Madam Chairperson, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, and members, we in the Standing Committee on Appropriations all sit as members from different parties and look at how we can improve service delivery through the monitoring of expenditure. We discuss all the issues in our committee - except that after we have held our meeting, it has become clear today, the DA holds its own meeting. [Interjections.]
They have their own hearings after our hearings because they talk about research institutions which they should have recommended to the committee. We are a democratic committee, but they talk about researchers. Recommend your research institutions so that they join the Human Sciences Research Council and others that we invite, so that we all deliberate on their findings as a committee. We knew that you were going to reject the Budget, and we knew that you were going to have your own recommendations from your own separate meetings. [Interjections.]
Hon members, since its birth in 1912, the ANC has recognised our common identity and citizenship and refused to set one group against another. South Africa has entered its second decade of freedom with the strengthening of democracy and acceleration of the programme to improve the quality of life of all the people. The Appropriation Bill, in its allocations, pronounced Health, Rural Development and Land Reform as key priorities of the ANC-led government.
We are from different constituencies faced by poverty, unemployment and inequality. We are expected by our constituencies to direct the resources to strategic tasks according to the national government priorities. If the progress we have made since 1994 constitute only the beginning of the protracted process of change, what is our aim? What kind of a society do we want to create?
The Minister of Finance stated in his 2011 speech that all South Africans aspire to the following freedoms: freedom from poverty; freedom from need; freedom to exercise our talents and thrive as individuals; freedom to work together as communities, as organised social formations, as business enterprises, and as a proud and forward-looking nation. Freedom goes with rights as enshrined in Chapter 2 of the Constitution of South Africa. The role of Parliament in this debate is to ensure that all South Africans achieve these freedoms. Parliament should ensure that real opportunities do exist towards these achievements, and that the government departments are fully functioning, well resourced and skilful.
Amartya Sen, who is a Nobel Laureate, explains freedom as the enhancement of human capabilities which involves processes of decision-making, as well as opportunities to achieve valued outcomes. He states: "The main purpose of development is to spread freedom and its 'thousand charms' to the unfree citizens."
As hon members all know, health is one of the main priorities of government and should be accessible to all South Africans. It is Outcome No 2, which says: "A long and healthy life for all South Africans". Income inequalities have an effect on the health of a nation. Markets do not reach the poor, who have little income to afford health insurance or proper nutrition. The Freedom Charter states that "a preventive health scheme shall be run by the State". It further states that free medical care and hospitalisation shall be provided for all, with special care for mothers and children.
The approach to health issues adopted by the Minister is a true response of activism and within a short period of his leadership in this Ministry, he has turned the Department of Health around. We were all in the same hearing as the hon Swart, when we all appreciated all the efforts that were made in this department, and that there are already norms and standards in place.
We also noted that transferred funds needed to be spent for those purposes and be monitored by the department to avoid underexpenditure in this economic classification.
Conditional grants are for a specific purpose. As a result, there is no need for underexpenditure. Monitoring of spending of these receiving entities and NGOs should be intensified as the lives of the people depend on the performance of these institutions.
We are not going to stand here and criticise what was happening. We are looking forward with this department, which is revolutionising health for the benefit of all South Africans.
Rural development and land reform is considered by the ANC as a central pillar in the struggle against unemployment, poverty and inequality. People living in rural areas face the harshest conditions of poverty, food insecurity and a lack of access to services almost on a daily basis, like the rural people who live here in the Western Cape. Outcome No 7 states: "Vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities with food security for all". During his speech, Minister Gordhan stated:
Government's land and agricultural development programmes are focused on rural job creation and poverty reduction, while expanding agricultural production and improving food security.
The difference between rural and urban development is vast and we all know that the problem is historical. The ANC-led government has taken note and started redressing the problem through several programmes. It should, however, be noted that proper development needs proper physical and social infrastructure. Infrastructure needs to be designed, built, maintained and operated properly. People need to be trained to do the job.
As Parliament we appreciate that a lot of money has already been wasted on poor infrastructure. Rural areas must attract people and investments through good-quality infrastructure. Rural development has the Comprehensive Rural Development Programmes that support rural communities and land-reform beneficiaries. Despite all these efforts and programmes, there is still visible poverty, unemployment and inequality in rural areas. As a result, in most cases people are forced to leave their homes and arid land, to go and look for work in urban areas. The question is whether they would have left the rural areas if there was economic development. The same is applying in the rural areas around Western Cape, where poor people are ignored and forgotten when the Metro City is the one that is receiving awards. [Interjections.]