Hon Chairperson, hon members, it is always encouraging to note that hon members of this House are closely following developments in the delivery and performance of government's antipoverty programmes. Let me state up front that the pace of delivery is not always as fast as we desire and often the impact is not immediately visible.
However, this inspires us to roll up our sleeves and work harder in order to lift our communities out of poverty. Indeed, government has rolled out several antipoverty initiatives in all provinces, including KwaZulu-Natal. These range from the Expanded Public Works Programme, the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, the Community Works Programme, the Community Development Worker Programme, the National Rural Youth Service Programme, Zibambele early childhood development, and a number of other initiatives that support poor communities to earn livelihoods.
These are all in addition to the provision of free basic services and other social protection measures that cushion people. The cumulative effect of all these initiatives is the constant chipping away at the massive problem of poverty that we have in our midst. It is my unwavering belief that the sum total effect of these initiatives is having an impact on the lives of poor people in our country.
We are taking children to early childhood development facilities. We are ensuring that children whose parents cannot afford to pay school fees are going to school. We are ensuring that those who need antiretroviral therapy are getting the necessary medicines. We are getting communities to work for the betterment of their people and their personal lives. We are getting our unemployed youth to work.
The impact of all these initiatives cannot be measured in terms of days, weeks or months. We believe it is a long journey towards a poverty-free KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa. The commitments we have made to these communities are being met on a daily basis. I need to inform hon members that these communities are generally categorised into immediate commitments, medium-term and long-term commitments.
We ensure that immediate commitments, such as taking a child to school, putting a child on a child support grant, issuing of vital registration documents, social relief of distress, health assessments, and linking individuals to available opportunities are fulfilled in the shortest possible time. The medium-term commitments certainly take a little more time, and so do the long-term ones.
What is most important is that none of the commitments made by government will be ignored or remain unattended to. We will do our utmost to follow up on commitments made to the poor communities of KwaZulu-Natal. We will be transparent with our successes as well as challenges confronted in fulfilling the commitments. We have delivered on some of the commitments we have made to the poor communities of KwaZulu-Natal and the rest of the country. We are following up on those that are outstanding. All spheres of government are aware of what needs to be done to meet all the commitments made to the poor communities.
I chair an antipoverty interministerial committee, which reviews the progress we are making with antipoverty initiatives. Last but not least, I call upon all hon members in this House to join us in the fight against poverty and to monitor progress and identify where we can do better. I thank you for your attention.