PIETERMARITZBURG: 19th June 2009

Madam Speaker;

The Honourable Premier Dr ZL Mkhize;

Honourable Members of this august House;

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

It would be a cardinal sin if I were not to congratulate the Hon. Premier on delivering his first State of the Province Address (SOPA). Few people have been as eager to hear his speech as those of us on this side of the House.
 

On the occasion of his election, we extended an offer of cooperation to the Hon. Premier to move forward in building our province, because we believe that those things that divide us from the majority party are outweighed by things that unite us.  However, while we in the Official Opposition are committed to cooperation and collaboration, we are not prepared to give unconditional support to all government proposals. 

Cooperation, Madam Speaker, is a two-way street. With the ANC's overwhelming electoral victory it would be much easier for us to just fold our hands and refrain from exercising oversight with vigour. However, the people of KZN expect much from their Official Opposition.  They want us to keep this government accountable, but they also want to see us put forward initiatives and proposals of our own. It is my sincere hope that this government will consider these proposals on merit. 

Yesterday's SOPA outlined the government's plan for the first year of its administration. Today I am pleased to outline the plan of the Official Opposition. The Hon. Premier has made a number of significant commitments in his SOPA to the people of KZN.  It is often said that government excels in making promises which it promptly forgets once they are tabled in parliament. As Don Mattera puts it, "memory is a weapon" and on behalf of the people of KZN, we will not forget to hold this government to account. We will watch closely that its promises are honoured and it is incumbent upon the Hon. Premier to return to this House next year to present a comprehensive report that will outline the successes as well as failures of his government. 

On April 22, the people of KZN elected a new government and I am sure the Premier recognizes that we face significant challenges and we also know that it will take a new approach to deal with these issues. The global economic meltdown suggests that we have an evolving financial crisis on our hands - a situation which, if ignored, will threaten the future of the province and seriously compromise the ability of this government to deliver. 

Over the course of the last four months, as forecasts for economic growth in all parts of the world have been revised downward, including our country and province, it has become increasingly clear that those predictions were only too accurate. I believe that one of the most significant changes that the people of KZN voted for was an accountable and strategically-minded government. A government that will make responsible choices that will result in this province becoming a master of its own destiny.   

Madam Speaker, we have a serious case of over-expenditure in health and this government must find a way out of it. Government approach should be two-pronged. First, the government must regain control of its expenditure over a reasonable timeframe. Second, even as the government attempts to grapple with over-expenditure in health, it must also retain an unwavering commitment to growing our economy, creating new jobs and expanding our provincial revenue base. 

I will now discuss this in greater detail, starting with expenditure control measures. Before we ask others to accept the consequences of fiscal restraint, the government must demonstrate that it is prepared to lead by example by tightening its fiscal belt by cutting down on many excesses of the previous administration. Thus we commend the decision to hold this solemn event and others since the election of the Premier in the Legislature precincts instead of hosting them at the Royal Showgrounds.   

Government must curtail significant discretionary expenditures such as the holding of public events at astronomic costs. Staffing decisions could save the taxpayers' money when political appointments are cut and converted to public appointments. We believe that a strengthened public service will ensure that individuals are being hired on their merit as opposed to who they know in government. It would also be prudent to reconsider the plans for the new parliamentary complex. The global economic downturn is hardly conducive to nice-to-haves for public representatives at the expense of essentials such as delivery of basic services to our people. 

Now let me delve into some issues that were absent in the Hon. Premier's SOPA. We would have liked to hear the Hon. Premier speak specifically about the Provincial Planning Commission's programmes to monitor and evaluate government departments, similar to those now being implemented by the national government. We would have liked to hear about the Hon. Premier's commitment to re-deploy incompetent Members of the Executive Council and deal appropriately with lazy public servants. It would have assisted the public if the Hon. Premier had used this occasion to reiterate his commitment to rooting out corruption by giving us the details of the Premier's hotline similar to the President's hotline.

Madam Speaker, poverty is a serious problem that affects the majority of our people. It has been proven over and over again that education is a powerful tool in fighting poverty. The Official Opposition will examine how the new government can meet the poverty challenge through various improvements in the Department of Education and the creation of the new Department of Rural Development. Government must make the fight against poverty relentless, and this does not only require handing out food parcels but empowering our people in sustainable ways. We hope that the streamlining of service delivery will not end with the reorganising and renaming of certain government departments.  

The backlog of building of new classrooms and school lavatories is staggering to the point where it is difficult for many of us to fully appreciate just how serious the situation is. We believe that placing physical education in our schools is an investment in the future health and well-being of our province. It could also mitigate against high pregnancy rates in our schools. The most important thing that we can do to expand children's activity is to get the pupils exercising. Can we truly speak of quality teaching and learning when most learners walk several kilometres to school? Can we speak of quality education when the matric pass rate falls each year? The government must look at providing adequate security in our schools to deal with the scourge of violence.  

A number of policy proposals have been put forward on how best South Africa can achieve universal, equitable healthcare coverage and financial risk protection for our people. At the forefront of this debate is, of course, the resuscitated proposal of the National Health Insurance (NHI). We will continue to push for answers on the new NHI. Our people are still waiting to find out exactly what this plan is all about and why the majority party has chosen to renew its commitment to it once again.  

Over the past few years the building of new hospitals has been largely postponed and the cost of these capital projects is now in the hundreds of millions. We are concerned about the industrial action by medical practitioners over the lack of progress on Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD).  This is in spite of the agreement which stated that the OSD for medical practitioners will be implemented on 01st July 2008. The Official Opposition is clear about the crucial role of the OSD in addressing the dissatisfaction and constant attrition of medical practitioners from the public sector, as well as the resulting negative impact on service delivery and the welfare of our patients. We call upon the government to conclude the OSD process and implement it without delay. 

Madam Speaker, the following moving lines from African American poet, Maya Angelou espouses the spirit of change: 

"We have lived a painful history, 

We know the shameful past,  

But (let's) keep on marching forward." 

We have noted that the recent government functions have led once again to the blurring of the boundary between the state and the ruling party. The solemn event staged for the inauguration of the Hon. Premier and the Youth Day celebrations in the Ekurhuleni this past Tuesday are cases in point.   

Madam Speaker, each of us in this chamber today has a duty to uphold not only the interest of our political parties but also the interest of our province and country and the tenets of democracy that we have been elected to serve. The governing party must respect the will of the 37% of the people of KZN who voted for the opposition parties. This legislature has been asked by the Speaker to set aside its differences and to overcome the old politics of partisan battle lines. But that does not mean giving the government a free pass - the kind of majority that the people of KZN refused to give them.   

This government must compromise if the opposition is to be constructive. The IFP will be the effective Official Opposition and we will challenge this government to do better, to deliver tangible results and bring about real change. I could say that history will judge us if we fail the test we face.
 

But it is not just history that matters, but the ordinary people of KZN. We must agree that respectful relations are the foundation for good public policy. We can be very hard, as we will be, on the issues, the goals and the strategies but we will be more respectful. We hope that the lack of demeanour and the decorum in the House that we witnessed on the occasion of the election of the Hon. Premier will not be repeated.  

I thank you. 

Contact:
Dr Bonginkosi Buthelezi
082 516 0156