Hon House Chair, hon Deputy President, hon members and guests in the gallery, sceptics and pundits are in agreement that our country, as part of the global village, is not insulated from the effects of the mishaps that continue to hamstring the eurozone economy, in particular, Greece and Italy. Indeed, we make history under conditions which are not of our own choosing.
However, the issue is not whether we choose the material conditions of our history or not. It is whether we make history according to our own ideas and for the purpose which we determine. No matter how chilling the blizzards on our economy, our resolve to fight against extreme poverty, high unemployment and escalating inequalities remains unshaken.
Die fiskale raamwerk is 'n politieke en finansile instrument om te verseker dat beleidsprogramme, deur die toewysing van finansile bronne aan die onderskeie regeringsvlakke, uitgevoer word. Die Polokwane-resolusie is die grondslag van die ANC se mediumtermynprioriteite, wat die vertrekpunt is by die bepaling van die 2012-begrotingstoewysing. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[The fiscal framework is a political and financial mechanism for ensuring that policy programmes are executed by allocating financial resources to the various spheres of government. The Polokwane Resolution is the foundation of the ANC's medium-term priorities, which is the starting point for determining the 2012 budget allocation.]
Let me remind the hon members that we are building a developmental state, the mandate of which is to decisively intervene to protect the vulnerable. It was the fathers and mothers of our democratic dispensation who, in section 9(2) of the Constitution, provided that, in order to promote the achievement of equality, the state may take appropriate measures designed to protect persons disadvantaged by unfair discrimination.
The recognition that human rights and the basic social conditions in which people live are fundamentally interconnected resulted in increased inclusion of socioeconomic rights in our Constitution. The state has the obligation to take reasonable measures within its available resources to achieve progressive realisation of socioeconomic rights. Section 29(1)(a) provides for children's rights to basic education. Sections 26 and 27 entrench the right of everyone to have access to adequate housing, health care services, food and water, and social security. It is in keeping with these constitutional imperatives which reflect the values of the ANC that our ANC-led government has prioritised education, health and human settlements, amongst others.
According to the National Planning Commission's diagnostic overview -
Efforts to raise the quality of education for poor children have largely failed ... Literacy and numeracy test scores are low by African and global standards, despite the fact that government spends about 6% of GDP on education.
It is therefore appropriate to increase spending on education and skills development over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, period by 6,7% to reach about R231,7 billion by 2014-15. To address the literacy and numeracy challenges, annual assessments and numeracy will, according to the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, MTBPS, be extended to grade 9 in 2011- 12. Further Education and Training, FET, colleges will be supported with tuition, machinery and equipment, and more funding will be provided to expand postgraduate programmes and academic centres of excellence. Education is a means of promoting good citizenship and preparing for the needs of a democratic society and modern economy. It remains one of the best weapons with which to fight poverty and inequality.
South Africa's health system continues to be dualistic, with a poorly- resourced public health care system which caters for the majority without medical aid and the well-resourced and highly subsidised private health care system. In our country, health has been commercialised and commodified. As a consequence, the poor are unable to access a similar quality of health care to that of the more opulent. However, according to the MTBPS, the Aids mortality rate has levelled off, there has been a rapid scaling up of the antiretroviral, ARV, treatment programme, and the national mother-to-child HIV transmission rate has fallen from 8,5% to 3,5%.
The ANC is committed to equalising the value of all South African lives and ensuring that all who need health care receive it, irrespective of their economic and social status. National Health Insurance, NHI, is our ANC-led government's vehicle of choice in realising the goal of universal equality in access to health care. The NHI pilot projects will therefore take place in 10 districts to address challenges of inadequate infrastructure, weak hospital management and the shortage of skilled health workers.
The imperative to push back the frontiers of poverty has led to spending on social services. In this regard, the MTBPS calls for the size of the social services budget to be weighed against success in service delivery. We should also note that social welfare grants now support about 15,2 million South Africans, up from 2,5 million in 1998. This has led to government spend on social expenditure being 10,9% of its total budget. Many South Africans continue to live below the poverty line, and while we should be wary of extending social grants at the expense of development and empowerment, we must not fail to comply with our obligation to protect vulnerable South Africans from falling victim to all forms of harsh living conditions.
The majority of poor South Africans live in informal settlements. Our ANC- led government continues to be committed to building human settlements for our people as a means of not only empowering them, but also restoring their dignity and building a better life for all. Spending on local government and human settlements has increased. With about 1,2 million households living in informal settlements, the medium-term priority, according to the MTBPS, is to upgrade informal settlements in 45 large cities and towns, providing poor households with improved living conditions in areas where they are able to access economic opportunities.
Die President het die jaar 2011 verklaar as die jaar van werkskepping wat in ooreenstemming is met die noodsaaklikheid om werk te skep om die ho werkloosheidkoerse om te keer. Oor die medium tot lang termyn beoog die regering die samestelling van besteding om hor vlakke van infrastruktuuronderhoud en kapitaalbesteding te ondersteun. Sodanige investering sal ekonomiese groei en werkskepping bevorder en 'n gunstige klimaat skep vir verdere investering deur die privaatsektor.
Bykomend tot Eskom se groot kragprojek sal die fokus ten opsigte van energie op elektrifisering in informele vestigings en kapasiteit vir die hernubare energiesektor val. Die nasionale elektrifiseringsprogram beoog om teen 2014 elektrisiteitsverbindings aan alle huishoudings te voorsien. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[The President declared 2011 to be the year of job creation, which is in line with the necessity to create jobs in order to reverse the high unemployment rates. Over the medium to long term, government envisages the composition of spending to support higher levels of infrastructure maintenance and capital spending. Such investment will promote economic growth and job creation, and will create a favourable climate for further investment by the private sector.
In addition to Eskom's large power project, the focus in respect of energy will be placed on electrification in informal settlements and on capacity for the renewable energy sector. The national electrification programme aims to provide electricity connections to all households by 2014.]
In conclusion, the ANC is committed to pushing back the frontiers of poverty and fighting against inequality and unemployment. There has been progress in the facilitating of access to socioeconomic rights. However, more remains to be done. We need to build the developmental state and strengthen its strategic and technical capacities to ensure that development is accompanied by skills development and job creation. We need to strengthen the social security network while empowering our people to be involved in their own development.
Yes, the international economic environment is inimical to the ideals of our country, yet - and yes - the internal financial resource demands exceed our revenue base. In addition, our national debt is bound to rise before falling and stabilising, and our economic growth projections have to be adjusted downwards. However, we have to take our people out of extreme poverty. We have to educate our children. We have to build shelter for the vulnerable. We have to put equal value to all lives. We have to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor.
The ANC is not only a political party, but remains a liberation movement to liberate our people from the legacy of unfair discrimination. We shall not relent, but will increase our resolve towards a truly equal and free national, democratic society, based on human dignity and ubuntu values. I thank you. [Applause.]