Transcript of speech by the Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, in the debate on the President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address, National Assembly Parliament, February 16 2011

The MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Hon Speaker, Mr President, Deputy President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and honourable members, the hon Mazibuko appears to have a very strange interest in the hon Nzimande, and where he spends his time. [Laughter.]

I think that's his business and no one else's. It is the first time hon Speaker, and Mr President that I have heard that apartheid is a dense word, which should not be referred to many times. Now, I always find this intriguing after just 17 years of the arrival of democracy and freedom in our country, because I compare it to the suffering experienced by the Jewish community under Nazism in Germany. And I am aware that many in this House on all sides, each year participates in holocaust memorial ceremonies without referring to holocaust as a dense word after so many decades. [Laughter.]

So, this is a surprise to me, but I suppose it's a reminder of a comment once made by a certain member representing the diplomatic corps who said that apartheid that apartheid cannot be compared to the holocaust, because you are dealing with a totally different group of people. So it should not be such a worry, hence it is a dense word. I suppose.

The struggle to find fault and criticize was clearly evident in several of the contributions already made in this debate in the last two days. Nonetheless, one of the things that did happen is that all have acknowledged that the President is correct in the priorities he highlighted, and in the well articulated focus on job creation. Of course, the hon Lekota wished for more detail. I suppose one day when he is President of Cope his members will give him more detail at the moment he cant find it. We, certainly as Ministers will present the detail to the House. [Laughter.]

The honourable members of the opposition were even keen to claim ownership of some of the proposals tabled by the President, ownership of policies of the ANC, and of the strategies put before the House, for example, we had the ludicrous claim that the three Ts in schooling are an invention of the DA. This was absolutely amazing to me, as a former researcher in education, because I am aware that for hundreds of years researchers have identified the three Ts as absolute imperative to educational practice. So, I could not understand this assertion.

The worst response to the President's address has been the wilful obfuscation of the key strategies outlined in the speech. Hon Speaker I know that there will be a lot of uncontrollable shouting, because the truth is always so tough to hear. [Applause.]

Many of the points the President tabled were obfuscated by some who spoke. Hon Modau, at no point did the president assert that government is the sole creator of jobs. The President and several Ministers have consistently in public statements and in the House stressed that the private sector has the key role to play in job creation. A number of the incentives and policies referred to in the past few months by the President and honourable Ministers are clearly directed at the private sector and at encouraging them to play the key role in growing our economy, creating jobs and reversing inequality.

Of course, government has a role to play as well. Government is today, a significant employer, but we are aware that the challenge of jobs needs participation from a range of sectors in our economy. One honourable member sought to refer to South Korea and Japan as economies that allowed the private sector to thrive without any state intervention, unfortunately facts proved her wrong. The facts are that in both these economies the state played a leading role in economic growth through strategic development of a number of state-owned enterprises and through massive state investment in education and skills. Most successful economies have begun with government support for growth and state investment in modernising industrial innovation. Examples we have in South Africa in fact are the Union Cooperation House, which was a mining company handed to government in South Africa, which eventually became Genkor, and then became the highly successful global cooperation BHP Billiton. It began as state company. 

One of the most horrifying aspects of the debate was the union bashing we sat through yesterday. Some members claimed to be supporters of the democratic aspirations of the people of Egyptian and Tunisia. One of the demands of the citizens of those countries is for full workers rights. The union bashing we sat through in this Chamber suggests some of us are lesser democrats than we claim to be.

Even more distressing is the fact that bonus payments in America and Europe were criticized, while nothing was said about South African bosses who pay themselves huge bonuses when they have shop floor workers who earn a pittance. In fact, very little was said about the inequality of wages in South Africa - it seems that some believe we can have economic growth and poverty reduction through their favoured flexibility of impoverished workers who have no security and cannot alter their conditions of poverty. We cannot accept that. [Applause.]

Advice was also offered to the President on international affairs. We should remind members of this House that the ANC has decades of experience in international relations. We are able to draw on the well-known success of the movement in building a solid wall of international solidarity against apartheid. The reason we refer to our centenary is because we believe we have a proud history and a organisation, a movement we can be proud of. I can assure the hon Mazibuko in a hundred years none of those who are here in South Africa will remember or refer to the DA. [Applause]  When we, as the ANC articulate our intention to advance a progressive global agenda that seeks to promote human rights, respect for international law, promotion of peace through violent means or rather non-violent means...[Interjections.]

The MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: You are too late. I got you. You were too late you could have spotted that one. ..and economic development based on co-operation in an inter-dependent world, it does so from well-honed experience and successful execution of an international agenda for freedom, one that is unparallel in history.[Applause.]

We have built on that record of the ANC in our sixteen years of democracy.

All of you recall the role played by our President alongside former President Mandela in resolving the conflict in Burundi and laying the basis for peace and human security in that sister country. Similarly, President Mbeki made immense contributions to conflict resolution in Cote D'Ivoire, Sudan and the DRC.

We all know that if the advice of the opposition were taken with respect to any of these conflicts there would have been deeper conflict in Africa. Our government has continued to play the role of peacemaker in various conflicts and in critical negotiations in international forums such as the recent climate change negotiations. The role of South Africa and other African countries in crafting a unified Africa position on climate change and development is one of the major African achievements of the past year. Developed countries that are world polluters have tried to drive a wedge between developing countries in order to water down their own responsibility to support adaptation and mitigation.

The opposition forgot to say 2010 was a good international year for South Africa. [Applause.]

As the President and some members have said, the United Nations, UN, elected South Africa overwhelmingly to a nonpermanent seat in the UN Security Council. By electing South Africa, the international community has once again acknowledged our capacity to contribute to the advancement of the cause of international peace and security. We will build on the experience we gained in our first tenure. I would like to remind hon members that the mandate of the UN Security Council is to address threats to international peace and security.

Our record at the UN is an extremely positive one. South Africa is among the top 20 contributors to UN police and peacekeeping operations and has deployed personnel to major missions in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We will continue to advance an African agenda during our term, while simultaneously promoting a culture of collective responsibility and responses to the challenges of our contemporary world.

The UN is also entering the dawn of a new era. Negotiations for its reform, including the expansion of permanent UN Security Council seats, are at an advanced stage. There can be no turning back; the council must become more representative and thus more effective.

This year we joined Brazil, Russia, India and China, Bric, as many members have acknowledged. This will add to our ability to enhance the work of the UN Security Council. We believe that our membership to the union of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Brics, heralds a potentially very powerful quintet onto the world's stage.

President Zuma's visits to India, Russia and Brazil did much to ensure that Bric became the more representative and more powerful Brics. Our presence in a forum that brings together the most significant emerging economies of the world is an immeasurable trade and growth opportunity for Africa. We have worked hard as the continent to achieve the positive trends that we see in many of our countries today, and our African agenda seeks to promote strategies and interventions that will sustain and expand progress.

African leaders have agreed to push for co-ordinated implementation of infrastructure projects. It's not just us talking about infrastructure development; it's the entire continent. They have talked and agreed on strategies of co-operation to sustain the African response to the global economic crisis, and to give urgent attention to the necessary skills expansion in Africa in order for the continent to take full advantage of opportunities to create the base for an expanded knowledge-driven economy on the continent.

Our brothers and sisters in North Africa are grappling with new challenges. Egypt and Tunisia have begun radical change in the past few weeks. Ordinary people came out and took to the streets, and mass protests toppled autocrats. Speaker, some in the House - some even outside the House, peculiarly - have expressed a belief that we as the ANC should expect some events. Let me remind hon members that we are in a democratically elected Parliament that is freely chosen by the people of our country. The ANC introduced democracy to South Africa and has fully respected the constitutional mandate of free and regular elections. It also defined terms for heads of state. We will stick to those features of our Constitution. [Applause.]

We, as the ANC, do not need to be reminded about democracy by previous beneficiaries of exploitative and unjust governments. [Applause.] We do not have to be told of the meaning of freedom. We thirsted for freedom, but we didn't sit back; we fought for it. We did call for peace and democracy in Egypt and in Tunisia. Our President made those statements; our Minister of International Relations and Co-operation made those statements. Our President spoke out. The claim that we were silent is absolutely not an accurate reflection of the contribution and statements made by our government.

While we celebrate the early signs of change in Tunisia and Egypt, we should not rest in our often stated commitment to support the people of Palestine in their search for peace. [Applause.] Hon President, we wish to ask you that increased attention is given to this intractable impulse and that support for humanitarian relief in Palestine should be strengthened. Similarly, Mr President and Mr Speaker, we should not forget the people of Cuba who continue to be victims of a cruel blockade. [Applause.] We should support their call for access to the world.

President, Speaker and hon members, South Africa has the experience, the institutional capacity, the global links, the commitment, to advance a progressive world agenda that is based on equality and social justice. The progress that we have made in our international agenda in the democratic era clearly indicates that we have laid a foundation for a giant leap forward in regional, continental and global relations.

We conclude by saying that there are measures that have been taken against corruption. There is victory being won in the fight against corruption. We are saying that we hear the DA's objection to cadre deployment and it comes back to some of the issues Minister Nzimande referred to. What it means is that some of us don't have the capability to serve in a range of offices.

Now, can you imagine, hon members, if we were to accept a situation where we appointed members of the DA to serve us in government? I'm sure, given the hatred that is spout forth here, that they certainly have not appointed ANC appointees in the government of the Western Cape that they referred to.

Now, we are constantly being asked ...

Mr M J ELLIS: Mr Speaker, on a point of order, Sir.

Mr SPEAKER: Hon Minister ... Yes?

Mr M J ELLIS: Mr Speaker, on a point of order: I'm not at all sure where the hon Minister gets the word "hatred" from, and what she implies by it. There is no hatred, Sir. I believe that you cannot stand up in Parliament and refer to hatred in the way that the hon Minister has. I believe it's unparliamentary.

Mr SPEAKER: I will study the Hansard and come back with a response. Continue, hon Minister.

The MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Speaker, I hear you and I wish you well in terms of studying the Hansard, but I stated as I feel it.

We are being told that we do not have persons who are competent to serve in a range of positions, both in government and in state-related institutions. We are presented with a notion that, somehow, in the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape provincial government ANC people are filling the offices and positions there. Well, we would want you to take a walk, hon members, to those offices and see whether you will find an ANC member. [Interjections.]

Mention was made of the fact that there is good governance, etc. Well, Mr Nzimande was asked whether he takes a drive to Gugulethu. I do take a walk to Khayelitsha from time to time. And I can tell you that you may think it is good governance when you are on Long Street, but if you go to Khayelitsha and you see Nomsa Mapongwana, you will not say there is good governance in the city or in the province. [Interjections.]

Setswana:

Jaanong, mmueledi wa rona yo o tsereng setilo se segolo mo Ntlong e, ke batla gore go na le batho ba bantsi ba e leng gore fa ba eme fa, ba rata go ganetsa gore mmuso o, o dirile. Batho bao, o fitlhela e le bona ba ba itseng gore fa ba tsamaya Aforika Borwa yotlhe, fa ba kopana le ntlo e ntšha e agilwe ke mmuso o, fa ba bona sekolo se sentšha se agilwe ke mmuso o, fa ba bona sepetlele se se ntšha se agilwe ke mmuso o, ba a itse gore mmuso o, o a dira. Ba a itse gore kae kapa kae kwa o gatang teng o tla fitlhela ANC le koo e dirile. Ba batla go se ganetsa seo, mme nnete ga  o kake wa e gana! Nnete e bolela se se leng teng. [Legofi.] 

English:

It is, of course, impossible for them to really stand up and say it is absolutely true that this government has indeed made a difference.

And, of course, you can only speak of density if you were never assaulted with teargas. You can only speak of density if you didn't spend a day in exile. You can only speak of density when you never sat in a cell being beaten. You can only speak of density if your child was not taken away from you when you were thrown into a prison cell. If you had experienced that, you would repeat that word until the conditions existed where the inequality is totally eradicated, and every person believes that indeed the basis for their lives to be transformed has been achieved. That's when the word would become dense. Thank you. [Applause.]

Source: Unrevised Transcript, February 16 2011

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter