Mohlomphegi Modulasetulo, mohl Tona, mohl Motlat?atona, Maloko a Palamente ao a hlomphegang, baeng ba bohlokwa bao ba bothaneng ka mo madulo a ka godimo, bomme le bontate, ke rata go le dumedi?a.
Kgweding ye ya Setemere ngwageng wa 2000, Afrika Borwa e ile ya ikgokaganya le dit?haba t?e lekgolo le masomeseswai senyane t?a lefase go itlama go lenaneo la tlhabollo ya lefase. Ka go dira bjale, Afrika Borwa e amoget?e diphihlelelo t?a thlabollo ya meleniamo t?e seswai t?a 2015, t?ona ke t?e: go fihlela thuto ya motheo ya gohle; go fedi?a bodiidi le tlala; tekatekanyo ya bong; go kaonafat?a maphelo a bana; go kaonafat?a maphelo a sesadi; go netefat?a gore tikologo e kgona go swarelela go ya go ile; go hloma dikamano t?a lefase; le go thibela HIV le Aids. (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Mrs D F BOSHIGO: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon Members of Parliament, distinguished guests in the gallery, ladies and gentlemen, I greet you all.
In September 2000 South Africa joined the 189 United Nations member states in the world development programme. South Africa has received the eight millennium development goals of 2015, and they are as follows: achieving universal primary education; eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; promoting gender equality; reducing child mortality rates; improving maternal health; ensuring environmental sustainability; developing a global partnership for development; and combating HIV/Aids.]
Chairperson, five years later, in 2005, the ANC government opened itself up to public scrutiny by the world in the form of a first report on progress in respect of the above-mentioned goals. The government did this because it understands that the overriding strategic objective of government is to change the people's lives for the better. In this regard, it is essential that the impact of its policies on the lives of the people should be assessed through credible mechanisms of multilateral bodies, amongst others.
The President of the Republic of South Africa was underscoring this relationship between government policy interventions in governance on the one hand and impact measurement on the other hand, when he said:
Census 2011 will also help us know how far we are with regards to achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, adopted by heads of state in the year 2000.
Not surprisingly, in 2005 a report concluded that for a number of goals, targets and associated indicators, considerable progress towards the achievement of national targets has been made. They apply specifically to economic growth, poverty reduction, gender equality, primary education and maternal health. At the same time, there was a worrying trend in HIV/Aids prevalence, whilst unemployment and inequality remained at high levels.
The ANC government intervened at a policy level to change the above picture for the better by implementing the resolutions of the 52nd national conference of the governing party. The previous government interventions were reinforced when health, education and job creation, amongst others, were prioritised with firm resolutions on how the picture should be changed to improve the lives of the people of South Africa, in general, and women and the poor, in particular.
A lot has been reported about the significant decline in the infant mortality rate, a figure which shows that the country is doing well to significantly reduce the number of deaths among infants. Similar progress has also been recorded in the area of HIV/Aids prevalence, especially as a result of the successes in significantly arresting the incidence of mother- to-child transmission through the prevention of mother-to-child transmission programmes.
The Census 2011 statistics on education reveal another success of the ANC government, in that under the policies of the ANC government we have seen a decrease in the proportion of the population with no formal education. In 1996, within two years of the ANC government assuming power, there were 4 million people of 20 years of age and older who had no schooling. By 2011 the ANC government had reduced the number to 2,6 million. This represents a shift from 19,1% in 1996 to 8,6% in 2011. Now we know why some amongst us want to cast doubts on Statistics SA.
The proportion of persons with Grade 12 has increased from 3,5 million in 1996 to 9 million in 2011. The overall proportion of people with higher education remains low in relation to the total population. However, it continues to show a notable upward trend from 1,5 million in 1996 to 3,6 million in 2011. This represents a percentage increase of 4,7% of the population group of people 20 years of age and older. From the above statistics, and judging by massive interventions that continue to be made by the ANC government in areas of education and health in particular, South Africa will be able to report significant progress to the world in 2015.
The global economic downturn will certainly continue to strangle the government's efforts at fighting poverty, unemployment and inequality, but these areas, including women empowerment and gender equality, are uppermost in the minds of the leadership of South Africa, as evidenced in detailed policy interventions in these areas.
The Community Work Programme, CWP, is a community-driven partnership programme which is aimed at tackling poverty and unemployment. The programme provides an employment safety net by giving participants a minimum number of regular days of work, typically two days a week or eight days a month, thus providing a predictable income stream. Within a year of the programme's inception, it had succeeded in creating 89 689 work opportunities in 56 sites, spread throughout the nine provinces across 45 municipalities and covering 417 wards. By the end of the 2011-12 financial year, the sites had grown from 56 at the end of the 2010-11 financial year to 74 by the end of the 2011-12 financial year. The CWP is designed as an employment safety net, not as an employment solution for the participants. The purpose is to supplement people's existing livelihood strategies in offering a basic level of income security through work. It is an ongoing programme that does not replace government's existing social grants programme but complements it.
This background is an example of the continuing successes of many similar initiatives aimed at job creation and poverty alleviation which are made possible by the ANC government's commitment to intervene and partner with the people in order for them to bring about change in their own lives. The primary purpose of the CWP is to: provide an employment safety net, considering that sustainable employment solutions will take time and will reach the most marginalised last; contribute to the development of public assets and services in poor communities; strengthen community development approaches; and strengthen the economic agency of people in marginalised economic areas.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa requires accountability and transparency in the discharge of government functions aimed at improving the lives of the people. The ANC supports the Budget Vote. I thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]