Speaker, the ANC welcomes the sixth edition of the Development Indicators report released by the Presidency. Indeed, as we finish the second decade of democracy, we have a good story to tell. This is a story that says that South Africa is better than it was 20 years ago.
Since 1994, working with people, the ANC-led government has achieved many things. To mention a few, the ANC has proudly brought a monthly social grant to over 15 million people; the ANC has proudly built about 3 million new houses; the ANC has proudly provided clean water to an extra 9 million people; the ANC has proudly brought health services to within easier reach of millions of rural people; the ANC has proudly built 500 new clinics; the ANC has proudly provided free schooling to about 7 million learners each year; the ANC has proudly brought about over 4 million new electricity connections; and the ANC has proudly provided a free daily meal to over 5 million primary school children every year.
A lot has been achieved and lot more can still be achieved. It is time that we tell the story of these achievements and we will not hide away our challenges, including those we inherited from the time before 1994. As we enter another decade of democracy, armed with our National Development Plan, we are confident that we will be able to tackle South Africa's most pressing challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. [Applause.]