QUESTION 13: FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION AND STATE CAPTURE


Honourable Members,


The fight against corruption and state capture has required extensive measures to stabilise and revitalise our law enforcement agencies, with capable and ethical leadership able to restore the credibility of these vital institutions.


Much work has been done to ensure these agencies have the personnel, skills and resources they need to undertake the demanding tasks of detecting, investigating and successfully prosecuting instances of corruption.


A crucial part of this work has been to improve information sharing, coordination and cooperation among all law enforcement agencies and related institutions.


This is evident in the revitalisation of the multi-agency Anti-Corruption Task Team, which currently has 223 prioritised cases at different stages of investigation and prosecution. 


In May this year, we established the fusion centre based at the Financial Intelligence Centre, which serves as an operational hub with dedicated resources to fight COVID-related corruption.


Since the beginning of this 6th Administration, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation – also known as the Hawks – has established task teams to fast track corruption investigations in municipalities, government and the private sector.


Together with the National Prosecuting Authority, the Hawks have prioritised 10 priority corruption-related cases to fast track for investigation and prosecution.


Honourable Members would recall that in April 2019, I established the Investigating Directorate within the NPA to focus on serious corruption and state capture.


To enable the Directorate to address complex and organised corruption, personnel have been seconded from the South African Police Service, the Hawks and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID). 


As further evidence of improved cooperation, the Investigating Directorate has also secured forensic accountants and legal resources from SARS, the SIU, FIC, Reserve Bank and State Security Agency. 


Recent amendments to the regulations of the State Capture Commission now allows the Commission to share information, records and documents directly with the Investigating Directorate and any other law enforcement agency in South Africa.


With the establishment of the SIU Special Tribunal in February 2019, the Special Investigating Unit is now able to fast-track civil claims and recover funds lost to corruption.


The SIU has also been an integral part of the establishment of the Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum in October 2019 and the Local Government Anti-Corruption Forum launched in October 2020.


These bring together several law enforcement agencies and stakeholders to tackle corruption in an integrated manner.


The South African Revenue Service is also playing a vital role.


It has established the Illicit and Criminal Economic Activities Division, which also focuses on investigations into state capture and tender abuse related to personal protective equipment fraud.


Beyond the work of the law enforcement agencies, the fight against state capture and corruption has also been taken up in some of the state-owned enterprises.


In PRASA, for example, 28 matters have been referred to the SIU for investigation and the Hawks are investigating a number of case dockets emanating from the Public Protector’s Report on the agency.


Transnet is another case in point. It has established a case management platform involving the various law enforcement agencies and relevant regulators to collaborate in their efforts to ensure recovery of losses and disciplinary action, which could also lead to criminal prosecution.


As a result, several matters have been referred to the NPA for possible criminal prosecution and to the SIU for investigation.


Transnet has also instituted numerous civil recoveries in the High Court against various individuals and entities.


Following internal investigations, Eskom has recommended 80 instances of criminal prosecution against employes.


Much of the past two years has been focused on building up the capabilities of the institutions that we rely on to combat corruption and state capture.


As Honourable Members will have seen in recent months, there has been clear evidence of progress in bringing cases to court. Work is underway.


I thank you. 




QUESTION 14: RELEASE OF BANK STATEMENTS


Honourable House Chair,


As the Honourable Malema should know, it is the EFF – not the Public Protector as he suggests in his question – that has brought the application to unseal documents related to the Public Protector’s report of July 2019. 


The body from whom the Public Protector obtained the bank statements in question, the Financial Intelligence Centre, has consistently opposed the publication of these documents. 


The FIC has confirmed in its affidavits before court that the information it shared with the Public Protector could only be made public with their express permission, which was not sought by the Public Protector. 


Only the FIC can ‘allow’ these documents to be made public. 


The bank statements in question are from accounts over which I do not have any form of control. They belong to entities and private companies which I do not control and whose internal financial affairs are protected by the country’s privacy laws. 


It is therefore not within my power to make any of them public. 


Absolutely no evidence of corruption or any other form of improper conduct exists in relation to these documents or to CR17 campaign.


To repeat what I said on this matter in this House on 22 August 2019, there are no rules or regulations in place for the disclosure of donations for internal party leadership contests.


Nor is there a provision for the disclosure of such information in the Executive Ethics Code or in the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members’ Interests for Assembly and Permanent Council Members.


I am sure that the Honourable Malema would agree that it would be unreasonable to expect the disclosure of such information until such time that all candidates and all parties are held to the same requirements of disclosure and transparency.


The Political Party Funding Act – which I signed into law last year and which the EFF has consistently opposed – does regulate public and private funding of political parties and requires the disclosure of donations that are accepted.


While this Act does not extend to the funding of internal party leadership contests, I have said before – and I will again – that this is perhaps a good time for this House to consider whether it is necessary and desirable for funding of internal party contests to be regulated.


Ultimately, the courts will make the determination whether the information of the bank accounts of private persons should be made public or not, and the EFF is involved in a court case in that regard.


I thank you.




QUESTION 15: WATER, SANITATION AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS


Honourable Members,


A central pillar of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan is a massive infrastructure build and maintenance programme.


Among the areas of significant infrastructure investment are integrated human settlements.


This is in line with the Medium-Term Strategic Framework, which makes provision for the declaration of Priority Human Settlements and Housing Development Areas.


These are areas with specific developmental needs, using indicators such as high levels of urbanisation, unemployment and poverty. 


The development of these areas involves the upgrading of informal settlements, the rapid release of serviced land, affordable rental housing and integrated residential developments. 


The accelerated delivery of serviced residential stands is expected to create a substantial number of job opportunities, largely benefiting women and young people. It will also support the construction industry and provide opportunities to local businesses.


As part of government’s response to COVID-19, the Department of Water and Sanitation allocated more than R300 million to the provision of potable water to communities throughout the country.


Water tanks had been delivered to a total of 158 local and district municipalities by the end of August 2020. 


The department is now looking to convert these tanks into more reliable schemes over the next 12 months to ensure that these communities continue to receive water.


To date, over 1,300 projects have been scoped by the internal engineering team of the department and about 500 projects are implementation ready. 


These projects will be labour-intensive to ensure that we stimulate the local economy and ensure collective ownership of the water supply infrastructure. 


The infrastructure build also includes large water projects in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Limpopo


The Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan is intended not only to stimulate economic growth and create jobs.


It will also have a direct and tangible impact on the living conditions of many poor and middle-class families who will now have decent housing and reliable access to water and sanitation.


I thank you.




QUESTION 16: TACKLING ISLAMOPHOBIA


Honourable Members,


There is no place for religious intolerance of any sort in the democratic South Africa.


Our Constitution is clear that no person may be discriminated against on the basis of, among other things, religion, conscience, belief, culture or language.


In addition, the Bill of Rights states that: “Everyone has the right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion.”


Even as we grapple with a past that was riddled with divisions and conflict, we are a society characterised by religious tolerance and a deep respect for the great diversity of beliefs and cultures that exist in our beautiful country.


In addition, we have established institutions and enacted legislation to prevent discrimination, hate speech and intolerance, and to promote understanding, friendship and respect.


The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, for example, is established in terms of the Constitution and has a broad mandate to promote and advance tolerance, friendship, humanity and national unity.


The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act of 2001 prohibits hate speech and provides for Equality Courts at which complaints of discrimination and allegations of hate speech are adjudicated.


In short, South Africa has a progressive consitutional and legislative framework to address intolerance, hate speech and discrimination.


It provides avenues for any individual or groups who experience discrimination of any sort to protect their rights and to seek redress.


While these formal mechanisms are important, they are not enough on their own to end the victimisation or vilification of any particular grouping in our country.


As the Honourable Member notes, there needs to be a conscious and deliberate effort across society to prevent intolerance – whether this takes the form of Islamophobia or anti-semitism, whether it is sexism or xenophobia.


This requires the clear condemnation of all overt acts of intolerance, but it also requires greater awareness about the more subtle ways in which prejudices can be expressed and reinforced.


This places a responsibility on media outlets, officials, leaders and members of the public in general to avoid language that casts aspersions on a particular religion, cultural group, language or race.


With the laws and institutions we have in place – which will be reinforced by the passage of the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill – we have a robust legal framework to deal with anyone promoting discrimination and intolerance.


The greater challenge we have, which is a responsibility we all share, is to work together to rid our society of such attitudes and practices altogether.


I thank you.




QUESTION 17: AFRICAN ECONOMIC GROWTH



Honourable Members,


In many ways, Africa’s colonial past has continued to shape its economic development over recent decades.


Just as colonial powers extracted the continent’s wealth for their own benefit, enrichment, upliftment and development, today African economies participate in the global economy primarily as a source of minerals and commodities, while the production of higher and value-added manufactured products takes place elsewhere. 


The vision of African leaders today is aimed at breaking this pattern. We are determined to build strong and inclusive economies through industrialisation and the beneficiation of the minerals and commodities that are extracted from the African soil in our countries. 


The African Continental Free Trade Area is a significant development that will change trade patterns and has the potential to transform African economies. 


It will encourage economic diversification, beneficiation of our minerals and resources and value-addition to seize the opportunities arising from an increasingly open African continental market. 


We expect that in the new year, 2021, preferential trade in Africa will begin with significant product coverage and will be further expanded over the coming years. 


Even prior to the agreement on the Continental Free Trade Area, South Africa had already begun implementing an investment-led trade strategy. 


South Africa has sought to use its outward foreign direct investment in the rest of the continent to encourage balanced growth and localisation. 


Government has been working to prepare South Africa-based firms for their participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area. 


We want to ensure that our firms, entrepreneurs, small enterprises and workers benefit from the trading opportunities that will arise as the AfCFTA commences to operate. 


Government has a number of interventions to support South Africans that want to trade and do business in other African countries. 


The empowerment of black-, women- and youth-led and owned firms through export readiness and export capacity is at the top of this agenda. 


For example, the National Exporter Development Programme supports both emerging and established exporters to increase the number of South African exporters and effectively grow exports of value-added goods over time. 


In the last financial year, 1,029 emerging exporters completed training, of whom 1,006 were black-owned, 494 were women-owned and 227 were youth-owned. 


Eighty-eight women-owned companies were assisted to promote their goods and services through various trade promotion and marketing events in the continent. 


Between 2014 and 2018, South African firms invested over $10 billion – around R160 billion – in different parts of the continent. This has made South Africa the fifth largest source of foreign direct investment on the continent in value behind the US, France, UK and China. 


Much remains to be done but we believe strongly that Africans have now put the continent on the path to sustained and strong economic growth.


I thank you.




QUESTION 18: RACIAL POLARISATION


Honourable Members,


Our country still bears the scars of its horrible past, of racial division and conflict.


Racism takes many forms. It can be found in people’s attitudes and utterances, in how they behave towards each other, in who gets hired for a job or who gets promoted.


Racial divisions are found in the structure of our economy, in the distribution of skills, land and other assets, in access to services and in the spatial design of our cities, towns and rural areas.


These are the divisions that we have been working hard to overcome over the course of the last 26 years of our democracy.


This is the path we chose.


It remains our greatest and most important challenge.


The vast majority of South Africans – black and white – support the work that needs to be done to overcome racism and racial inequality.


According to the SA Reconciliation Barometer 2019, published by the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation, 71% of South Africans believe that a united South Africa is possible.


Seven out of every ten South Africans agree that, despite our differences, there is more that unites us as a people than what keeps us apart.


The events that took place in Senekal last month following the murder of Brendin Horner are therefore a clear challenge to the views and the wishes of the majority of South Africa’s people across all race groups.


The racial polarisation that characterised the protests in Senekal – and indeed more recently at Brackenfell High School – were deeply disturbing and I was deeply concerned about them because they go against the kind of society we are seeking to build.


They demonstrate the extent to which racial attitudes still infect our society, and how quickly they can resurface at moments of crisis.


At the same time, we need to acknowledge that the situation in Senekal was quickly defused, the law is being allowed to take its course, and the racial rhetoric that accompanied the protests was condemned by organisations and individuals across society.


While the Senekal and Brackenfell incidents show how much of our past remains with us, they do not reflect the broader South African reality.


We are a country that has changed for the better over the last 26 years.


Our task now, not just as government, but as broader society, is to act together to end all forms of racism, racial division and racial inequality.


We need to consistently confront racist attitudes and condemn all instances of racist behaviour. Those who want to perpetuate racial tensions must know they are in a dwindling minority.


We continue, through our policies and programmes, to reduce the material inequality between white and black South Africans – just as we want to address the diffences between men and women.


From the provision of free basic services to the building of houses, from improving public transport to providing social support, from no-fee schools to free tertiary education for the poor, we are pursuing a policy of progressive redistribution.


It is this goal – of reducing inequality – that informs our approach to the National Health Insurance, to the development of township and rural economies, to the accelerated redistribution of land, and to our support for black industrialists.


By making progress in these areas, in increasing levels of investment and creating jobs on a far larger scale, we will steadily reduce the material differences between black and white South Africans.


In doing so, we will improve the conditions for lasting reconciliation and unity in our country.


This is a task to which this government is committed, and to which the vast majority of South Africans – black and white – are committed.


I thank you.


Issued by: The Presidency 
Pretoria 


 

Date: 

Thursday, November 12, 2020 - 17:30

Tags: 

President Cyril Ramaphosa