Chair, the ID agrees wholeheartedly with the sentiments expressed in the title of today's debate: "Working together out of poverty". As Patricia de Lille said in her response to the state of the nation speech earlier this year, the problems of the poor are the problems of the rich. What this country needs most is a shared sense of solidarity and compassion that cuts across the different divides in our country.
We need to institute a mass mobilisation campaign whose primary target is the eradication of poverty. Everyone in South Africa should have this as their goal, and the government must create the necessary mechanisms to enable people to get involved in this effort.
Much is often said about the lack of capacity within government, but the ID believes that this is more than made up for by the immense capacity communities and inspired individuals have to change their circumstances.
If government can't spend its money, then give it to people who can. Civil society and community-based organisations that perform many of the state's statutory obligations are crying out for more funds to reach more people. We need to give it to them.
We also need to remove obstacles to poverty alleviation like the means test on child support grants, and we need to extend the child support grant to all children under 18. Nine million children in South Africa live in poverty. We must do more to tackle child poverty and change the tragic fact that one in 10 children born in South Africa today will not live to see the World Cup. I thank you. [Applause.]