthen the Health Care system and to prepare it for the implementation of the national health insurance some stakeholders specifically from business chose not to sign the second Health presidential compact they had a number of reasons why they did not come having come the first time around they cited their concern concerns with regard to the health insurance act and references to nhi in the compact we believe there is nevertheless good reason for these stakeholders to be involved in the work needed to achieve the aims that are contained in the compact through the compact we aim to invest in a capable compassionate fitful purpose Workforce in the health sector we aim to strengthen local manufacturing of Health Products and ensure Health infrastructure meets the necessary quality standards that our people require in the health system the compact also seeks to use the capabilities of the private sector to enable Equitable access to Quality services for all citizens it seeks to maintain the gains that have been made in the National quality improvement plan to ensure users experience the same quality of care whether in a state or a private facility the compact also aims to ensure adequate Community engagement and inclusivity in the health sector so as to ensure sure that other people don't feel excluded in health care where they get inferior Health Care Services importantly the compact aims to ensure that the national health insurance is implemented affordably deriving value for money and also eliminating corruption these are the objectives which all states holders can support and work towards we therefore encourage all role players to be involved in pursuing all these objectives Noble objectives at that so that we can ensure that we have a Health Care system that will serve all the people of our country the implementation of the compact is overseen by a joint monitoring and evaluation steering committee that brings together all the key stakeholders who are part of the compact all these people who attended the recent signing of the compact agreed on also its terms of reference which include strengthening the health system in preparation of the implementation of the national health insurance we hope that all stakeholders will use this forum to engage now through continuous engagement which I am calling for even on the nhi stakeholders stakeholders should be able to find each other and to find solutions to some of the problems that still exists by working together on the fundamental issue on which we agree we will be able to make a significant contribution towards improving the quality of health care for all South Africans and this we will be able to do through engagement through not boycotting but also through talking to each other on a continuous basis thank you honorable chairperson thank you honorable president for such an elaborative response I will now invite a follow up from honor Pina from ta thank you Madame chairperson President Minister Moi took a very belligerent stance in spite of your indication that you were open to discussions and despite widespread concerns regarding the NH nhi are you Mr President and Minister melti not concerned that the nhi ACT is a breach of an individual's right to dignity and freedom of choice as enshrined in section 10 of the Constitution thank you madam chair honorable president you may respond thank you very much I want to reiterate that the process of Engagement is a true Hallmark of how I function as president and how the government that I lead also functions to the extent that you may well have heard Minister malledi uh I want to assure you that he's one of those ministers who's open to engagement to listening and to talking and yesterday he had a fairly lengthy discussion with me over lunch and we discussed this matter and we both agreed and underscored the need for exchanging views with those who may well have concerns and those who have concerns are South Africans they are South Africans whose views we must hear I should tell you that business Unity South Africa have written me a fairly long letter where they are raising their concerns as have others and they have requested that I should engage them and I said to the minister we meet them we are going to meet them and hear the concerns that they have been raising over a long time now the national health insurance is now an act of Parliament I signed it having been passed by this Parliament this parliament passed the act and in doing so it took into account the various inputs that had been made by a multiplicity of people through the length and the breadth of the country but in its own wisdom this Parliament both the National Assembly and the National Council of provinces and the f administra in the sixth Administration rather then passed the ACT which I signed there are people who still want to talk about the implementation of the nhi and I'm open that we talk about how this act is going to be implemented and to hear the concerns that they have which is precisely what I am going to be doing uh in the course of the coming few weeks and am I concerned about eroding the dignity and the freedom of choice of South Africans no the dignity and the freedom of South Africans is guaranteed in our Constitution and I cannot ever be seen to be violating that nor can this house as Parliament be seen to be violating and if any act or law that we have passed is seen to be violating that we should all know as South Africans that the Constitutional Court will be the Arbiter will declare whether that is so or not but that does not prevent us from examining uh the views and hearing those who may well have issues and as I said it is about how we Implement and how we strengthen our health system that is what we need to focus on can we have a health system that is going to deliver good health services to South Africans and rather than just be fetish and be concerned about the notion of the National Health System let us be concerned about how we improve our health system how we ensure that there's good infrastructure in our hospitals and how we ensure that our health practitioners are well trained and they execute their work well and they treat South Africans with great compassion as they go to the health service centers that should be our focus and I call on all of us as South Africans to focus on that issue because that is the important issue and of course the cost of Health Care is what we need all to be concerned about costs of healthare are escalating all over the world and whichever country you try to examine you'll find that they are escalating now our government has determined that we are going to reduce the costs of living and one of the ways in which that can be curved is to is through the implementation of the national health insurance and I want us to work together to see how we make life better better for all South Africans and how we reduce the cost of living the cost of health care for all South Africans and the national health insurance therefore gives us a great opportunity all of us to embark on this journey because Health Care affects everyone whether you today healthy tomorrow you may not be so healthy so it is therefore important that we focus on how we can improve our Health Care system and I invite you and everyone else to join us in this journey of making sure that this is achieved thank you honorable chair pres thank you honorable president the next followup question is fromc which will be asked by honorable mqu uh thanks very much uh chairperson honorable members Mr President D chairperson your Excellency my question is whether in light of the recent discovery of white spread corruption involving lawyers Hospital staff and patients in fraudulent medical negligence claim government is looking at using the signing of second presidential Health compact to Rally all Health Care practitioners and professional to fight wage and and concerted fight against corruption in the health sector and ensure that there are harsher consequences for those who are involved in Grand Theft and looting of public resources that will have otherwise been used to expand access to health care to our people thank you CH Pres honorable president I think it was more of a comment maybe if you would want to speak to it as well over to you honorable president thank you honorable chairperson a wonderful comment at that and uh uh all I would add is that yes uh the uh issues that you raise honorable member is precisely what we want to focus on there have been those who have focused on uh fraudulent activities or excuting fraudulent activities through the Health Care system and some of them have been through legal actions and through misrepresenting uh either you know patients or whatever and they have often sought to sought to find loopholes that they can utilize to defraud the system and in many ways as we often say that corruption is a crime against the people because that weakens our Health Care system and it is precisely this that we now focusing on I've I've signed a number of uh SIU directives to have investigations launched to deal precisely in large measure in the health care sector where we've either seen X of of corruption we want to reduce and eliminate corrupt activi is in the healthare center system and it is uh through vigilance and paying more attention that we will be able to to do so so we we want to focus on those who are perpetrating those acts of corruption and we will find them and they will be dealt with the good thing is that as we strengthen our uh Criminal Justice System we will be able to find those people and we want to remove as much room for them as possible so that those acts of uh stealing resources that are meant to improve the lives of the people of South Africa are limited and are eliminated so thank you very much for your comment thank you honorable president the next followup question is from mkp which will be asked by honorable MCA good afternoon president um the national health insurance is facing a widespread CR criticism over its feasibility and potential for corruption and um can the president then provide clear details of how the government plans to fund the nhi sustainably and to ensure accountability and prevent it from becoming another misguided State program uh what sa guards uh will be in place to protect it from becoming the same failures that we've seen in the public institution and I hear the president saying that there will be um SIU interventions to catch those who are defrauding the system however we'd like to know what preventative things or programs are in place to stop or to curb people from actually trying to uh Rob the system thank you president thank you honorable member honorable president number of if I can call them mishaps that we have had where acts of corruption have been perpetrated uh in a number of ways and by a number of people have taught us and continue to teach us a lot of lessons about what not to do uh as we deal with the lives of our people in terms of seeking to improve them as well as as we deal with the public resources uh that we are mandated to manage and your question is how are we going to fund the nhi I mean of course the nhi process of funding is ongoing and I've often said that that it is ongoing it is being clearly determined our Treasury and our health department are working vigorously uh through a process of doing doing precisely that and the National Health Systems in many other countries are usually funded uh through various means and public uh resources and all that so we will be able to determine uh exactly how that is going to be done but in terms of managing the resources particularly the funds we are going to put in place checks and balances and systems that are going to make it very difficult for those or impossible for those who may well want uh to engage in corrupt activities and if you look at the act itself it has a number of checks and balances and various mechanisms through which we will be able uh to manage the resources well and quite often the the scared tactic or issue that has been raised by a number of people revolves around the management of uh the fund the National Health Insurance Fund how well will that be managed the government does manage lot of money in various funds and yes some in some cases there are fraudulent activities but they often found out and our national treasur is one of the best treasuries that you can find and and it is going to working together with the health department make sure that we set up a fund that will have good governance measures and systems that is going to ensure that we limit and eliminate uh acts of Fraud and many people as I was saying earlier to The Honorable member uh want to talk about that as well and that is why I say yes we I am open we are open to engaging and talking about about how the nhi will be implemented and some of the areas that they raise is about how the fund will be managed and it is this that we are willing and to talk about and to see what or to hear rather what their views are uh in as far as the management of such a huge fund uh is is going to be like so talking to other people engaging and collaborating and finding very good systems of managing these public resources is precisely what we are going to do and our main objective is going to be to ensure that we have a health system that will that is going to deliver Better Health to the people of South Africa and we will therefore want to use various mechanisms to ensure that that indeed becomes a reality so be rest assured that we will put in place the necessary checks and balances that will prevent acts of uh robbing the people of South Africa of their resources thank you honorable member thank you honorable president the last followup question from this question is from honorable Kennedy e thank you house chair M Mr President president the reality is that South Africans do not want this Health compact as our people living in rural areas in townships in informal settlement will still be subjected to the same public hospitals and Lins while on the other side the affluent ones will have the outmost benefit due to their proximity to the private institutions therefore this bill will have no impact on the lives of those who suffer under our public public health system so in light of this has the president considered opening clinics for 24 hours 7 days a week if so could the president please provide details in this regard if it's not like this what is hindering this thank you Mr President honorable president honorable member uh chairperson and honorable member thank you very much for your question I beg to differ with you when you say the majority of people or South Africans do not want this Health compact that is not true as I said earlier we signed a health contract in 2019 and the Health compact was if you like a Harbinger a preparatory process of the development of our health system leading us to say the national health insurance many role players including Grassroots organizations including your traditional Health practitioners were there from the rural areas when they signed the Health compact in my presence and similarly with the second Health compact we still had a number of organizations and those that I spoke about who did not come are those who raise concerns about the national health insurance particularly its implementation in relation to one or two sections thereof and even those who have concerns their concerns really go around one or two sections of the national health insurance in the main most of them say we support but they also support the principle of a universal health coverage which by the way honorable member is if you like a dictate from the World Health Organization or the United Nations that has said that through its sustainable development goals we must move countries must move towards embracing and having a universal health coverage system this is the journey that we have embarked upon now if anyone thinks that we are mad or have lost our minds I'd like you to know that we are following the global guidance of which we are part of at the international Oran Global level so it cannot and is not true that many do not want the have comp now but you rais a very important and specific question about our clinics that could our clinics be opened on a 24-hour basis that is our aspiration clear aspiration in a number of areas in our country the hours of opening are continuing to increase and in support of what you're saying honorable member is as I go around the country as we holding Visos these are some of the things or sentiments that are articulated by our people they want uh ever open clinics they want to be able to have easy access and I agree that yes we should have health centers clinics that will be open and accessible all the time to our people people and of course it is those budgetary constraints that we have where for instance opening up a clinic means that you more or less need to have three shifts the morning shift a day shift and a night shift where you need to have people that are always going to be present and they require the relative payment that needs to be made to them so as our budgetary as our financial rather fiscal position continues to improve I see us exceeding to that type of aspiration that you're articulating which aspiration I agree with and I agree with our people who say we want clinics and hos or health centers that will be open most of the time so I agree it's a question of ability largely driven by the constraints that we have so you'll be pleas to know that I agree with you so that's one thing that the eff today can say the president agrees with I'm sure honorable members you have noted that um honorable president was asked completely new sets of questions of which he dealt with diligently this is indeed indic ative of the government that is ready and willing to serve its people we have noted that and we appreciate that honorable President we now move on to the next question which is question number three is the question is asked byc honorable manano over to you on honorable president thank you thank you honorable chairperson with that accolate I thought you were about to say president you can go home now we're still enjoying your president we're enjoying ourself with you here today honorable chairperson honorable members much higher levels of inclusive growth are needed to achieve sustainable employment in our country that is why this seventh Administration that is made up of the government of national Unity has placed inclusive economic growth as its apex priority however it will take time for such growth to meet the scale that is needed in our country this is why a range of complt measures are required to address poverty and enable economic participation the presidential employment stimulus which we launched as you may recall During the period of covid is a program or an initiative rather that enables support for public employment livelihood support as well as Enterprise development the presidential employment stimulus has contributed to over 2 million jobs and job opportunities as well as livelihood Improvement opportunities since its Inception in 2020 the social employment fund which is implemented by the Industrial Development Corporation under the department of trade and Industry and competition has created well over 100,000 jobs the fund creates work that serves the common good at Community level supporting food security informal settle upgrading combating gender based violence and femicide amongst many other forms of work subsistence Farmers have also been supported to enhance their production and this has contributed to increased levels of production and releasing a number of hectares of farming land under cultivation support has also been given to our metros to expand their public employment programs and uh we have a former mayor of a Metro here a former mayor OFA who can testify to this uh because uh he had extensive discussions with me on the benefits that uh our people were drawing from this program in a there he is you can ask him since 2020 as many as 4.5 million young people have registered on the sa youth Mobby Network which was established by the presidential youth employment intervention and now this platform has enabled young people to access just over 1.4 million earning opportunities as potential employers now utilize this platform to Source young people for employment many employers now visit that platform as they seek to get young people for employment a key Innovation is the jobs boost outcomes fund currently in its pilot form jobs boo is a program of the presidential youth employment intervention it is led by the national skills fund an entity of the Department of Higher Education and Training now the fund is designed to incentivize effective skills training by paying training providers only when young people have been placed in jobs in this way training providers are encouraged to provide skills that employers actually need and ensure that job candidates are equipped to access and sustain employment now to address poverty and the High Cost of Living all municipalities across the country are directed to implement the Indigent policies and quite a bit of money has been set aside by treasury in this regard well over 70 billion Rand has been made available I used to think it was much less than that but treasury said president it is actually quite uh a lot of money almost 76 billion uh has been allocated for the year 2024 to 2025 to assist Indigent families in our country thus reducing the cost of living and it will help to support 11.2 million indent households uh that need the support So through this we are enhancing the whole process of assisting our people and according to Stats SAA only 2.7 million indent households have had access to free basic services such as water and electricity and we are encouraging and directing our municipalities to ensure that they register more people people and not utilize the money for other ends but to reduce the cost of living for our people through these measures that have been embarked upon now the department of Cooperative governance is working together with our provincial counterparts to support our municipalities to raise awareness on this now these and many other measures is exactly what we are doing honorable chair to reduce the cost of living and to address the scourge of poverty in our country thank you honorable chair person thank you honorable president the followup question is from honorable manano fromc thank you cherson and D president my question to you is that are there any initiative that the government T in terms of covering for those who are 35 and above those who are marginalized vulnerable excluded in terms of the triple challenges of inequalities poverty and unemployment thank you thank you honorable member honorable president honorable chairperson yes honorable member I have been at pains in explaining that our interventions to address the challenge of unemployment should never be seen as limited and only focus on uh young people who are below 35 they are much broader than that and the very good example uh is the presidential employment stimulus when we launched it we launched it also to en Compass all those who are unemployed and in the course of implementing it much as it may have been depicted as uh a youth focused one it has also brought in people who are over 35 and is focused for instance uh on improving livelihoods it has focused on uh people who are involved in subsistence farming where we have supported hundreds of thousands thousands of our people uh in improving their economic livelihoods in subsistence farming in Enterprise development and all those have been uh with a view of addressing the challenges that our people are having on an overall basis so the notion that we're focusing just only on just those who are below 35 is not true we are focusing on all our people who are facing challenges now employment uh has has risen in an exponential unemployment rather has risen in an un in in in in a horrible manner in our country and we need to focus on all sectors of society and not just focus on one of course the young people bear the heaviest burden because 60 or so per of young people in our country are the ones who are most unemployed and we obviously need to focus on them but not at the expense and to the detriment of those who are above 35 so we will focus also on those who are above 35 and open up opportunities for them to Eek A livelihood from the growing economy of our country thank you honorable member thank you honorable president the next followup question is from honorable farmer from Pa thank you chair person very tall man um honorable president it really is an honor for me in this moment is I was was um one of the school of thought at the time that was expecting you to follow up 99 but as our lives are in the hands of God he sometimes man things another way around but this is a this is a huge moment for me honorable president in light of the the question youth unemployment was specific reference to colored youth what is your cabinet's plan with a reference black in general and African in particular with with particular reference to college not being seen as Africans and the challenges it creates for our color use in seeking employment thank you president thank you honorable member honorable president you say this is a huge moment for you honorable member this is a very tall moment for me I often comment about people your height when I go to South Sudan one day you should go with me to South Sudan we should get a date and [Laughter] go we are all Africans we are all Africans born and bred on this continent and the utilization of the term at the height of our struggle as we were Prosecuting the struggle in the way that you explain it was the way in which we focused on the way the oppression was manifesting itself let's face it African people in our country were African uh s uh people uh and we all the same people we're facing the sharpest end of Oppression and indeed people who are colored in our country uh were also facing real hardship under an oppressive system so it applied to all of us and today as we move on with our developmental processes we are not focusing on One National Group we're focusing on all and we are saying we need as a non-racial country and a country that is seeking to create cohesion in uh in South Africa to unite all the people of South Africa what government does and indeed what Society also does must unite all all of us we must embark on processes that are going to see to the development uh of all our people be they white be they colored be they African be they Indian all of us need to be able to say yes we are developing and employment programs must also focus on that group that you are talking about uh colored young people and all young people in our country and in fact you will find that our employment stimulus program has encompassed all it is not focused on one group it is an overarching group and has brought in a number of uh young people a number of people right across uh the national groups in our country South Africa is a country where all of us belong it belongs to all of us and no National Group must ever feel that the one is favored over and above the other we are all the children of this country and what happened in the past is precisely what we must deal with collectively and as we deal with it we must never fall into the Temptation that one group is favored more than the other we want to see development uh raising all boats uh we must see development focusing on all of us and as we do that of course there will be emphasis that is laid on the circumstances that each of all of us have faced and as we focus on the circumstances that each group has faced it must all lead to the development of all so we never going to fall into the Temptation that says relegate one group to the bottom and raise one group we're saying we are raising all the groups in our country and making sure that yes there is progress that will uh apply to all the national groups if we were ever to focus just on one group we will be violating the precepts of our constitution our constitution is very clear about equality and also very clear about taking measures to engender progress and development of all those who have suffered very very terribly under uh the process of inequality and racial discrimination and so as racial discrimination affect affected various groups in our country we've got to redress those imbalances and those imbalances also affect colored people in our country as they have affected Africans in our country and we must all therefore develop and become one cohesive nation that is on the process or in the process of development thank you honorable chairperson thank you honor President we now move on to the followup question which will be asked by honorable dder from da thank you very much chairperson welcome back to the ncop Mr President this time in this its seventh iteration yes good president the freedom Charter lists un lists employment challenges poverty and inequality as key areas of focus Mr Mandela also mentioned these challenges when he had his famous debate with mrar way back in 1994 and these three aspects have since been standard in every single ANC Manifesto with uh president khma mlan then being the first on record to put them together and call them the triple Challengers now anyone who's listened Toc speeches since then uh will agree that uh triple challenges has become one of the stock phrases to be inserted into every speech but in spite of all of this Focus unemployment is at an all-time high poverty remains as challenging as ever and the genie coefficient has worsened nowc policies are clearly not working and the voters agree which is why they delivered a government of national Unity the gnu Mr President is an ideal opportunity to take a look at new ideas uh and for these to be discussed and tested what is cabinet done to evaluate policies to find areas where compromise can be sought with a view to driving GDP growth for the benefit of all South Africans thank you Mr President Madam chair thank you honorable Ryder honorable president honorable chairperson and thank you honorable Ryder it's good that you're still one of the oldtimers of the the ncop um ref few left yes indeed indeed honorable member you will know of course that when we put together the government of national unit it was underpinned by what we call the statement of intent now the statement of intent is a clear set or contains a clear set of principles and one should never see it as a compromise it's that is clearly not a compromise it is a very clear statement that says we need to focus on what will take our country forward and those principles include what we need to do from a policy point of view from an execution point of view now I don't see a compromise in any of those it is a Unity of purpose Unity of purpose that has brought all those that agree with the principles that are underpinned by our constitution rule of law respect for the Constitution and seeking the development of the people of South Africa through a growing economy the creation of jobs and all that revolves around clear policies of what we need to do to execute what we have set out in the statement of intent a statement of intent is a really beautiful document around which 10 parties have coaled to focus on how we take our country forward and how we can improve the economic situation in our country how we can create jobs and in the course of doing so we're now developing a clear medium-term development plan a clear medium-term development plan that is going to guide the seventh Administration for the next 5 years where we will work together as a government of national Unity last night I had dinner with the various parties of the government of national unity and each one of the parties that were at that dinner table all confirmed that the government of national Unity is here to stay we want we recommit ourselves to the government of national unity and we are going to work to implement the statement of intent and everything that is set out in there and that includes improve Ming our economy growing our economy creating jobs making sure that there continues to be rule of law increasing the capacity and improving the capacity of the state and addressing the issues of poverty and inequality now there is unity of purpose Unity of commitment when it comes to that so if you say uh this is a compromise it's it's really a clear commitment to improve the lot of South Africans and last night uh there wasn't much wine flowing around no there there was a lot of conversation and recommitment uh to addressing the challenges that face our country it was a beautiful evening I wish you were there even as a fly on the wall just to see thank you very much thank you very much honorable President we now move on to the last followup which will be asked by E Honorable chiram in a population of above 60 million 30 million South Africa live in poverty 18.2 million in extreme poverty 30 .8 million are experiencing food poverty literal hunger and starvation Mr President there were lesser people living in poverty before you became president there were lesser people unemployed lesser violence against women and children lesser murders lesser femicide millions of our children under your presidency experience multi-dimensional poverty whether deprived of Health Care housing nutrition information water and sanitation these harrowing statistics have never dropped since you became president instead they continue to rise under your presidency poverty has worsened in South Africa since you became president of South Africa whose poverty are you referring to to be prioritizing since 2018 when it's not reflected statistically and in the lives of women and children who are at the bottom of the food chain and whose conditions have worsened since your Inauguration in 2018 to date thank you honorable president again I've not had any question that has been asked however if you so wish you may respond to the statement whether is it of intent or what I don't know but are at Liberty to respond to it thank you honorable chairperson I've listened to the honorable member a few times and one thing that she's really good at is having a statistically driven mind she's very good in regurgitating statistics and with the greatest of respect I should say some of the statistics that you put forward are a bit skew and flawed but with great respect I say I did not hear any question being put forward I just had speaker point of order please I mean chair person I have are already speaking honorable member you have risen on the point of order we have afforded you an opportunity to ask a followup question of which you made that statement and accordingly afford the president to address you on the issue that you have raised over to you honorable president you may respond to the statement that has been made before the house honorable chairperson uh it's a Pity that honorable M did not allow me to continue because much as she did not really put a question forward what I was going to favor her with is precisely a response to the comment that she made because she asks or she seems to ask which poverty am I referring to and of course we have always said that as honorable member said earlier that yes we Face a triple challenge in our country and we've never shied away from that we've never shied away from saying there is R poverty in our country there is inequality and indeed there's unemployment these are the challenges that our country faes and these are the challenges that the government of national Unity is determined to address as we entered into the seventh Administration and as all the 10 parties committed themselves to a program of action we are aiming and we are determined to ensure that yes we reduce incidents of poverty in our country the poverty yes that affects millions of South Africans unemployment that affects millions of South Africans and to reduce inequality in our country this is what we have committed to doing and so if you care to know and to listen the government of national Unity is committed to doing precisely that and the Vigor and the commitment that we are underpinning our work with is such that as we grow our economy as we embark on more and more developmental initiatives we will be able to reduce unemployment and create more jobs and through that we are certain I'm certain that we'll be able to reduce poverty as well and in the end address the challenge of inequality thank you honorable chairperson thank you honorable president honorable President we now come to question question number four which is asked by honorable makini from E over to you president honorable chairperson the policy direction of the government of national Unity was outlined in the opening of parliament address that I made on the 18th of July 2024 the key constitutive ideas of the government of national Unity are set out in the statement of intent as I've said which were signed by all the constitutive parties to the government of national unities so those parties agreed to certain basic principles including a firm commitment to respect the Constitution and the rule of law the principles included a commitment to promote accountability transparency integrity and good governance the parties also agreed to a minimum program as the foundation of the work of the gnu these were developed into priority actions that will form the basis for the medium-term development plan of our government and the 7th Administration as indicated in the opening of parliament address the government of national Unity will dedicate the next 5 years to act s and interventions that advance three strategic priorities firstly to drive inclusive growth and job creation secondly to reduce poverty and to tackle the High Cost of Living and thirdly to build a capable ethical and developmental State we will pursue growth that is inclusive and transformative we have SED that inclusive growth must support the empowerment of black South Africans and women we will continue to pursue programs that encourage broad-based black economic empowerment employment equity and support to small and medium size Enterprises we will continue to protect and uphold the hard one rights of workers and continuously strive to improve the conditions in which they live and they work in advancing our three strategic priorities we will amongst other things massively increase the scale of investment in infrastructure as I said earlier we will expand the presidential employment stimulus and as part of poverty alleviation measures we will ensure that local government implements the Indigent policy we will review existing housing policies to enable able people to live closer to economic opportunities importantly we will invest in the people of South Africa this includes efforts to achieve universal access to early childhood development it includes the expansion of vocational and Technical Training in schools as well as post School institutions as part of the implementation of the nhi as I said we will strengthen our health care System to improve the capability of the state we will work with provincial governments to stabilize local government and improve Service delivery processes we are strengthening law enforcement agencies to address crime as well as corruption we recognize that the gnu is comprised of parties from across the political Spectrum representing a range of political and ideological perspectives however we have been able to agree on a common program of action that provides a basis for far-reaching social and economic transformation this is what we have committed ourselves to and this is what we are determined to execute to improve the lives of South Africans with clear determination and an action oriented approach to doing what is needed to ensure that South Africans get a better life thank you honorable chairperson thank you honorable president there is however a followup question from honorable makini over to you honorable member Z commented that the government that you lead in essence is a coalition between yourself and the Democratic Alliance she also called that then what you will never embark to any program of action without Democratic Alliance Bas on those things and thank you very much honorable member honorable president thank you honorable chairperson I must say that as The Honorable member seeks to characterize the government of national Unity as a government between myself and the da that is a completely wrong characterization it is not a government that revolves around the president and another political party it's the government of national Unity of 10 political parties that are involved in a government of national Unity we have determined as I said earlier in my main reply to work together as a government of national Unity how anyone including the person that you referred to seeks to describe it is just really a matter of pmics it's just something somebody who is whistling out there uh in the wind and trying to paint a particular color to what we are seeking to do those that are involved in the government of national Unity know and this was also confirmed last night when I met all the parties we engage with each other with respect with recognition and with acceptance of the role that each of the parties play United in the project of improving the lives of South Africans and so therefore those who have this notion that it is only myself and the other party or uh two parties are completely wrong and that is a complete wrong reading of the current situation and may I say even the reading of the where this country seeks to be going we are moving forward as a United government made up of 10 political parties that have agreed that we are going to address the challenges that face the people of South Africa working together and the people of South Africa determined and decided that we should work together and that was the Mandate they have given us all to say work together to advance our interests and that is precisely what we are doing I said that we are underpinning everything that we are doing through the statement of intent which is very clear in terms of what we need to achieve and we know that having set out a very clear program of action we will will execute that together now I appointed a cabinet that is made up of the various parties some are represented in Parliament and many of them are represented in the executive and I'd like to give you a front row seat to see precisely how that is working out it is working out so well that everyone who's been appointed Ed in various positions are showing a great deal of commitment not to work for themselves not to work for their own parties but to work for the people of South Africa and that is the strength of what we are seeking to do and this is the government that I lead and I lead it in the interest of the people of South Africa thank you very much thank you honorable President we are now can you take your seat honorable Godel thank you we're now moving to the next followup uh question which is asked by da through honorable Godel over to you honorable pres president can we allow him to ask the question yes good afternoon I I I'm at your mercy honorable chair um Mr President you actually took most of my question by repeating the promise you made to the people of South Africa on the 18th of July and you partially repeated it for the um the lady in the back there but I would like with your permission to just highlight the third priority and that is the promise of a capable ethical and developmental state so if you're in your government you and your government are then still committed to these priorities my question to you is why is it that Minister TBI simani is still in your cabinet as the Minister of Justice honorable president thank you honorable chairperson you will know of course honorable Godel that as soon as the story around herself uh arose ask for a report a report that will outline precisely what the actual situation is she has just submitted the report to me with all the the documents and the attachment which I am now studying and I have said publicly that I'd like time and space to look at this to examine all this and be able to see how we take this matter forward so we embark on various processes and I think all organizations and all entities do embar on processes so I'd like you as well honorable Cel to allow this process to ensue thank you very much thank you honorable president the next followup question is asked by udm honorable Peter H man buis as honorable speaker of the ncop muman H honorable president of the Republic of South Africa president my president my question is so simple is just for the clarification of the gnu today so that to make things simple thank you thank you president in the case where parties in the government of national Unity are unable to reach consensus regarding the implementation of the basic minimum program of priorities contained on the statement of the intent for 2024 GN should the matter be taken to consultation Council for mediation whether the council decision would be binding or or taken as a a recommendation by members of the gnu the reason why President we asking is because we don't understand the actual Gathering of this gnu because the same people we as the same people that were in this genu were still challenging you president meaning we don't understand what we in for thank you president triumphs honorable president thank you honorable chairperson we have sought to explain over and over what the government of national Unity is really all about about it's about executing the Mandate of South Africans the South African people did not give a single party an outright majority to set up government on its own so that having been done by South Africans it required that we should all put our heads together and say how do we take this country forward and in doing so the 10 parties got together and said we should work together as the people of South Africa have determined and decided and form a government of national Unity since no single party achieved a 50+ one majority on its own so it requires that there should be a measure of cooperation statement of intent was then drafted which I should say having been drafted a number of parties were then consulted nearly all parties were consulted that are represented in our parliament in the end 10 said very clearly we subscribe to these principles that are set out in the statement of intent and we are therefore committed and determined to work together to work together collectively as the 10 parties and those 10 parties having agreed to do so I then had the opportunity having been elected the president of the Republic by this Parliament to then pick or appoint a cabinet a cabinet that is made up of the majority of those parties and some are represented in our nation in our Parliament and those members of the executive including those who are in our Parliament having signed to the state the statement of intent have set out a clear program of where South Africa should go on the Mandate of the people of South Africa and of course as I said earlier we all from different part parties parties that have different manifestos parties that have different or adhere to different ideologies but what unites us is the statement of intent and this statement of intent having United us all we also inserted the governance processes that will govern our relationship in case there are any areas of difference or disputes last night when we met we decided that in ensuring that we enhance good working relationships we will have what we call a processing team a team that will process whatever needs to be addressed by the leaders of all the politic iCal parties so that processing team will identify those issues that we need to discuss and say resolve from time to time and embedded in the statement of intent of course we did say if there ever was an area of difference and let me put it up front that of course because we come from different political parties there will always be differences as there are differences in any relation relationship whether it's between friends between uh you know Partners in a marriage or in an organization in a company or even here in Parliament all over so there will always be people who see things differently we therefore need to find ways of resolving those now I don't work on the basis that you know we are going to differ to a point of even parting ways I've often worked on the basis of what nelon and Mandela taught us that for every problem there is a solution and so you try to find the solution and so we underpin our uh working together and we confirmed this yesterday that we will find solutions to whatever problems that may arise because problems will arise and we should never kid ourselves and think that we will not have challenges and problems so we will find problems so how will we take them to arbitration or mediation no we will engage amongst ourselves we will find each other and of course we've set up a system that has been tried and tested in solving problems sufficient consensus but for me sufficient consensus means that we build consensus amongst all of us so we build consensus we convince one another and find solutions for the problems that we may have and and that is the way that the government of national Unity will proceed forward so that is why I continue saying to our people support this process that you as the people of South Africa decided we should have through the vote outcome that you you you you you lended us with so we are here because the people of South Africa through their votes delivered this outcome and we must make it work so last night we said we're going to make this work and we will as we Face challenges find Solutions as you will see as time goes on uh from Tomorrow onwards you'll find how we find Solutions or you'll see how we find solutions to continue with this government of national Unity thank you honorable president the last followup question is from honorable mod fromc thank you so much honorable Madame cherson President ER py begging on the response especially from question one has the government put in place measures to track and monitor the performance of members of the executive of government of national unity and their individual performances in advancing priorities that have been set aside for the seventh Administration and implementing cabinet resolutions as the cabinet resolutions as the basis for medium-term development plan for transforming South Africa and redressing ing the imbalances of the past is there a critical role that the department of planning monitoring and EV evaluation is playing in the monitoring of the performance of government of national Unity to ensure that everyone adad to the medium term development plan thank you thank you honorable member honorable president thank you honorable chairperson uh yes simple answer to those two questions is that yes we are finalizing the performance agreements that every Minister and Deputy Minister must sign with me and the department of monitoring and evaluation stob is to make sure that we evaluate what we are doing in government the whole of government whether we are implementing what we said we would implement the medium-term uh development plan uh which is being finalized now is going to set out precisely what we need to do and thereafter every Department every member of the executive through their performance agreements as well as the plans that they have in terms of the Departments that they lead will know exactly what needs to be done and that also set out the time frames we are determined to move quickly to even raise our Ambitions and make sure that we act with greater urgency and greater determination to improve the lives of the people of South Africa we are facing enormous challenges and those require uh an executive that is agile that is determined to move quickly to implement all those plans so yes that is what we are going to do thank you honorable chair thank you honorable President we are now moving to question five which is asked by honorable fanden per from FF plus over to your president honorable chairperson and honorable members a fundamental principle on which our democracy is founded is that South Africa as I said earlier belongs to all who live in it and United in our diversity we are one of the most diverse countries in the world which has brought together all of us who live in this country over many years and we have found a good way of living side by side in our diversity and forging a common future as the people of this country and in making this assertion we recognize the injustices of our painful past that unfairly treated and discriminated against the majority of South Africans on the basis of the color of their skin the Constitution provides for the enactment of legislation and other measures to promote the right of everyone to dignity the achievement of equality and the advancement of Human Rights and Freedoms the Constitution is clear that everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law to give effect to the equality clause in our constitution the employment sphere in the employment sphere rather employment Equity Act was enacted the employment Equity act provides for the fair treatment of South Africans and prohibits any unfair treatment or discrimination directly or indirectly against any person based on race based on gender disability or or on any of the prohibited grounds listed in the Constitution this also applies to job applicants section five of the employment Equity act prescribes that all employers must take steps to promote equal opportunity in the workplace by eliminating unfair discrimination in any employment policy or practice there for any employment legislation policy or practice that unfairly discriminates against anyone based on their race the agenda or any other prohibited ground is illegal the employment Equity Act is one of the several measures were put in place to correct the grave historical Injustice of economic exclusion the historical discrimination against black people and women in the workplace was produced has produced an economy that does not provide equal opportunities for all not only is this unjust it is also limiting the potential of our people in our economy I often say that we had constructed or the past rulers of this country had constructed an economy that did not work on all its potential cylinders although we have made progress since the Advent of democracy we still have some way to go although we've taken a number of actions there's still a lot that needs to be done according to the annual report of the commission for employment equity for 2022 to 2023 white people account for 63 % of top management positions in our country yet they comprise only 8% of the economically active population by contrast Africans account only for 177% of the top management positions even though they account for 80% of the economically active population the situation is better at the professionally qualified level Africans account for nearly half of all professionally qualified positions white people account for a third and Indians and colors account for around 10% each these figures clearly show that while there are areas of progress we have yet to reach a situation where all people have have equal opportunities in the workplace regardless of race or gender all people in our country including from so-called minority groups should be able to have equal access as I was saying earlier to employment opportunities and to equally contribute to the economic growth of our country without feeling excluded without feeling marginalized but feeling that they are part of the whole of South Africa and it is for this reason that we say once again that South Africa belongs to all who live in it United in our diversity thank you honorable chairperson thank you honorable president honorable Fen You may ask the followup question thank you chair president South Africa is yearning for the blessing of a demographic dividend brought about with higher employment and leading to less poverty however populations go go through more than one demographic dividend as they develop in stage one per capita income will rise as we move away from poverty and high birth rates stage two can be described as the middle income groups able to save a little at stage three a person or group will have money to reinvest into society transforming into more employment and tax revenue however as a diversified Nation population groupings are not all functioning at the same stages and I'm not referring to race the multi-dimensional poverty index MPI identifies deprived groups and districts this argument then forms the pivot point for government spending and policy and is used to justify discriminative be and affirmative action legislation based on race towards a minority group but it only serves to the functioning of a state body that can now not run towards economic growth as one leg is impaired and can therefore not help build and play their part honorable president eradicators of poverty are lower birth rates employment opportunities and a employable Workforce surely now should we not look at repealing discriminative be and affirmative action as we look at the gnu statement of intent namely working toward establishing a non-racial United society and improving the lives of all who live in it if we as a nation desire to go forward can we also address this issue member I'm afraid your time is up you haven't even asked a question yet so honorable president if I may afford you an opportunity to respond to the statement that has been made by The Honorable member you may not you may if you wish so wish president I do wish to to respond honorable member honorable chairperson thank you very much the I think the clearly unstated question was should we not look at repealing uh say black economic empowerment as well as employment equity and I have to say the answer is no and in fact it will not be to the advantage of this country to repeal these laws that are transformative I'll tell you why I say they're transformative you yourself have said that uh we could impair the whole body uh by just in the way I'm paraphrasing walking on one leg and pair one leg and that's precisely what I said that the the way our economy was constructed it was constructed to favor one National Group in our country and that is why I say it was not working on all cylinders and in some ways that is why our economy has not been able to unleash its full power because it is like saying people must enter a race and you tie the leg of one some of the uh participants and say run and that's precisely what has happened in our country now through these measures through these laws we are seeking to ensure that there is equality that there is equal involvement equal participation which if you do not have the encouragement through rules and laws May in some instances never be done now one of the things that I found really refreshing amongst a number of South Africans including white South Africans is that some of these laws have now enabled them to sit back and say wow this entity that we are involved in is does not speak to good representation we need representation demographic representation we need women to also be brought up we also need black people to be brought up to key positions and in many ways that is happening as I encounter a lot of South Africans and this is not happening just on its own it's happening because it's being encouraged by the laws the rules and the regulations that we've put in place they are raising the level of Consciousness and awareness and recently I had a wonderful experience just to let you know in the cattle industry where for a society a CLE society which has forever been run just by white males and they paused as they were now choosing their next leadership they paused and said wow we've always just had white males running this Society we now need in view of the level of Consciousness the new laws the regulations that are abroad in our country we now need to include other genders other people and that has led to women also exceeding to those positions of leadership that has led to black people being brought into those positions that would never have happened honorable member on its own it required laws it required regulations it required the raising of Consciousness now I would like to believe that there is not much resistance among South Africans and in fact we should see this as unleashing unleashing the power of inclusivity of doing things together now I also see it in the government of national Unity the government of national Unity has given rise to that when I look at my cabinet I see how in the past we used to have a cabinet 30 years ago which was all male and all white today you see a cabinet that is mixed where every South African National Group is represented and that is the beauty of our situation and I think we should embrace that rather than fear and fear ghosts the unknown that is what we should move away from let's embrace the diversity the rich diversity that this this country has given rise to to We are one nation and let's make this nation work thank you very much thank you very much honorable president the next followup question is from honorable sft thank you um good afternoon uh president and chair uh my question has actually halfway been asked but um if you can uh just elaborate you know I acknowledge your your positivity um you you feel at ease at at ncop um we engage um Mr President the DA's economic Justice policy and we also know part of the gnu seeks to create that economically inclusive South Africa South Africa that belongs to all of us free of any superficial differences between her beautiful people it it proposes a just society in which economic opportunities are available to all and people who have the capabilities to make use of those opportunities through an approach which should address the key drivers of inequality of opportunities as well as broader social economic needs this proposal needs does not use the race as the framework as redress it uses the United Nations sustainable development goals will your government after the 30 years of democracy consider looking into such policy proposal policy that grow South African economy for the benefit of all a beautiful people I thank you president thank you honorable member honorable president honorable chair person the answer is a simple one yes what we are about and which is clearly set out in the statement of intent is precisely to go to grow the economy of our country to Advantage the people of South Africa and to do so collectively working together this is what we are all about and should be all about the South Africans inclusivity working together collaborating addressing the problems and the challenges of our country as a people who have embraced our diversity our unity and our need to address the imbalances that were caused by our past our painful and horrible past was such that it divided us it advantaged one group over another group and this is what we are now given the opportunity to solve and to solve it in the most peaceful manner in the most consensual Manner and in the most collaborative manner Without Anger without retribution and with great unity and this is what we need to do and to ensure that we spread opportunity and we make more and more opportunities available to the people of South Africa through empowering one another empowering one another I mean I can give you one other example even amongst white people who are the most privileged in our country we also found that the women white women you could say were relegated to the back they did not have the opportunities that this new democracy has opened up and many of them if they dare to be brave do say yes this Democratic era Democratic era has opened up opportunities for all of us and a number of those who who were privileged in the past do own up that yes this Democratic South Africa has has enlarged and opened up more opportunities I forever remember the front page of one of the Business magazines in our country which the financial mail years ago which had a front page that it's an English uh speaking uh business magazine but it had a front page that says yes like yes like that is leer something like that and which was showing how even white businesses are thriving are thriving and how yes white people are also progressing and we don't you know uh begrudge them but we say include everyone let us all Thrive let us all be inclusive and let the women of our country who were the most oppressed and we often say that black women suffered under the triple oppression that existed because they were women they were workingclass and because they were black and similarly a number of groups in our country did suffer you know under that so this era that we are in particularly the government of national Unity where we've United Even parties that are completely on the other side of the spectrum are now committed to working together and I forever remember a conversation last night which revolved around land where even those who are on opposite sides were saying yes we are finding each other in working together to make sure that land is distributed to our people and that for me is what you could have called The Miracle of the past but this is what defines what we are as South Africa now working together moving forward this is the era where we must embrace all those processes and interventions that unite us rather than divide us thank you honorable chair thank you honorable president I'm now inviting the followup question from honorable k e uh thank you thank you chair and good afternoon Mr President good afternoon to you I so dearly wish to have called you comrade matela this afternoon why why don't you but uh your partnership with the colonial and racist and fundamentalist has effectively exonerated you from the title comrade be that as it may Mr President the E and document now the question is that the employment Equity Act was introduced to bring about equality Fair racial and gender representation in the workplace and mostly young white South Africans have Fallen prey to the agency selling International opportunities and subsequently left the country with their skill and expertise colard and Indian minorities have mainly remained in the country in the hope that they will be counted in when opportunities arise many of whom are still at home with degrees without employment opportunities the eff is asking whether the president has considered reviewing the employment Equity act and all other labor related legislation in order to include these groups in active employment opportunities if so please provide details in this regard as well as time frames that your government will put in place Mr President on that kers we have children we have family and we have relatives they are qualified they sit at home with honors degrees with master's degrees and they do not have employment please give us uh some uh Clarity in this regard thank you sir thank you honorable member honorable president uh honorable chairperson um indeed the problem of unemployment Cuts right across the various National groups and we cannot now sit here and say it only applies to one group and of course because of the uh history that we have had and uh structure of a socioeconomic situation it will affect other groups more than others and as it turns out what the honorable member is saying um yes is happening but let me say that it's not all white young people who are living the country it's not true a number of white young people are here in South Africa and they are finding opport opportunity opportunity now we need to deal with the imbalance which I spoke about earlier in my main reply but just to get to the point opportunities are open to all and we would like even yes those who are sitting at home uh without employment with degrees and honors degrees and be be they colored be they African be they they white they should find space in the economic life of our country now our economy has not been growing at the level that will create widespread employment and this is precisely what we are seeking now to achieve we want our economy to grow on an inclusive basis so that it can open up opportunities for all and those opportunities as they open up must never be seen as being opportunities for a particular National Group we want all opportunities to be opened for all and that is why we say South Africa belongs to all who live in it now as I was saying earlier measures and laws like the employment Equity are meant to encourage to encourage and enable all of us to empower the people of South Africa as a whole to acceed to the level where indeed we have an economy that is inclusive that serves all and not a particular racial group as we have had in the past and if you picture what we had in the past and picture what we want to achieve that is when you will see that the measures and the laws that we've put in place are meant to get us there and they are meant to serve as encouragement as enabling processes that will get us there and all of it will pivoted around what is set out in our constitution equality fairness of treatment and fair and equal opportunity for all and that is what every South African should be absolutely sure about that whether you a woman whether you're a man whether you are disabled whether you have any other characteristic the constitution of our country is there as an enabling and empowering document that protects all and should be seen as enabling all of us uh to acceed proed to a better life and that is the one guarantee that every South African should have that I will never be badly treated that I should never be relegated to the back and I should never be refused to have opportunities because of the color of my skin my National Group the region where I come from or any other characteristic so so fairness equality is what our constitution promises us and we need to work to ensure that it delivers precisely that thank you National chair uh house chair no okay