Deputy Chair, good afternoon. It's good to be back here, colleagues. I want to greet the Ministers respectively: The Minister of Health and the Minister of Social Development, the Deputy Minister of Social Development, my colleagues from the different provinces and members of this august House.
I think it is silly to suggest that the young women who get pregnant do so because they want the R240 child support grant. You must find out what it means to raise a child and what it means for a woman to fall pregnant, instead of coming here to make uninformed political statements.
We speak to a number of these women at the paypoints where they get their grants. One of the things that we have committed ourselves to doing in the province is to engage these women by putting them through skills development programmes to help them get out of the system.
It is important to get hold of the missing fathers. The state is not the father of these children; they have their fathers. We understand where men are not employed, the state must take responsibility, but where fathers are employed, maintenance courts must look for them and make sure that they maintain their children; it is not our responsibility to do so.
The ANC election manifesto is unequivocal about the tasks that are supposed to be undertaken to ensure that health outcomes in South Africa benefit the poorest of the poor. The commitment made in the 2009 election manifesto is informed by the consultation we've had with different stakeholders. Indeed, we have a mandate from the people of South Africa to say the sort of things we are saying.
When the hon Minister spoke in the National Assembly on 30 June 2009, he tried to deal with some of the problems that bedevil the health system in the country as a whole. Therefore, I will not bore you with some of those details, which are the same across all provinces.
However, we've begun a process of having a strategic partnership with DPSA and service providers from the private sector, and those are Netcare, Medscheme and Lifecare, to bring them on board regarding what we're trying to do in the province. I can guarantee you that in the next two years you're going to see significant changes in the province. When people go to clinics and hospitals, they will be given good quality health care. They will no longer stand in long queues at pharmacies, because the systems are going to change for the better.
We acknowledge that resources are not going to be enough. What is important is for us to make sure that the resources allocated to the department of health and social development in the province are used for the benefit of the citizens of our province.
Again, in terms of the manifesto, we committed ourselves to dealing with the issues of management and provide leadership in the health care system through Operation Kuyasheshwa La, for instance, which we launched about two weeks ago. According to the programme, we must stabilise and improve the health care system, and we must make sure that it is sustained. If we do not stabilise, improve and sustain it, we will simply be working backwards.
We are committed to making sure that the issues that are identified, such as linen management, equipment, maintenance of infrastructure and the distribution of medicine, form the core of the work of providing health care. These issues further include the personnel: doctors, nurses and allied health workers across the board. The province is committed to this.
However, the fact that citizens generally prefer to be treated in hospitals rather than in clinics or in the community health care centres is also our continuous concern. To that end, we have introduced family physicians in the district health system to make sure that we strengthen the primary health care system in the province. Many people, as I said earlier, believe that when they are sick they must be seen by a doctor. The introduction of the family physician is to ensure that when people present themselves at these facilities, there will be a doctor that will see them 24 hours a day. We are extending hours in many of these community health centres and in some clinics, particularly where the volumes are high.
We are also looking into making sure that the hours of operation are extended and that clinics do not close at 15:00 in the afternoon. Instead, they must close at 19:00 or 21:00 in the evening, and open some Saturdays. We believe that, by doing so, we'll be giving the citizens in the province better health care.
We'll continue with our efforts to strengthen the prevention of mother-to- child HIV transmission. I think it is also relevant to indicate that when we came to power we were aware that the issue around mothers who didn't get the baby formula was a big story. It is important to note that the systems have been stabilised and that we are in the process of making sure that all key service providers in the province are paid, so that we don't end up at the same point as when we began our term.
The programme is being implemented across the province and we are planning to increase the numbers in the province from the current 185 000 adults and 15 000 children to about 250 000 people by the end of this financial year, that is March 2010. We'll accredit 10 more sites for antiretroviral treatment and increase the total number of sites from the current 66 to 76.
In terms of the election manifesto, we are also committed to decreasing the new infection rate by 50%. We are working with all municipalities to make sure that the resources allocated to municipalities in the province go to the programmes aimed at creating awareness around testing so that people can continue to test for HIV.
Throughout the province, testing is done in any government facility. On Monday we were at Thembisa, at one of the paypoints for old-age pensioners. We provide health care services there. Old-age pensioners can now test for blood pressure and so forth. We intend extending these services to shopping malls, particularly at the end of the month because there are many people who pass through those shopping malls.
If we were to extend those activities, we would be in a position to make sure that people know their status, not only for comfort purposes, but also to be able to get the necessary treatment.
Chair, I have a few more issues to deal with. As I said at the beginning in response to Cope, as social development, we have committed ourselves to making sure that all the young mothers that receive the child support grant are linked to the Department of Labour. This is done through any EPWP, Expanded Public Works Programme, in the province and is aimed at making sure that these young mothers are given skills and are in a position to get jobs on their own, without relying on the state.
We are also working very closely with professional women's organisations and the private sector, which came forward and offered to work with us. We are in the process of finalising our plan for these women, including exploring an arrangement in terms of which we let them handle some of the services provided in hospitals, such as doing the laundry, catering, running the kitchen and cleaning services.
Maybe we should be establishing co-operatives. We've begun work with a number of women in the province, and they should be travelling to KwaZulu- Natal to learn what that province has done in terms of running hospitals.
We are well in advance in terms of the public-private partnership projects that we want to implement in the province. These relate to hospitals in particular, as well as making sure that all the hospitals that are in operation in Gauteng are in a good state of functionality wherein patients can recuperate.
We are conducting a feasibility study in the province with the aim of making sure that the hospitals that were closed some time ago are reopened. Currently, we are running short of space, particularly for ICU beds and for other general admission purposes. Hence the headlines about Gauteng from time to time; we are trying to manage space.
We are a province that is friendly to children, from Grade R up to the age of 14. The province has a programme called Bana Pele under Social Development. That programme is meant to assist the most vulnerable children. We provide school uniforms for those who get to Grade 1, as well as a nutrition programme. Children also have access to free health care. As you know, former President Mandela introduced this programme in 1994. Government provides scholar transport for those who live more than 5km from school.
Lastly, the other important issue that is going to be a major focus for us in the next five years is making sure that care for the elderly in the province is not left to chance. The majority of senior citizens to date is not cared for properly in our society.
We have clear programmes, and we have worked with different organisations, including the veterans' league. We want to ensure that old-age pensioners who are currently on the waiting list are admitted to the old-age homes that are currently available. Thank you very much. [Time expired.] [Applause.] USEKELA NGQONGQOSHE WEZOKUTHUTHUKISWA KOMPHAKATHI: Mphathisihlalo, Ngqongqoshe Wezokuthuthukiswa Komphakathi, uNgqongqoshe Wezempilo, ozakwethu abaphuma ezifundazweni, Abahlonishwa bethu, izihambeli zethu ikakhulukazi omama ... (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[The DEPUTY MINISTER OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: Chairperson, Minister of Social Development, Minister of Health, colleagues from the provinces, hon members as well as our guests, especially the women ...]
... I would like to join the hon Minister in extending my gratitude to our predecessors, the hon Dr Zola Skweyiya and Dr Jean Swanson-Jacobs. The ANC recognises that poverty, unemployment, violent crimes against women and children, and the increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children, as well as the increasing level of substance abuse in our communities remain areas of major concern.
Our work during the current Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, period is geared at addressing many of these challenges. Today, through unity of purpose, we must prepare to implement our progressive social policies embodied in the provisions of various pieces of legislation that were passed over the last 15 years in order to realise the goal of creating a caring society.
The scourge of substance abuse constitutes a great threat to the wellbeing of our society. Only last week, law enforcement authorities intercepted a large consignment of illegal drugs with a street value of more than R10 million. Had those drugs reached their destination, they would have destroyed countless lives, especially those of young people, leaving families shattered and in need of reconstruction services.
Two weeks before that, police shut down a number of illegal drug manufacturing sites in and around Cape Town. There is no doubt that our law enforcement agencies are growing equal to the challenge. There is, however, a great need for more work to be done to bolster the provincial substance abuse forums and community structures: in this case the local drug action committees.
Today dagga, alcohol and methamphetamine are still the most abused substances in South Africa. Methamphetamine is what they call tik. And, as I stated during the debate in the National Assembly a few days ago, our focus will be on reducing the demand for drugs and support for treatment. And in this regard we will continue with our effort to strengthen the implementation of our drug prevention initiative known as Ke Moja - I am fine without drugs - campaign, which targets young people through arts, sport and the transfer of critical life skills.
Equally important is the prevention of substance abuse in the adult population and, in this regard, we are developing a prevention model specifically targeting adults. Research shows that alcoholism and multiple drug abuse have been associated with the alarming rate of crime and exposure to violence. If we can deal with this problem successfully, we will simultaneously address associated problems such as crime, unwanted teenage pregnancies and HIV infections.
The 52nd conference of the ANC in Polokwane recognised that children are the future of our country and that, accordingly, mergers to invest in their development have to be given priority. Our contribution to this commitment is geared towards tackling child poverty and the provision of child protection services. The department will implement the new Children's Act which introduces the fundamental changes with regard to the protection of the constitutional rights of children in South Africa.
The increasing number of children who are orphaned in this country requires us to utilise all available options and resources to provide for these children not only with alternative care, as in the form of foster and residential care, but with a stable permanent home environment through natural adoption by South Africans themselves.
We know that the numbers of adoptions remain very low, at an average of 2 000 per annum, compared to the number of foster care placements, which stand at more than 450 000. We also know that there are large numbers of children, approximately 15 000, who are moved away from home to residential facilities at any given time, and that many of these young people have been away from home for over a year and are unlikely to be able to go back.
We are rightly putting these children at the centre of our work and we will make several suggestions to improve the handling of orphans and the vulnerable children in this country. We will among other things go out on a campaign to encourage South Africans to adopt children who need permanent placement, and develop a register of adoptable children and adoptive parents. This will ensure that all children who are vulnerable and eligible for adoption are known and matched with prospective parents in South Africa.
We are also undertaking research to determine reasons for the low interest of South Africans in adopting children. I should emphasise that we do not see adoptions as replacing foster care-foster care should remain part of our legal system as it provides a uniform of security with the best outcomes. Through these interventions, we are therefore putting the family at the centre of our strategies to deal with challenges facing children and the society as a whole.
The protection of orphans and vulnerable children is of great significance to us. In this respect, we will continue working with our partners through the National Action Committee for Children Affected by HIV and Aids to improve the quality of our services to children affected by HIV and those living with Aids. We will also develop strategies which outline the kind of support we will lend to child-headed households.
The Minister had spoken about the impact and progress we made in increasing the number of children who are receiving the early childhood development, ECD, services. And we need to improve on the accessibility of this service to children in rural areas. Our plan is to mobilise rural communities in order to support them in the establishment, the registration and the subsidisation of the ECD centres and programmes, because rural children's rights are equal to those of urban children.
The rate of child abuse, neglect and exploitation in this country is disturbing. To this end, the department will contribute to efforts of mobilising communities to take a firm stand against violence and other crimes committed against children. Our society needs the full involvement of our young people in its remaking. We therefore need to develop strategies of taking children away from criminal activities that put them in conflict with the law.
We agree with the hon Mahlangu that caring for older persons and the protecting their rights is important. During this financial year we will expedite the implementation of the Older Persons Act of 2006 to improve delivery of social services to older persons and develop programmes that are designed to ensure that our elderly are not alienated from their communities. They still have a role to play in our communities and they still have a role in transferring or transmitting positive cultural values, which contribute towards social cohesion in families and communities.
It is encouraging to see that some provinces, like the Western Cape, are setting up recreational activities for older persons. We want to see all provinces embracing the concept of Golden Games and making this an annual campaign solely to honour senior citizens ... I still have 20 seconds, Chairperson ... Thank you very much. [Time expired.] [Laughter.] [Applause.]