Motlatsi wa Sepikara ya kgabane, re lokela ho bua nnete le ho toba nnete mabapi le mathata a teng ka hara ditshebeletso tsa rona tsa bophelo bo botle. Ebang re ka etsa sena, re tla be re thusa setjhaba sa rona hore se phele ho latela maikemisetso a Molaotheo ka hara demokerasi. Ha re ka ba le nnete mme ra hlahloba se sa tsamaeng hantle ka tsa bophelo bo botle, re tla kgona ho tla ka tharollo, mme bohle ka hara Afrika Borwa re tla una molemo. Jwale he, ke tla qala ho talola nnete, etswe Basotho ba re nnete e a baba. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[Mrs S P KOPANE: Hon Deputy Speaker, we are supposed to tell the truth and face up to the truth about problems that exist in our health care services. If we do this we will be helping the nation to live and to follow the purpose of the Constitution in a democracy. If we are honest and look into what is not right with our health care system we will be able to come up with a solution and all of us in South Africa will benefit. Therefore, we will start by revealing the truth. As they say in Sesotho: The truth is a bitter pill to swallow.]
Here is the hard truth according to the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Report on Reproductive Health Roadmap. The health status of South Africa has worsened considerably over the past 12 years. Numerous health indicators reveal that South Africa's health standards are falling in absolute and comparative terms. The latest World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report shows that we rank at nearly the bottom of the world in terms of public health. Out of 142 countries, we rank 141 for the incidence of TB, 139 for HIV/Aids prevalence, 130 for life expectancy and 111 for child mortality. You will all agree that this is unacceptable.
Here is another hard truth. We spend more money on public health care per person than countries like Malaysia, Thailand, China and our neighbour, Namibia, yet we still have far worse health outcomes. This shows that funding is not the primary obstacle to the problem of bettering health care quality. We need to make sure that we have the right people in the right positions, who are held accountable for their performance in the health care system. Unfortunately, right now, according to the Finance Technical Task Team's report to the Minister of Health: "No part of the health system is held properly accountable for the poor health outcomes or poor service delivery."
Think about that: no one is held accountable for the serious problems in our country. For example, baby deaths in our maternity wards; the certification and hiring of conmen to practise as neurosurgeons in our operating theatres on a daily basis; the failure of provincial health departments to pay for their laboratory services, thus forcing the laboratories to close down; the deployment of people to manage hospitals without proper qualifications, experience, knowledge and the will to succeed; and the failure of our higher education system to produce or to train enough doctors and nurses for our growing population.
If no one is held accountable for these serious problems, there are no incentives for those responsible people to improve our health care system. This is not just my personal judgment, but that of the National Development Plan report, which highlights accountability as one of the key areas where improvement is needed to improve the health care system. We hope that the President takes heed of the reports of this wise counsel.
Here is the last hard truth: the low quality of public health care actually threatens the constitutional rights of our poor South African people, and makes it virtually impossible to achieve the developmental goals that we all desire today.
Mr Speaker, in our public hospitals and clinics, our people still stand in long queues to see doctors. They have to deal with disrespectful staff members, and they have to leave the clinics and hospitals without their medication because of the poor management of hospital supplies. However, thankfully, we South Africans are not without talent, resources and the ability to improve the public health care centres so that everyone can enjoy their rights and be productive contributors to our society. That is why we are pleased today to welcome the establishment of the Office of Standards Compliance. We hope that it will provide the necessary oversight and incentives for better performance at our public health institutions. We welcome the commitment the Minister of Health showed today in the Portfolio Committee on Health to make this a reality. Minister Motsoaledi, I want to say to you: You have my full support.
We also welcome the Ke tla phela project, which will see our government partner with a Swiss company to build a R1,6 billion pharmaceutical factory that will help us to manufacture crucial antiretroviral medication for our growing population. This is similar to the Cape Biotech Initiative, which promotes a public-private partnership that creates jobs in the knowledge economy. They represent the kind of innovative thinking that will make us healthier, both physically and financially. I hope, Minister Pandor ...
... o tla fetola mehopolo ya hao mabapi le rona re le Mokgatlo wa DA. Re tshehetsa tse ntle tse etswang ke puso empa re ke ke ra thola ha ho e na le dintho tse mpe tse etsahalang. [... you will change your mind regarding us as the DA. We support the good work done by the government, but we will never keep quiet when bad things happen.]
Indeed, we hope that the President continues to learn from the lessons of our provincial administrations, such as the Western Cape where the DA governs. Ultimately, we all seek the same desire: a healthy and productive nation.
Motlatsi wa Sepikara ya kgabane, Mopresidente John Kennedy o kile a bua mantswe a latelang, ke a mo qotsa: [Hon Deputy Speaker, President John Kennedy once said the following words, and I quote:]
Our problems are man-made; therefore they can be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.
Re le mokgatlo wa DA re dumela ka hohlehohle hore mathata a naha ya rona a itshetlehile maemong a rona mme ebile ho hlakile hore re na le matla re le baetapele kwano ho ka fetola maemo a batho ba rona ka hare ho naha ya rona. Ke qetella ka ntlha ena: (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[As the DA, we agree fully that the problems of our country rest squarely in our positions and it is clear that we have the power to change the situation of our people in our country. I conclude by saying:]
Mr President, we hope that you will have the courage to make the tough decisions necessary to improve the quality of health care that our people receive. We have to build South Africa into a better place for all of us, especially for future generations.
Re le mokgatlo wa DA re malala-a-laotswe ho ka ikakgela ka setotswana morerong ona oo re o tshwereng wa puso, empa potso ke hore na lona mokgatlo wa ANC jwaloka mokgatlo o busang, na le malala-a-laotswe na? Ke a leboha. [Mahofi.] (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
As the DA, we are ready to hit the ground running in this plan by the government, but the question is whether the ANC as the governing party is also ready. I thank you. [Applause.]