Speech by Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu, in the debate on President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address, Parliament, June 18 2014
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: Madam Chairperson of the NCOP, Mr President, Mr Deputy President, hon members of the NCOP and of the National Assembly, once again we are treated to doomsday prophecies by the Opposition. It is almost as if there is a formula that they have laid out for the President to follow and, if he deviates from it, he does so at his own peril.
So they say he should have said something about this; he should have said something about that; he didn't say enough about this; he should have done this; he should have done that; he should have referred to the National Development Plan, NDP; or he should have done that!
What they forget is that we, the ANC, came here on the mandate of 62% of the people of this country. [Applause.] When the President speaks, he speaks on behalf of 62% of the voters, and that indicates what the policies of this government will be, going forward. That is what he came here to say. [Interjections.]
If there was anything that the Opposition wanted to add, they could have done so as they have always been given the opportunity to do so, but their vacuousness is echoing through the halls of this assembly today - all emptiness, signifying nothing.
Less we forget, this is where we come from: The DA argued that they would become the government of Gauteng. They failed. There is Mmusi Maimane, the premier-elect of Gauteng, sitting there... [Interjections.]
Mr M WATERS: Chairperson, I rise on a point of order.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: ... playing... hon Mmusi Maimane from Soweto, sitting there, his dreams... [Interjections.] Shut up! [Interjections.]
Mr M WATERS: Madam Chairperson, I rise on a point of order: I ask you to rule whether it is parliamentary for the hon Minister to tell another member to shut up.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: I withdraw.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: The hon Minister has withdrawn.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: They promised that they would marginally improve their national standing to 30%. It was a miserable 22%... [Interjection.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Minister, you were asked to withdraw, and you said that you withdrew.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: I withdrew before I was asked to do so.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Are you satisfied, hon member? Thank you. Please continue, hon Minister.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: He is sitting here, playing second fiddle in some province where previously there sat somebody else who has now been sent into exile. [Interjections.] Now that madam has found another hired native in the form of hon Maimane - who shall forever be grateful to the ANC... [Interjections.]
Mr M WATERS: Madam Chairperson, I rise on a point of order.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: ...for leading the struggle that, today...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: What is your point of order, hon member?
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: ...has a black man seen as a much sought-after commodity.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Minister, please hold your horses.
Mr M WATERS: Madam Chairperson, I rise on a point of order: I refer to Rule 14(p) of the Joint Rules, and I would ask you to rule whether the phrase "a hired native" would be deemed as offensive and unbecoming language in this House.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: Chairperson...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, I will be advised on your point and will make a ruling. [Interjections.]
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: Chairperson, I am a native of this country and am very proud of it. [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Sir, I have said that I will be advised on this matter and I make a ruling. [Interjection.]
Mr N S MATIAS: So you don't know...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, I don't know, ma'am. Please stop backchatting the Chair. Please continue, hon Minister.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: He will forever be grateful to the ANC for having fought the struggle so that, today, a black man is such a sought-after commodity that he is hand-picked to do the bidding of somebody else. [Applause.]
Soon, he too will disappear.
Mr N S MATIAS (EFF) MEMBER: Madam Chairperson, I rise on a point of order: It is unparliamentary and unAfrican to call a black person "a commodity". If the ANC thinks that black people are commodities, then it is a shame. I request that you ask the hon Minister to withdraw.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: Madam Chairperson, I stick to that. That is what the DA was doing: looking for a black commodity to run their election. They found one. [Interjection.]
Chairperson, I would like to proceed.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I will rule tomorrow on whether an hon member can be referred to as a commodity or not. You may proceed, hon Minister. [Interjections.] Order, hon members! Calm down!
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: Hon Maimane, I waited for your speech in anticipation. Sadly, we have heard that speech given here before, and there is absolutely nothing new in it. [Interjections.] The only thing I learnt from that speech is that you come from Soweto, a revolutionary place. I wonder how you can come from that place and turn out like this. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
Hon Chair, I took a vow. I'm packing my bags and going to Ngcobo. I cannot be associated with this! [Laughter.]
We heard that speech from exiled Lindiwe, with a few... [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, hon members! Order! [Interjections.]
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: I will go when I choose!
There were only a few tweaks here and there, and we sit here and you tell us about a DA government. Where the DA governs, there is more misery for black people. [Interjections.] Where the DA governs there is the clearest, starkest inequality between the races. Where the DA governs, winter is the darkest period for black people, as they are invariably knee-deep in flood waters, drenched and frozen in their shacks.
Tomorrow, you should go to Phillipi and Lwandle and see the conditions under which those people live. [Interjections.] See the living conditions of our people where the DA governs. Ask them how long they have been on the DA's housing waiting list. What hypocrisy!
Mr M WATERS: Hon Chairperson?
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, hon member. Is it a point of order?
Mr M WATERS: Yes, hon Chairperson. Would the Minister be willing to take a question about the SA National Roads Agency, Sanral, throwing people out in winter? [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Minister, are you willing to take a question? [Interjections.]
Mr M WATERS: Take the question!
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: She has declined, sir. [Interjections.] She has declined. Please take your seat. Proceed, Minister.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: What hypocrisy, that you say that some of the money we have spent, could have been spent better on a number of other issues. Maybe. Maybe not. What you forget is that, in this province governed by the DA, R30 billion was spent on consultants, no doubt cronies of the DA government. In this province there is a scam readily available, day in, day out. Right now, we sit with a scam that has been covered up with the complicity of the media. Millions were spent by the City of Cape Town on a scam called "World Design Capital". And what has happened here is that the judges were paid to judge in favour of the City of Cape Town. A big scam! Maybe hon Maimane can explain to taxpayers in Cape Town and elsewhere why the DA bought this title, how much they paid for it and how much it is still costing us and what could have been done with that money...
Mr I M OLLIS: Chairperson, I rise on a point of order.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: ... in the years to come.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Minister, there is a point of order.
Mr I M OLLIS: Madam Chairperson, I rise on a point of order. In terms of Rule 14(j) I would submit that the Minister has made a reflection on judges and the honour of judges by saying that they would accept money to alter a judgment. I would ask you to rule that that is unparliamentary.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICES (Adv T M Masutha): Madam Chairperson, can we address you on the point of order?
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: What is it, hon Masutha?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICES (Adv T M Masutha): May I address you on that point, hon Chair? There has been no reference to a specific judge and therefore I do not know in what context this point of order is being raised. [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, calm down! The Minister referred to a scam and people being paid off. [Interjections.] I will look at the record; I did not hear the word "judges". [Interjections.] I will come back and rule on this matter once I have... [Interjections.]
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS (Mr J P CRONIN): Hon Chairperson, I rise on a point of order.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I will come back and rule on this matter.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS (Mr J P CRONIN): Hon Chairperson, I rise on a point of order: The reference was to a panel of international judges awarding an international design capital award to a city for a particular year. The comment was not at all a reference to the South African judiciary. So, the particular clause that he quoted is not relevant to this matter at all.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, that may be, but I will still look at the record and come back to the House. May we proceed, please?
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: I would like the hon member to explain to this House how much was paid to the judges of that particular World Design Capital endeavour; how much of that money could have been used elsewhere and how this is defined outside of the context of corruption and wasteful expenditure in the City of Cape Town. [Interjections.]
This, in a province where, over the last five years, housing production has dropped by 30%! What a shame!
Hon Malema, welcome to this House, where manners is a very important part of our conduct... [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order!
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: ... where your tongue is governed by the Rules of Parliament, my dear. [Interjections.] It will be a tough place for you, but we welcome you here. The reason you do not remember what the President's speech was about was because it clearly flew far above your head... [Interjections.] ... and your ability to grasp what he was saying. [Applause.] Hang in there! In a few years you will remember what the President said; you will comprehend what the President said.
Secondly, you make an allegation about the Marikana incident, and you accuse this government of improper action in that matter, while the EFF in the meantime has one of its members serving on a commission as a representative of the miners involved in this particular tragedy. [Interjections.]
Yes, perhaps it might be better for us to understand how radical that person is if he takes the money that he is paid by the state for serving on that commission and gives it to the miners. [Applause.]
Hon Buthelezi, my respect for you prohibits me from responding to you, but you know that you have crossed the line. You said what you said many times, and you do it all the time. For my sake, personally, please stop embarrassing me and please stop embarrassing yourself. I love you too much for that.
The President has a plan. He laid out the elements of that plan. Explaining the details of the plan is the responsibility of each Minister in the coming budget debates. So, if there are not enough cows out there or whatever it is that you are complaining about, hon Zokwane will fill in the gaps and tell you about cow disease and what he is doing about it.
If there is anything else that you would like to know, attend the Budget Vote debates.
When the President laid out the plan that the ruling party and government had been seized with for the last two weeks while some of you were tanning in the sun - all of you here look very sun-tanned - and some of you, in red overalls, there, were probably on Malema's farm, we were very busy. [Laughter.] We were very busy. The depth and the detail... [Interjections.]
Mr N F SHIVAMBU: Order, order, order, order, order, order, order, Chair.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, what is your point of order, Hon Shivambu?
Mr N F SHIVAMBU: Look, we don't agree with this honourable honourable thing, but the person who is speaking now said that we were working on Malema's farm. She must consistently say "honourable" because all of us are forced to say "honourable" here. So the hon member who is speaking must consistently refer to the commander-in-chief of the EFF as hon Malema. [Laughter.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I am sure the hon Minister has heard the hon member reminding us all to be honourable in the House.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: Yes, and also the affirmation that the hon members were on hon Malema's farm [Laughter.]
While you were on the farm, we were very busy. The depth and detail of the plan will certainly have been above the average intellectual capacity we have left. That is your problem. We are moving South Africa forward. Watch as we embark on radical changes now that we have consolidated the power of the state that we set up in the first administration of the previous five years to ensure that our economy is on solid ground.
Coming out of this election, what seems to be missing in our analysis is the fact that, despite all the whining and whinging and all of the scaremongering that has been going on for years, we got 62% of the vote. In a democratic state, that is a landslide victory by any measure. The ANC got 40% above the second-highest vote catcher. Our people have shown their confidence in us once again. We worked very hard for it and we are grateful that our people have faith in us and that it is solid. It is so solid, that Mamphela Ramphela was reduced from being a much sought-after damsel, to being a damsel in distress, rejected even by her own party! Now she is out in the wilderness.
Cope is so decimated that it has left poor hon Lekota - the once puffed up Terror - shrivelled! Absolutely shrivelled! [Laughter.]
And what about hon Holomisa, running around, begging the miners in Marikana, "Hey, do you remember me?" [Laughter.]
Mnu B H HOLOMISA: Uyafuna mos ndiphendule; ndingakuphendula uba uyafuna. [Do you really want me to respond? I can respond if you want me to.]
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTELEMENTS: May I continue, Chairperson?
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Holomisa, whatever it is that you are whispering is unparliamentary because it cannot be heard. [Laughter.] Please proceed, hon Minister.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTELEMENTS: He said, "Hey, I am that dictator who freed you from Matanzima; please vote for me!" [Laughter.] Well, my dearest brother, it paid off; that's why we have you here. I was very pleased to listen to what you said because you brought sense back with you. Thank you for coming back.
The Opposition's general election strategy was based on innuendo, malignant attacks, rumour mongering, and outright slander against the people's organisation and its president. The same malignant innuendo that is repeated here by hon Maimane and hon Malema. Our people have matured over time and their answer to these nefarious designs was to say that, together with the ANC, we will move South Africa forward. [Applause.]
Our people's hopes are not misplaced in us. Our people's vital wishes and deep desires sit at the heart of the ANC's long tradition of resistance. Our people know that, year in and year out, we built roads, opened new clinics, and built new hospitals.
New schools are opened in the Eastern Cape, one every week. The President indicated here that, by August 2014, there will be proper furniture in those schools, procured through proper procurement processes. Eat your heart out, Malema.
Our people know that, year after year, we give them houses. Our people know that we connect new houses to electricity. Our people know we support families of vulnerable people through a basket of social assistance that this government's grant system has created to take them out of poverty; that we have rolled out anti-retroviral therapy; and the list goes on.
We dedicated a great deal of time before this election to tell the good story of what this government has done. As the President had indicated yesterday, we spent a great deal of time on the ground, listening to the people to find out what had been achieved and what had not been achieved. What he heard was: Mr President, please deal with the economy so that we can secure jobs, so that we can prosper; Mr President, please deal with local government and its shortcomings. That is exactly what he has done.
Programmes have been put in place. These are not just empirical but are based on practical experience of matters at the core of the second phase of the transformation of our democracy to fulfil the promise of a better life for our people. [Interjection.]
No, I haven't.
As we sit here, Mr President, the people of Lwandle are drowning in water, shivering, shunned by this province. [Interjections.]
The Minister of Transport, the Deputy Minister and I had to come here and rescue them from the plight that they were in. Until we got here, nobody cared about them, because they are black. [Interjections.] What is more, they were even shunned by the communities that we tried we place them in, based on the deeply entrenched racial divide in this province. [Interjections.]
Hon Maimane, the President has indicated that he will intervene and help with the billing system of the City of Johannesburg. We will also intervene and help the Western Cape with its housing delivery and sanitation, so that we take our people out of running around with buckets of unseemly matter and emptying them at the airport. [Interjections.] We will do that to make sure that they are not reduced to that spectacle.
We will intervene to help the province eradicate the apartheid spatial planning because, quite clearly, it is struggling with that. Please convey this message to the province on our behalf, hon Maimane.
I must say that one of the very good announcements made by the President unfortunately seemed to have passed over the heads of most people. It is the fact that the President has indicated that we are intervening in mining towns to revitalise them, to make sure that we do not have a condition like Marikana ever again, that our people who work in the mines are housed in decent conditions and that their dignity is restored.
Hon Maimane, join us in this quest to create a better country for all our people.
The President dealt in detail with the problems of service delivery at local government level - that layer of government closest to our people, where inexperience, lack of skills, political interference and corrupt practices were identified in our analysis. If we hoped to improve the economy, we knew we had to build the necessary capacity in the state to do so. We had the Municipal Finance Management Act, but that was not enough. The NDP pointed it out to us, and we energetically set about providing the framework that, in the Public Administration Management Bill, is very clearly spelt out. It is now possible to take skills and make sure we can transfer them to where they are needed most, which is largely in local government. We will have uniform standards set throughout all three spheres of government in line with the Constitution. Importantly, to help reduce the incidence of corruption, we banned all public servants from doing business with the state. [Interjections.]
I must add at this point, Mr President, that I was heartened to read the comments to your speech of Mr Cas Coovadia, the chief executive officer of Business Unity SA, Busa. He said:
The concentration on energy was very important, and the focus on local government was also very positive. There is certainly room for the private sector and government to work on that because the private sector has capacity it can second to bring to bear on the capacity of local government.
Let all South Africans with a conscience come forward and rally behind our effort. That is what we can do. This is what we are asking you. What can you do to help? What can you do for this country?
We have the skills. We have it in abundance. When that happens across all sectors of our society, when people come forward to say, I can help, this is what I can do for my country, when we have achieved a national identity and a national consciousness that demands us to give willingly so that we together as South Africans can move South Africa forward - because, after all, South Africa belongs to all of us who live within its borders - then we will have arrived at the place for which we fought for so long. I thank you. [Applause.]
Rulings by NCOP Chairperson, Thandi Modise, on remarks made by Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu, Parliament, June 19 2014:
SECOND RULING
UNPARLIAMENTARY STATEMENT MADE BY MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
(Ruling)
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: There was also another point of order raised relating to a statement made by the Minister of Human Settlements, in particular when she said:
Now that the madam has found another hired native in the form of the hon Maimane, we shall forever be grateful to the ANC for having fought in the struggle so that today a black man is such a sought-after commodity that he is hand-picked to do the bidding of somebody else.
Once again I have perused the Hansard. In my view there is nothing unparliamentary about a native being native. [Interjections.] Hold your horses! Hold your horses and respect me!
There is nothing unparliamentary about being referred to as a native. There is also nothing unparliamentary about a native that is hired by anybody.
However, I must say that when you use these words separately, there is nothing untoward or unparliamentary about it. If you, however, put these words together in one sentence, the context that you get in the same sentence as the Minister put them, are offensive and may perpetuate stereotypes that the "natives" are always for hire. I therefore request the Minister of Human Settlements to withdraw the remarks she made yesterday.
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: I withdraw. [Applause.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you, Minister.
THIRD RULING
UNPARLIAMENTARY STATEMENT MADE BY MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
(Ruling)
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! The last point of order was made by Mr Waters of the DA yesterday relating to another statement made by the Minister of Human Settlements referring to the Western Cape. And the words were:
In this province there is a scam readily available, day in and day out. Right now we sit with a scam that has been covered up with the complicity of the media. Millions were spent by the City of Cape Town on a scam called World Design Capital. And what has happened here is that the judges were paid to judge in favour of the City of Cape Town.
The hon member who stood up to object, stood up in terms of Rule 14 of the Joint Rules, which prohibits members from reflecting upon the competence or honour of the judges. The purpose, hon members, of Rule 14 of the Joint Rules is to protect the integrity and the independence of the judiciary and not individuals sitting as a procurement or a competition panel. In this case, the judges referred to in Joint Rule 14 refer to members of the judiciary. The judges that the Minister referred to in her statement therefore does not refer to the members or the judges he was referring to. The point of order therefore stands dismissed and I therefore find that the Minister has said nothing unparliamentary. [Applause.]
The Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces adjourned the Joint Sitting at 19:22.
Source: Unrevised transcript, Hansard
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
