Hon Chairperson, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon Members of Parliament, invited guests and comrades, I also want to congratulate the Minister. Fortunately, I have answers for the DA. [Applause.] Minister, you are going to deal with the academics; I want to teach them politics.
The month of April is very important to the ANC. It is a reminder of its fallen heroes, amongst whom are the former President of the ANC, Oliver Tambo, Comrade Chris Hani and Comrade Steve Tshwete, who fought for the liberation of this country. [Applause.]
I want to pose some questions to people in the House. Who were the drafters of apartheid laws for 300 years? [Interjections.] Who decided on the Group Areas Act and repressive laws? Who are the people who did that?
I'm asking these questions because we have a backlog in ensuring that all South Africans have access to water, grants for the elderly, houses for the homeless, education for children, and police stations and clinics for communities. These are the services that many of us South Africans were deprived of during many years of apartheid governance. [Interjections.] Uyandiphazamisa! [You are disturbing me!] [Laughter.]
Most people, especially from the DA, must understand that they are the cause. [Interjections.] They are the cause! Apartheid existed and left the legacy of a huge backlog in service delivery, which will not disappear easily.
As you know, poverty is the greatest contradiction of any society that claims it is civilised. Our country finds itself battling with the type of social conditions that make it difficult for any human being to develop, social conditions that we, as the ANC, have long committed ourselves to overcoming, social conditions that have undermined our democratic proclamation of freedom.
We are wondering why, during election campaigns in the poorest areas, these same people advocate that everyone has the means to improve their quality of life. [Interjections.] When the DA is dancing in the townships, benxibe iiteki kwiilokishi zethu [wearing takkies in our townships], can't they see for themselves the social ills that the legacy of apartheid has created? This is a society that is characterised by inequalities that manifest themselves as a huge backlog in service delivery. Can't they see that without the decisive action and the policies of the ANC government, of ensuring a better quality of life for all, a great number of the people in our country would not have enjoyed improved living conditions, would not have accessed income through social grants and better housing, and would not have had access to electricity, water and sanitation? Nimamele? [Are you listening?]
Despite the backlog that we in the ANC government still battle to overcome, ngenxa yenu [because of you] ... [Interjections.] ... government is redressing imbalances created by the past apartheid regime. They should acknowledge the huge backlog facing the country, instead of pointing fingers.
We are here to continue fulfilling the mandate of realising a better quality of life for all South Africans. Our track record with regard to the resolution of having an equal and liberated South Africa stretches back as far as 1912. [Applause.] That is why, today, the Department of Social Development has set targets to be met by 2014.
In line with the ruling party's goal of ensuring that all children have access to education early in life, in the years that are most critical in the development of a child, through early childhood development, ECD, the department will accelerate the implementation of ECD programmes to ensure that every child is given a good start in life. [Interjections.] Andifuni nokuthetha ngawe ke wena. [I don't even want to talk about you.] [Interjections.]
The number of children in the ECD sites subsidised by the government has increased. The Minister has already touched on the number of ECD centres that are benefiting from the grant; I'm not going to repeat that. [Interjections.]
The DA today - khanimamele! [please listen!] - claims to be the champion of fighting poverty. Bayazela phi indlala? [What do they know about poverty?] [Interjections.] You ask yourselves why children died of kwashiorkor and polio. Here's Mrs Stompi; we were nurses together in Gugulethu and in Khayelitsha. There were cases of polio and kwashiorkor. I'm telling you, balubulele uluntu aba bantu. [... these people have killed a lot of people.] [Interjections.]
Studies show that the social assistance programme has expanded access to social grants to 15 million beneficiaries, 10 million of whom are children who receive child support. [Interjections.]