The words "working together" explain the approach in service delivery. And the last part of the message, "to build a better community", explains the expected end result. The majority of the communities in South Africa prefer a service delivery approach that would result in a sustainable development and as a result they overwhelmingly voted for the ANC. [Applause.]
Central to the attainment of sustainable development is the understanding of the nature of the problems and challenges we inherited from the apartheid government. This is followed by a keen awareness and ability to introduce the way government does business: a people-centred and a people- driven development approach.
In moving forward we need to constantly remind ourselves of the legacy and inequalities and injustice that we inherited from apartheid and how such imbalances were structured and institutionalised and how they continue to inform and shape the way we think and do things.
We do this not for purposes of apportioning blame. We have risen above that and moved on. We have overcome that temptation and emerged victorious as a nation. We should do so in order to gain a better understanding of the problems we are addressing so that we can find better, lasting solutions.
Our biggest challenge is that during the apartheid era, services were provided to communities along the racial, class and geographic location divides. If we pretend that this was not so and present an image that this counts no more, we are fooling ourselves and we will be denying our communities the truth. [Interjections.]
In the past, First World services were the preserve of rich communities in leafy suburb. Townships and peri-urban communities received sub-standard services and poor communities in rural areas received no services. Even the education system was designed to produce black people who were collectors of water, hewers of wood, wheelbarrow pushers and mixers of udaka [mud] - hence the word "dakaboy" [a boy who mixes mud]. All this is from a state that provided for the people without involving them. That is not sustainable development.
Investment in the past targeted developed areas, and that is still the case today. The current formula for allocation of financial resources for service delivery perpetuates these imbalances. The impact of the education system we inherited will remain with us for a long time. You will note that community development was never a part of formal education before 1994. It is still not a prerequisite for employment in government and participation at policy-making levels. It is also not used as a tool for building the capacity at the community level, thereby enabling communities to effectively participate in their development. This gap remains evident in the way we think and do things.
In responding to these challenges the ANC government has put in place progressive policies that include, among others, broad-based black economic empowerment, co-operative development and affirmative action as part of a long-term solution towards sustainable development.
Social grants are a short-term intervention responding to high levels of poverty, lack of skills, and lack of investment in underdeveloped areas. Capacity-building interventions provided by further education and training colleges and a number of Sector Education and Training Authorities are aimed at dealing with problems of unemployment and the unemployable. They are a medium-term intervention.
Our development approach will continue to evaluate the progress and impact of our system and programmes at all levels. We would effect change where necessary. The National Planning Commission, the monitoring and evaluation ministry, the assessment of state-owned enterprises and the Advisory Council on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment are tools we have put in place to continuously measure our progress and impact on sustainable development.
We should prioritise co-operative education and commit government as a sustainable market for co-operatives so as to reduce poverty and transform the economy. We have undertaken to work together with communities. We remain committed to that. The ANC supports the Budget Vote. [Applause.]