Hon Chairperson, special delegates, permanent delegates, hon Minister and guests present in the House, the ANC-led government is committed to improving the health of its citizens. As the ANC, we have made health our national priority. The following are some of the steps meant to address health-related issues: the appropriate appointment of heads of department, HODs, chief financial officers, CFOs, chief executive officers, CEOs, and district and clinic managers with relevant competencies and qualifications; an increase in the employment of nurses, doctors, health technicians and other health professionals; the reintroduction of nurse training and reopening of nursing schools and colleges; monitoring the availability of medicines, especially antiretrovirals, ARVs, TB drugs and chronic medication; and the progressive introduction of the National Health Insurance, NHI.
The ANC national general council has re-emphasised the 52nd national conference resolution on health as a priority. This is underpinned by the following principles, yet not limited to them: capacity-building and training of hospital CEOs, district and clinic managers and HODs; the appointment of managers subject to the signing of performance agreements; the decentralisation of emergency services; improving the attitude of health workers; upholding Batho Pele principles and extending service hours for clinics and health centres.
The introduction of the National Health Insurance will alleviate much of the current burden on the health sector. The implementation is expected to bring about an improvement in our health facilities and an improved level of service. In this Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period the following allocations have been appropriated to achieve the NHI objectives: R1,2 billion to introduce family health-care teams; R2,9 billion to improve health facilities, equipment and hospital systems; R1,4 billion for improved district-based maternal and child health; and the revitalisation of health infrastructure, including new infrastructure.
A further R26,9 billion for a comprehensive HIV/Aids conditional grant has been allocated to deal with this scourge. This government has shifted into high gear to confront this epidemic unapologetically. More resources will be appropriated as they become available. We will continue to attach a high premium to the life and health of our citizens. This is a complete break from the state of affairs during apartheid rule, when the lives of black people in general and Africans in particular were very cheap. In pursuit of the Freedom Charter, the ANC promises a progressive realisation of these objectives to the citizens.
The ANC-led government believes in the Freedom Charter. By the way, this valuable document is highly regarded by many of the world's nations and will remain the authoritative framework that guides our work. Also of interest is that this document states that the people shall share in the country's wealth. Depending on the angle and context from which you approach this statement, you may derive many meanings. One of them is that we should first grow the economy. But before we grow the economy, we should first create employment opportunities. But to create employment opportunities, we should first have appropriate workers with the requisite skills. You may not stop here but if you continue you'll complete a vicious circle. For my intended purposes, I will break the circle here.
The ANC-led government has accepted and resolved to pay the necessary attention to skills development. The seriousness of the skills shortage and the resolve of the ANC have been shown by the establishment of the Ministry of Higher Education and Training. The new department's infrastructure and systems are taking shape and some of its work is starting to show results.
Our 2009 elections manifesto committed us to increasing the graduate output in areas of skills shortage; restructuring of the sector education and training authority; embarking on the reopening of teacher training colleges where appropriate; reviving the role of state-owned enterprises in skills development and training; placing further education and training at the centre of the popular drive to develop skills development for the economy, and reviewing the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to encourage students from the working class and the poor to go to tertiary institutions.
In implementing these progressive commitments, government has made some progress in many of the objectives. The National Skills Development Strategy has been approved; the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations has been established; the National Skills Fund is being transformed as a developmental grant-making body; the sector education and training authorities, Setas, have been restructured; the Setas' governance challenges are being addressed; decisive action is being taken on nonperforming Setas; the National Artisan Moderation Body has been established to focus on quality artisan training, and work is being done with the Department of Defence and Military Veterans, state-owned enterprises and private industry to accelerate artisan training; and there is a review of the funding formula for universities, with a particular focus on the recapitalisation and strengthening of historically disadvantaged institutions and, of course, the establishment of the two much-needed universities in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.
For our economy to grow in order for all of us to share in the wealth, resources need to be appropriated progressively and consciously to achieve these desired goals. In the 2011 Budget Speech the Minister of Finance said:
We entered the recent recession with a healthy fiscal position and a comparatively low level of debt. These allowed us to maintain government spending despite a sharp deterioration in revenue.
This explains how this government is able to achieve the following: over R14 billion allocated for further education and training, FET, colleges, seeing as our DA member has been complaining about FET colleges; over R20 billion directed to Setas and R5 billion to the National Skills Fund; R5 billion for a youth employment subsidy; just under R1 billion added to Funza Lushaka teacher bursaries and postgraduate bursaries for students in natural sciences; and R9,5 billion for the expansion of FET colleges and skills development.
These resources are indicative of the resolve of the ANC-led government in addressing the issue of skills in the country. Only when this level of commitment is made can we sustain economic growth. Growth will present opportunities to mitigate the high unemployment rate and growth will produce a bigger cake of wealth. Then the people shall govern and the people shall share. I thank you.