Speaker, the President acknowledged the 17 years of South Africa's birth as a nonracial, nonsexist, equal and democratic society. However, after 17 years of what should have been freedom, we hold a world record in inequality.
The majority of the formerly oppressed Africans live in appalling conditions and dire poverty. I ask: What does democracy mean to people living in dire poverty? How do you translate the celebration of 21 years since Madiba's release for people with no basic services? What meaning does all this carry?
We welcome the progress made in providing our people with basic water supply; 400 000 is a substantial number. However, we look forward to a time when all South Africans can enjoy basic services because this is their right. We carry the responsibility of ensuring that they enjoy and benefit from these rights. Otherwise, there is no meaning to the equality clause in our Constitution.
We further appreciate the decline in crime stats, especially the 8,6% decline in the murder rate. Nonetheless, gender-based violence still ranks very high in our society. It was disappointing, with due respect, that the President did not dwell much on this, because this is a scourge that we must all rid our society of. This applies especially to rape.
Nine billion rand towards job creation shows real monetary commitment. It is obvious that the President intended focusing on unemployment in his address, but the decency and sustainability of job opportunities created has not been addressed succinctly. Even when it comes to the 4,5 million jobs that the Expanded Public Works Programme will create, we do not know if they'll be sustainable and decent.
In the recent past we lost a million jobs, but boast of having created 480 000 nonsustainable, "non-decent" jobs, and we cannot continue with such a trend.
We also welcome the allocation of R800 million towards communities affected by floods. However, we hope that the Ministers concerned will ensure that this reaches the intended beneficiaries and is not manipulated along the way, as we have so often seen.
We agree that unemployment deserves a lot of attention, but so does education and crime, and we felt that the President did not prioritise these enough. Access to education has been steadily improving over the years but we must equally focus repeatedly on quality.
The uncertainty and controversy that seem to always well up around matric results need attention. Converting loans to bursaries for final year students is a welcome move; but what do we say about financially needy students who want to enter tertiary education?
Bana ba rona ke boswa le letlotlo la ka moso. A re ba tlhokomeleng ka botlalo. Ke a leboga. [Applause.] [Our children are the heir and treasure of the future. Let us take full care of them. Thank you. [Applause.]]