Chairperson, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, director-general and staff of the Ministry, and distinguished guests in the gallery, poverty, inequality and joblessness are the consequences of centuries of underdevelopment and exploitation consciously perpetrated on the majority of the population. This has had its most destructive and enduring impact on rural South Africa. Consequently, the structural faults that characterised the apartheid rural economy remain with us today.
Interventions have resulted in significant progress. Social grants are making a huge contribution to pushing back the frontiers of rural poverty, fighting hunger and improving the potential for economic growth in rural areas. However, in the struggle to build a better life for all, grants are no substitute for a broader strategy of rural economic development and employment creation. The rural economy and its development are a central pillar of our struggle against unemployment, poverty and inequality.
Gender equality is a critical ingredient and important outcome of all our programmes in building rural economic development, together with land reform and agrarian change. Correcting the injustices of the past requires that women increasingly become the beneficiaries and decision-makers in respect of strategies to overcome poverty in rural areas.
The developmental state has a central role to play in service delivery to the rural poor, in that it leads and sustains rural economic development and land reform. The mobilisation of communities is central to all of these objectives.
Rural development, linked to land reform and food security, is one of government's five key priorities for the year. This is in line with government's strategic objective to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014, as reflected in the Medium-Term Strategic Framework. The majority of the poor in the country are in rural areas. Therefore the aim of rural economic development is to enable the rural poor to take charge of their destiny, creating sustainable rural livelihoods through the optimal use and management of natural resources.
Rural economic development needs to go beyond land and agrarian reform. It must include affordable financing to promote economic development; support programmes and training in assisting co-operatives and small enterprises; public sector ventures; and strategies to develop appropriate industries, including light manufacturing, handicrafts, services and tourism. This also requires the putting in place of the necessary economic infrastructure, including IT services, roads and rail. To address these challenges, the ANC-led government has adopted an approach of infrastructure-building and industrialisation for a more equitable growth path. These must ultimately result in changes in the structure and patterns of our economy.
The ANC vision, as defined in our policies, is that of:
... a mixed economy, where the state, private capital, co-operative and other forms of social ownership complement each other in an integrated way to eliminate poverty and foster shared economic growth.
For us to achieve a new and equitable economic growth path, its content must include sustainability and green-economy principles. We have stated, further, that our vision of the future includes a sustainable economy where all South Africans, including present and future generations, realise the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing.
It is imperative that this vision guides all our policies, strategies and plans for the New Economic Growth Path, as exemplified by the inclusion of the promotion of a green economy in Ipap.
Let me speak to practical examples of progress. To broaden the economic development capacities of municipalities across the country, the Department of Economic Development entered into an agreement with the University of the Witwatersrand, and a municipal capacity-building course in economic development for 90 participants from all the provinces took place. This year, the programme has been extended to over 100 local government officials responsible for economic development and planning in five municipalities, namely Johannesburg, eThekwini, Mogale City, Govan Mbeki and Pixley ka Seme. The central objective of the week-long programme is to build economic development policy-making and planning capacity.
We are a major producer of fresh tomatoes. However, the downstream canning industry experienced a steep decline in demand due to low-priced imports from China. This led to local factories' tomato canning production lines lying idle or not being fully utilised, including a 2008 entrant into the industry in the Coega Industrial Development Zone in the Eastern Cape and a major producer in Limpopo province. In its investigation, the International Trade Administration Commission found adequate justification for an increase in the duty on tomato paste from 15% to 37% to enhance the price- competitive position of the industry in the face of fierce low-priced competition. The support will enable domestic producers to utilise existing production capacity and achieve economies of scale. This increase in duties is expected to be introduced in the next few weeks.
The rural economy link for Trade and Industry is through agro-processing. This is most important for women, especially in the small-scale milling project that will provide significant opportunities for small entrepreneurs. The built-in support for women is particularly true also for the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission's efforts to improve household water and energy through solar water projects.
In dealing with the rights of women in the rural areas, we are guided by both constitutional and policy imperatives to redress gender inequalities. The starting point is to measure the impact of programmes on opportunities for women, young people, children and persons living with disabilities in the rural areas. As public representatives, our role is to practise oversight over these programmes.
In conclusion, across provinces women's co-operatives are producing and selling produce. The assessment of this bears testimony to success stories in work production and ownership patterns. In addition, in the focus area of arts and crafts over 55 women's co-operatives have been established and registered, with a membership of 450 women in Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. These women are now producing and selling their art and craft products locally and internationally and they have secured contracts. All this brings about the sustainable livelihoods we seek to secure in the rural areas. This is in line with the 52nd national conference of the ANC resolution on supporting the self-organisation of rural people.
The ANC supports Budget Votes 36 and 28. [Applause.]