Several new technology subjects and specialisations will be introduced, including technical mathematics and technical sciences, maritime sciences, aviation studies, mining sciences, and aquaponics. [Applause.] Those are wonderful subjects that are going to be introduced.
To expand participation in the technical streams, several ordinary public schools will be transformed into technical high schools. [Applause.]
Anecdotally, I can say that the Minister of Basic Education reports that, as these technical high schools have been opening, the subscription by young people has just shot up. This shows that our young people are hungry for technical education, and that is what we are going to offer them. [Applause.]
In line with government's commitment to the right of access to higher education for the poor, last year we introduced free higher education for qualifying first-year students. Thanks to this initiative, links have been re-established with all institutions, and institution heads and student leaders have played a critical role in communicating with students.
The scheme is being phased in over a five-year period until all undergraduate students who qualify in terms of the criteria can benefit.
Stabilising the business processes of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, Nsfas, will also be a priority in the coming year so that it is properly capacitated to carry out its critical role in supporting eligible students.
We are concerned about developments on some campuses this week, especially with regard to reports of violence and intimidation. Of particular concern is the tragic death of Mlungisi Madonsela, a student at the Durban University of Technology. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and call on law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate the incident.
We call on student representatives and university authorities to work together to find solutions to the challenges that students are facing.
Minister Pandor is working hard to address this problem.
We will give effect to our commitment to build human settlements in well- located areas that bring together economic opportunities and all the services and amenities that people need.
The Housing Development Agency will construct an additional
500 000 housing units over the next five years, and an amount of R30 billion will be provided to municipalities and provinces to enable them to fulfil their respective mandates.
However, if we are to effectively address the substantial housing backlog in our country, we need to develop different models of financing for human settlements. It is for this reason that we are establishing a Human Settlements Development Bank that will leverage both public and private sector financing to aid in housing delivery. [Applause.] We will also be expanding the People's Housing Programme, where households are allocated serviced stands to build their own houses, either individually or through community-led housing co-operatives. [Applause.]
South Africa has one of the most comprehensive and far- reaching social security nets in the world, providing a buffer for poor households against abject poverty. Every month 17,5 million social grants are provided to South Africans.
The Department of Social Development is to be commended for having honoured the Constitutional Court's directive for phasing out the services of Cash Paymaster Services. [Applause.]
To date, the majority of grant beneficiaries have been successfully migrated to the SA Post Office, and the old SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, cards have been replaced by new ones.
We have made significant progress in devising a comprehensive social security strategy through the National Economic Development and Labour Council, Nedlac. The reforms focus on achieving comprehensive social security and retirement reform that is affordable, sustainable and appropriate for all South Africans. With the assistance of the National Planning Commission, we reached consensus on reforms that include the National Social Security Fund, institutional arrangements, regulatory reforms, improved unemployment benefits, improved social assistance coverage, and active labour market policies for citizens between 18 and 59 years.
We will now incorporate this consensus agreement into a policy framework to guide implementation.
This year, we will take a significant step towards universal access to quality health care for all South Africans. After extensive consultation, the National Health Insurance Bill will soon be ready for submission to Parliament. [Applause.]
The NHI will enable South Africans to receive free services at the point of care in public and private quality-accredited health facilities. By applying the principle of social solidarity and cross-subsidisation, we aim to reduce inequality in access to health care. This is based on a very straightforward concept that is spreading throughout the world, namely, that those who are more financially capable should help to subsidise the less capable. The young must subsidise the old; the healthy must subsidise the sick. This is a concept that is spreading throughout the world. Realising the magnitude of the challenges in health care, we have established an NHI and quality improvement war room in the Presidency consisting of various key departments to address the crisis in the public health system while preparing for the implementation of the NHI.
We have a funded national quality health improvement plan to improve every clinic and hospital that will be contracted by the NHI.
By introducing the NHI together with a multi-pronged quality improvement programme for public health facilities, we are working towards a massive change in the health care experience of South Africans.
While we have made progress since 1994 in bringing down certain categories of serious crime, communities across the country are still plagued by gangsterism and violence. As part of our concerted effort to make our country safer and more secure, the Community Policing Strategy was launched in October last year.
The strategy focuses on building partnerships between communities and the police, making more resources available for policing and better communication between the police and communities about crime prevention strategies. This will enable policemen and women to become more proactive in addressing crime and broader public safety concerns.
In addition, we are strengthening the functioning of various specialised units such as the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units, and improving our administrative and record keeping capacity.
The SAPS has embarked on a restructuring process to shift more policing resources to the local level.
Violence against women and children has reached epidemic proportions. Every day, South African women are faced with discrimination, abuse, violence and even death, often at the hands of those closest to them.
Over the last year, we have started to address this scourge in a more serious and co-ordinated way. At the Presidential Gender-based Violence and Femicide Summit, women from all walks of life came together with government and civil society to outline a road map to end gender-based violence, improve co-ordination of planning, and establish a commitment to resourcing and accountability. Work is underway to implement the decisions of the summit, including preparing the National Strategic Plan on Gender- Based Violence.
This year, we will work with our partners in civil society to implement the decisions of the National Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.
We are expanding and dedicating more funds to places of support, such as the Thuthuzela Care Centres and Khuseleka Care Centres.
We have been working to ensure the better functioning of Sexual Offences Courts.
We will improve the quality of services in shelters and ensure they also accommodate members of the LGBTQI+ community. [Applause.]
We will strengthen the national hotline centre that supports women who experience gender-based violence and ensure that it is functional.
We have listened to the call from the women of our country to make funds available to combat gender-based violence, and we have allocated funding in the current budget to support the decisions taken at the summit. This we shall do.
Government will lead the campaign to include men and boys as active champions in the struggle against gender-based violence. Ending gender- based violence is an urgent national priority that requires the mobilisation of all South Africans and the involvement of all institutions.
South Africa has extremely high levels of substance abuse, which feeds crime and violence against women and children, deepens poverty and causes great hardship and pain for families. As government we continue to roll out interventions to address the social ills such as alcoholism and substance abuse tearing our communities apart.
Knowing as we do that there are strong linkages between substance abuse, drug trafficking, crime and insecurity in communities, we are focusing on tackling this problem at its source through prevention programmes targeting vulnerable persons, especially our youth.
We are resolute that all taverns, shebeens and liquour outlets near school premises must be shut down. [Applause.] We recognise, as do all South Africans, that our greatest efforts to end poverty, unemployment and inequality will achieve little unless we tackle state capture and corruption in all its manifestations and in all areas of public life.
The action we take now to end corruption and hold those responsible to account will determine the pace and trajectory of the radical social and economic transformation we seek.
The revelations emerging from the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture and other commissions are deeply disturbing, for they reveal a breadth and depth of criminal wrongdoing that challenges the very foundation of our democratic state. [Interjections.]
We commend these commissions for the work they are doing. Some of them are doing very important work often under difficult and challenging circumstances, to uncover the truth. What is important is that the truth must be revealed.
These commissions need to be able to do their work without any hindrance, and we call on all those people who are in a position to assist them in their investigations to make themselves available. While these Commissions will, in time, make findings and recommendations in line with their mandates, evidence of criminal activity that emerges must be evaluated by the criminal justice system. Where there is a basis to prosecute, prosecutions must follow swiftly ... [Applause.] ... and stolen public funds must be recovered urgently without fail. [Applause.]
To this end, we have agreed with the new National Director of Public Prosecutions ... [Interjections.]