Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister Motsoaledi, Deputy Minister Ramokgopa, hon MECs, hon members and special delegates, allow me to acknowledge the leadership, far-sightedness and innovation of the ANC and its leaders, even from long before 1994, because it is through this innovative and caring leadership, guided by the Freedom Charter of 1956, the Reconstruction and Development Programme, and ANC policy, as well as the assistance of the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef, that the government has since 1994 developed and implemented a comprehensive health policy and health plan to consistently improve the health care delivery system in South Africa by focusing on access, equity, quality and sustainability in the health sector.
At the outset I really want to commend and thank the Ministry, as well as the government, for having delivered on their promises in regard to the policy and plan, despite the many obstacles and challenges still facing the health care sector in South Africa. Last year we were introduced to the 10- point plan. We have followed it and realised that it is working.
I must say that today in this House we are blessed. What shows how this Ministry is working is the fact that we have seven MECs for health in the House, and you may check, for it is a fact. [Applause.] That shows that what we want is here, that the three spheres of government should come together in this House and state what they are doing in their different provinces. We really acknowledge your presence here, MECs. It shows we are working in this Ministry, and I also thank you, Minister.
This tells me the following. When the Deputy Minister said that it was not yet uhuru, I said to myself that although it was not yet uhuru, we should assess and evaluate the tremendous progress in the health sector up to where we are today, and to understand where we are heading. For that it is also necessary to know where we come from.
As I talk on this, I also want to say to the people from the Western Cape and the DA that they should please stop talking about cadre deployment. Maybe at this time you don't really believe that Africans are capable. However, if you check the statistics and the website you will know the qualifications of the people - they are highly qualified. Our President emphasised that when we put people into positions, we must look at the qualifications. How could we deviate from that? Please! Make sure of that if you have problems. If people belong to the ANC, are affiliated to it, and are educated and qualified, should we not put them into positions just because you are going to talk cadre deployment? That is unfair. Let us remember what happened when the DA took over the Western Cape. What happened to our ANC managers there? They as senior managers were replaced with the newer liberals. Let me leave it there. [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Minister, the ANC government has inherited a society with massive disparities in access to health care, income and other things. It was the apartheid government that developed a health care system that was sustained through the years by the promulgation of racist legislation, and the creation of institutions for the control of the health care sector with the specific aim of maintaining racial segregation and discrimination in health care.
Siyakwazi lokho, sibuya khona. [We know that; we are from there.]
The health result was a system that was highly fragmented, and biased towards curative care and the private sector - ineffective and inequitable. Health care services were furthermore geared to the needs of the minority of the population and sharply divided between the private sector for those who could afford to pay and to belong to medical aid schemes, and the public sector for the poor.
But, we didn't just sit there. We in the ANC tried to address those inequities and we have addressed them. In doing so the government had to design and redesign a comprehensive policy and programme to redress social and economic injustices, to completely transform the health care delivery system, and to review legislation and institutions relating to health, with the main objective being to do the following, and we did this because of what we inherited.
We placed emphasis on health care, and not only on medical care. There was also redressing the harmful effects of apartheid health care services, and achieving health for all through equitable social and economic development. We had to develop comprehensive health care practices that were in line with international norms, ethics and standards. That had never happened before the coming of the ANC government. There was also recognising that the communities were the most important components of our health system.
One of the hon members talked about community development workers, CDWs. CDWs are not trained health workers; they have their line of march. Please ask the Minister for the Public Service and Administration for the handbook on CDWs. Whilst we expect them to assist us in our different communities, we must bear in mind that they are actually not health workers. However, they can assist us in a way.
In terms of section 27 of the Constitution of South Africa every person has a right to have access to health care services, and the state is responsible for creating the framework within which health is promoted and health care is delivered. It is also a major provider of health services and a single comprehensive, equitable integrated national health care system must therefore be created and legislated for.
Chairperson, I now turn to certain issues facing the health sector. Firstly, health problems have many complex causes, whose solutions demand an intersectoral approach. The health sector has an important role in ensuring that policies, programmes and plans in other sectors take account of health. Health in this case has been defined by the World Health Organisation as:
... a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Therefore, social welfare has, for instance, a major role to play in improving health status, as there are a number of areas that overlap between social welfare and health, such as violence, alcoholism, care for the elderly and services for people with disabilities.
A further challenge is the provision of adequate and equitable primary health care services in the rural areas. The need to make them accessible is of prime importance, with particular attention also to be given to improving and providing health facilities, human and financial resources, and transport.
The elderly and other vulnerable groups were neglected by an uncaring apartheid regime. Elderly Africans, particularly those living in rural areas, suffered even more. Particular attention will therefore have to be given to the development of outreach and home care services. I must acknowledge, though, that the mobile clinic service that we have in our different provinces is assisting.
Maybe I must also talk about transport and the carrying of people across the provinces. There we still have a problem, where you find that a person comes from KwaNdebele which is between Pretoria and Limpopo, but when you take the person to certain hospitals, they are turned away. For instance, if you go to Dennilton, you will be told to go to Polokwane Hospital, which is about 200 km away. We would like to have control so that our people get access to facilities near them, irrespective of which province they are in. My place is 30 km away from Limpopo and 70 km away from Pretoria, but I cannot access those services. I think we have to look into that and make sure that it works.
On HIV/Aids, hon Chairperson, ga ke sa nyaka go bolela t?e nt?i [I don't want to say much any more].
What is significant about this is to note that South Africa has the largest ARV therapy programme in the world, which has contributed to stabilising HIV prevalence. The Medical Research Council recently announced that the government's programme to prevent HIV in babies has achieved a 96,5% success rate in wiping out transmission from pregnant mothers to children.
Okusele nje ukuthi, uma lingekho ijazi lomkhwenyana, umuntu akatholi lutho. [It boils down to no condom, no sex.]
I think we have done enough.
In conclusion, hon Chair, the National Health Insurance is based on the principle of the right to health. Let us understand it in that way. There is nothing new in the visions that the hon Botha was talking about. I don't have time; otherwise I would talk about them. [Interjections.]
Lastly, I call upon all political parties and the role-players to join hands to support the Minister and government in their continued effort to transform the health sector and to improve health care delivery. I thank you. [Applause.]