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President Jacob Zuma has again spoken out against the brutal killings of women and children in the country, urging women to report perpetrators to the police and families to support survivors.
The government has declared violence against women a priority crime.
“Nobody has the right to attack women,” said Zuma in Parliament yesterday as he delivered the presidency's budget vote for 2017-2018.
A number of young women have lost their lives following brutal attacks at the hands of their partners in recent weeks.
“Achieving a better life for our people includes ensuring the achievement of the country’s vision with regard to safety and security.
"This vision states that people living in South Africa should feel safe at home, at school, at work and in the streets, and that they should live without fear,” he said.
“This freedom is currently being curtailed by the ongoing brutal attacks and killings of women and children in some parts of the country,” added Zuma.
The president also spoke against human trafficking and forced prostitution, which he described as “despicable that there are people who turn other human beings into commodities to make money”.
“This is a gross violation of human rights and is tantamount to modern day slavery,” he said.
The government has enacted the Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act which is aimed at effecting international agreements which includes the Palermo Trafficking in Persons Protocol, Zuma said.
Zuma also highlighted outstanding policies that the government is finalising and which include broadband roll-out, digital migration and spectrum allocation as a means to reignite economic growth.
Power issues
On energy security, he said the ministers of public enterprises and energy were working together to find an amicable solution to the Independent Power Producers impasse.
Zuma reiterated that on nuclear energy, the government would implement the programme at a pace and scale that the country can afford.
“We await Parliament to conclude processing the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill and bring it back to the president.
"I sent it back to Parliament due to some issues that I believed would not pass the Constitutional muster.”
Zuma announced that the Mining Charter would be gazetted in a few weeks’ time and through the Charter, the government sought to radically transform the ownership of the South African mining assets by ensuring that black people meaningfully and effectively participated in the mining and minerals industries, while ensuring that the mining industry remained globally competitive.
The Mining Charter included requirements on beneficiation and procurement.
There was also a community development element to ensure that mine communities and major labour-sending communities optimally benefit from mining activities taking place in their areas, said the president.
State capture
Zuma said they were attending to “important issues” in the public discourse relating to what had been termed state capture.
He reiterated that there was no opposition from either the government or the presidency to the calls for a commission of inquiry into the said “state capture”.
“We fully support an inquiry as it will help to uncover the facts and remove rumours about the extent of capture,” said Zuma.
He said what had caused the delay was the manner in which the former Public Protector directed that the inquiry should be done which, Zuma said, infringed on the powers of the president of the republic.
“If this is left unattended, it would cause problems even for future heads of state as it sets a wrong precedent,” he said.
Zuma said legal advice obtained had suggested that the remedial action on the appointment of a commission of inquiry undermined the doctrine of the separation of powers.
“There are various other issues that we have placed before court in our application for a review. We trust that this matter will be resolved as soon as possible,” he added.
A number of opposition MPs directed their speeches at the president and the many scandals and allegations against him.
The legacy
DA leader Mmusi Maimane accused Zuma of attempting to destroy South Africa after allegedly destroying the ANC.
“Every time you [ANC MPs] mention OR Tambo you remind us how far the ANC has fallen,” said Maimane.
ANC MPs have paid tribute to former president general of the ANC, Oliver Tambo, by referencing him in their budget speeches over the past three weeks.
The party declared this the year of Oliver Tambo. The former revolutionary leader, who died in 1993, would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year.
“It pains me to say that the ANC of Oliver Tambo doesn’t exist any more, and hasn’t for many years,” said Maimane.
“This man happened. He killed the ANC,” he said, referring to Zuma.
“Make no mistake, it was already wounded before he plunged the knife in – weakened by a culture of patronage and corruption and crippled by cadre deployment.
"But he struck the final blow. He wiped out Oliver Tambo’s legacy to make himself rich,” added Maimane.
“First he killed the ANC and now he is killing our country.”
Maimane also took a swipe at ANC MPs for not removing Zuma.
“If you had the will and the conviction to do the right thing – to do your sworn duty to your country – you would have stopped him,” he said.
The EFF stayed away from the debate because it did not recognise Zuma as a legitimate president.
