Chairperson, His Excellency President J G Zuma, members of the NCOP, provincial premiers, MECs, Salga representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is a privilege and an honour to be given an opportunity this afternoon to debate before this sitting of the NCOP.
Allow me to take this opportunity to acknowledge the address made by the President Mr Jacob Zuma. I fully concur with all the matters raised in his address, as it is a clear and concise reflection of the challenges facing our young democracy. The only solution is to embark on a quest to find solutions to achieve the goal of a better quality of life for all.
I would like to acknowledge the fact that, 15 years down the line, our society is still sharply divided into the haves and the have-nots. A greater portion of the country is rural and underdeveloped, and Mpumalanga is included here. We also have the other, developed, portion that was protected under apartheid laws and the apartheid government.
Over the past few months, we have experienced a spate of unrest in a number of municipalities in Mpumalanga, where communities have been demanding service delivery. Though we condemn the intimidation, violence and loss of property and lives associated with some of this unrest, it is a genuine fact that, for some, 15 years has been a long time to wait. This has required us, as the provincial government, to review the state of our municipalities.
The Mpumalanga province has, as a result, embarked on a programme of strengthening its municipalities, which will, amongst some of the activities, involve offering capacity support to councillors, redeploying some, tightening controls on our administration, and rooting out any corruption or corrupt tendencies.
Consistent with the theme that we are addressing of "Together finding a solution to achieve the goal of a better quality of life for all" we will pull out all the stops to realise the five priorities as expressed in our 2009 ANC election manifesto.
We note the negative impact that the global recession is having on our economy. The province has recorded a shedding of more than 40 000 jobs since the beginning of the year. While looking for solutions in the private sector to retain and sustain jobs, the government has, through its EPWP, Phase Two, signed protocols to create 28 000 work opportunities for this current financial year. We intend creating 237 000 job opportunities by 2014, with 75 617 being full-time equivalents, and we feel we must still do more as the province.
The province has had a successful economic summit, which was held from 15 to 16 October 2009, and we hope to create more job opportunities, promote investment, accelerate service delivery and build partnerships with various stakeholders in the economy of the province.
Mpumalanga is largely a rural province and agriculture is one of the cornerstones of its economy. We have implemented the Masibuyele Emasimini campaign, which is a programme aimed at assisting households in farming. We supply them with seeds and agricultural implements, and assist them in tilling their land using government-owned tractors. Many households have benefited from this particular programme.
We have also embarked on a pilot project for rural development at the Mkhondo Municipality, which will be launched tomorrow, 30 October 2009. This project is one of the best solutions for poverty eradication and the betterment of the lives of our people. The roll-out of the programme in rural South Africa will change the lives of our communities for the better.
In Mpumalanga we have not been doing very well in our Grade 12 results, and we've had this challenge over the past few years. We have now set up systems to address this particular challenge.
We have also started addressing the issue of having a university in the province much more seriously. We hope that, with the support of the Minister of Higher Education, this matter will be concluded in the coming five years.
To address the health care delivery gaps, we are going to upgrade two of our hospitals to tertiary hospital level to offer tertiary hospital level services. We cannot agree more on the issue of HIV and Aids. As you have indicated, HIV and Aids is a scourge on our society. Families have been decimated; we have orphans and child-headed families. The work sector has been affected in terms of absenteeism and production. Indeed, we hope to find a lasting solution to this scourge. There is, however, hope.
To conclude, I agree with the Chairperson that by working together with the municipalities, provincial government and the NCOP, we can do more.