Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members and colleagues, we must commend Statistics SA for identifying skills development as, amongst other things, part of their strategic thrust. We believe, Chairperson, that it will go a long way in capacitating the majority of our people and also in assisting government to speed up delivery at all levels.
In their strategic plan Statistics SA recognises the lack of statistical skills in South Africa and has compiled a development framework to improve statistical literacy and create an appreciation for crunching numbers.
It has set a medium-term goal to improve stats literacy at schools and tertiary colleges in conjunction with building more capacity as Statistics SA, and improving the efficiency of the national statistics system.
The organisation plans to address these shortcomings through a combined investment in human, informational and organisational capital. This consists of expertise and competencies to acquire professional skills in mathematics and statistics. Statistics SA's human capacity-building strategy aims to maximise employee learning and knowledge. The plan includes enhancing capacity at schools and tertiary levels, and also inside Statistics SA.
Chairperson, it is common knowledge that the ANC has long expressed concern about the shortage of high-level skills in South Africa and made a concerted effort to address this anomaly with the purpose of making a huge impact on human capital development. The 2007 Polokwane conference resolution on investing in priority skills and education captures this clearly under Economic Transformation, point 2.9:
Improving our performance in maths, science and technology. Significantly expanding the resources devoted to our capacity as a people for knowledge production and expanding the resources devoted to innovation and research ...
Reviving the role of state-owned enterprises in skills development and training, and building partnerships between the state, parastatals, the union movement and the private sector in the quest to improve skills.
Placing further education and training colleges, at the centre of a popular drive to transfer skills to our people, including by providing these institutions with more resources, and scaling up dedicated bursary schemes to popularise and subsidise attendance at FET institutions.
The state of the nation address and the ANC's January 8 Statement and manifesto priorities cover: more jobs, decent work and sustainable livelihoods; food security - ensuring no one goes hungry; rural and agricultural development and land reform; and education to be at the centre of our efforts. The priorities also include moving forward to achieving health care for all, and together intensifying the fight against crime and corruption. The final and seventh priority is to build cohesive and sustainable communities and, lastly, a better Africa and a better world.
The recent service delivery protests highlight the disconnection between local government and the expectations of the masses of our people with regard to job creation, the provision of social services and infrastructure, the existence of food insecurities linked to unemployment, the slow pace of urban renewal and land reform and the opportunistic rise of criminal activities.
The service delivery protests make it imperative for Statistics SA to channel its efforts towards the provision of high-quality data on trends and indicators; and the availability or shortages, as highlighted in the priorities of governments Medium-Term Strategic Framework for 2009-14, and explained above, and in the ANC manifesto priorities.
For a successful implementation of the outcome of such research, as the ANC in government we would want the information generated to be widely available and user-friendly for utilisation by communities and stakeholders.
About your parting shot, hon Dr George, I would say the other side of your shot is looking back while moving forward. I believe and I support the chairperson of the committee, when he says the committee can always speak the same language. Therefore, the ANC supports this Budget Vote, Chairperson. I thank you. [Applause.]