Hon Chairperson, hon members, special delegates, including those from the SA Local Government Association, Salga, ladies and gentlemen, it is with great regret that I stand here today, as our country is now ranked among the most unequal countries of the world. This inequality manifests itself in the extreme poverty which, unfortunately, mostly affects our children because of their vulnerability. They, in turn, are subjected to the various forms of abuse which most of the members have talked about here and which we hear about in the media on a daily basis.
Our debate today is about how we as a society can seek to change the situation and create a better world for all. As I say this, I want to refer to hon Faber, who was right when he said that our country was still plagued by child labour. But I want to ask one question. We are here because we seek to change our society. Who are the people who employ children? If we look and check the statistics, we will realise that child labour happens mostly on farms. Who owns the farms? [Interjections.] Let me leave it there but I'd like members to think about it and make sure that this does not continue. [Interjections.]
I want to talk briefly about poverty. When poverty strikes families, the youngest family members become its most innocent and vulnerable victims. That is why I talk about the children on farms. The parents do not own the land and the children don't attend school. They then have to work on the farms because of their vulnerability caused by poverty. Poverty causes lifelong damage to children's minds and bodies, turning them into adults who perpetuate the cycle of poverty by transmitting it to their children too. Poverty is the main underlying cause of millions of preventable child deaths each year.
The reason millions of children go hungry, miss out on school and are forced into child labour is their vulnerability caused by poverty. Investment in children is the greatest guarantee for achieving equitable and sustainable human development. I think the Minister referred to that when she mentioned education. This is why poverty reduction must begin with the protection and realisation of the rights of children.
Since 1994, South Africa has made important progress towards alleviating poverty through an array of policies and programmes. One of these is the social grant programme. I'm not going to go into detail; I just wanted to share with my comrades what impact poverty has on children.
The ANC is a party that stands firmly and resolutely for the protection of the rights of children. Its policies are anchored in the belief of building a caring, open and democratic society based on the ethos of equality and freedom where the poor and most vulnerable are a priority in terms of empowerment, state assistance and the enforcement of human rights. The ANC's policies are based on the belief that the best interests of the child are paramount in everything that we do in our society. This is manifested in the priority given by the ANC government to programmes that are aimed at addressing child poverty through measures such as providing safety nets and dealing with child murders, disappearances, abuse and neglect.
Ms Hartnick, you are correct, we need to make sure that the register assists us because the information that should be contained in the national protection register must warn of the possible abuse of children and must identify those who have actually been abused. We must be able to find the names in this register of persons who are unsuitable to work with children because of their record. So, I believe that this government is going to make sure that we concretise this and make sure that the register works for our people.
This brings me to the next point, that re re bommago bana ba swara thipa ka bogaleng. [women are brave].
According to records revealed in 2007, 41,5% of women in Mpumalanga are unemployed. It is my belief that women understand more about children and that our empowerment of these women will ensure the safety of children.
Let me talk about the noble values contained in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the Republic. These rights, among others, are for children. I won't talk about all of them. Let me talk about the one that deals with family and alternative care, specifically the right to adoptive or foster care and to be cared for by the state where the child concerned is in need of care. We have backlogs, hon Minister, in child care. Most of our rural people don't know how they can help these children. Because of the HIV and Aids pandemic, most parents leave their children but, unfortunately, these children reside with their families who do not know about the foster care and adoption processes. Adoption is still expensive. That is one area we still have to look into, so that the relatives at home do not have to suffer when they can be assisted in caring for young kids who have been orphaned.
Hon Faber also talked about a lack of access to early childhood development, ECD, programmes. I must say that the Department of Social Development has responded very positively by developing a comprehensive strategy on ECD. That process is working as we speak.
Let me say something about childhood development. A rapid appraisal and analysis indicate that there is a range of ECD services at community and household level that have elements that support ECD policy goals for children from birth to four years of age. Now, you will find that in rural areas people just say they have an ECD centre. These people need education. We need to educate our rural people to understand how ECD should work. In so doing we must come up with funding and regulations to bring the ECD services programme into the mainstream. We must incorporate ECD into the mainstream. Services incorporating them are guided by the Children's Act.
Another thing we need to make sure of is the recognition of prior learning. We know that our parents are educators by nature. They raise children with the natural knowledge they have of assisting children. Are we going to assist them by recognising their prior knowledge? This is one thing that we must do. We must look at those areas, especially the rural areas, where we have people who are doing this job and make sure that we capacitate them more. We must make sure that we work together with the local governments so that our people understand what ECD is about and so that they become capacitated and certificated. That's all I wanted to say on ECD. It's very important that we talk about this. [Time expired.] [Applause.]