Programme Director,
Distinguished Panel of experts,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Appropriations,
Honoured guests,
Members of the media.
We have called you here today, in this critical thinking forum to have a discussion about the country's developmental journey. Let me take this opportunity to express our appreciation to our distinguished panel of experts who have graciously agreed to participate in this debate.
As you may be aware this government chose five priorities in 2009 to drive the country towards better outcomes to improve the living conditions of our people. This government has resolved to tackle the triple challenge of inequality, poverty and unemployment. We have resolved to tackle these stubborn challenges by focusing on few areas, we believe can lead the country on a correct developmental path.
These priorities are Health, Education, the fight against Crime and Corruption, Rural Development and the creation of Jobs. These priorities have guided our work since the beginning of this administration and helped us to determine the outcomes we want.
Today, we present to you Development Indicators Report, which covers the year 2012 and also looks back on what we have achieved. We produce this annual publication to provide society with information and assist decision makers in taking decisions about the country and its challenges. They present us with an opportunity to map out our future together.
There are many assessments from time to time about how we are doing as government or as the country but the Development Indicators Report is the definitive assessment and it tells us we are on the right track and doing well.
The 2012 report is a source of hope and spurs us as South Africans across all sectors and backgrounds to sustain and add to the momentum we have gained, even though economic conditions remain tough.
The Development Indicators Report is also aimed at tracking progress in implementing government's policies and programmes. The report uses data sourced from government administrative datasets, official statistics and research done by South African and international institutions.
As a series, the Development Indicators Reports help to promote debate in our country, and act as markers that help define the milestones in the journey of social change.
As the country reaches the significant milestone of celebrating 20 years of Freedom, we found it appropriate to trace progress since the advent of democracy in 1994.
Development Indicators Report 2012 contains 85 indicators clustered according to 10 themes, namely:
- economic growth and transformation,
- employment,
- poverty and inequality,
- household and community assets,
- health,
- education,
- social cohesion,
- safety and security,
- international relations, and
- good governance.
We have also included as annexures information on demographic trends informed by Census 2011, transport infrastructure profiles and energy.
The indicators trace the journey that our country has travelled to redress past imbalances and the progress that has been made to date. We analyse trends for each indicator, outline progress made and point at areas where extra effort is required if we are to achieve our goals as enshrined in our Constitution.
Our assessment and that of many sources of data, tells us we have made great and commendable progress in a number of areas, however challenges still remain.
Allow me to share just a few:
In Education, trend analyses suggest that South Africa's enrolment rates for the compulsory age of schooling are excellent. The percentage of children attending Early Childhood Development facilities has increased, and Grade R enrolment rates have doubled from 300 000 in 2003 to 705 000 in 2011. The percentage of Matric passes has increased from under 60% in 1994 to 73% in 2012.
In Health, indications are that we are making commendable progress in improving the health status of the nation. The tide is turning and we are achieving more positive health outcomes. This has been critical to addressing the systemic racial and socio-economic inequalities that characterised the pre-democracy era.
South Africa's bold leadership in turning the tide against the HIV and AIDS epidemic has also been acknowledged by UNAIDS in its February 2013 publication. Our country has one of the largest ARV programmes, with approximately 2 million people on treatment. As a result, data from the Rapid Mortality Surveillance system shows that South Africa's life expectancy has increased to 60 years, exceeding our 2014 target.
In fighting crime our battles remain difficult but we are winning the war against crime. The crime rate is coming down, although it remains high. In overall, we are making an impact on crime, with several surveys confirming that citizens and communities are now beginning to feel safe. One such survey is the Stats SA 2012 Victims of Crime Survey (VOCS) which showed that 60% of households expressed satisfaction with the manner in which the police and courts were doing their work.
The economic trends are showing South Africa's stability in the face of global challenges. Growth has been slower in recent years, partly as a result of the impact of the global crisis and industrial conflicts. Inflation remains within our target range, which has ensured the maintenance of a relatively low interest rate environment for some time.
Data shows significant setbacks in our ability to reduce unemployment, poverty and inequality. Unemployment remains a challenge, especially for the youth. To address this, government has introduced public employment programmes such as the Expanded Public Works Programme and the Community Works Programme. Through these programmes, work opportunities have been created and income support has been provided to many unemployed people.
The data also tells us that service delivery has improved in as far as delivering housing to the poor, reaching a cumulative target of 3.38 million. This is a 50% growth in formal housing has translated into additional 5 677 614 formal homes since 1994.
Compared to 1994, there has been improvement in basic services, with 95% access to water infrastructure and 83.4% access to sanitation infrastructure and 76.5% households with access to electricity.
Regarding rural development and land reform, since the inception of the restitution programme in 1995, 79 696 claims have been lodged, 77 334 have been settled of which 59 758 have been finalised.
Despite these successes there are several challenges we have identified for society to tackle.
In education, the Annual National Assessments are showing strengths and weaknesses of the educational system below Grade 12. Such assessments have highlighted that as a country, we are simply not performing on the same level as other countries that spend the same or less on education. We need to do more to get value for money and improve the quality of education, and among others, teacher performance and school management will be critical in this regard.
The inequities and the quality of health care remain an area of concern. This applies also to the high number of mothers, according to United Nations 300 per 100 000 live births, who die due to direct and indirect factors related to pregnancy. The maternal mortality ratio in South Africa is higher than that of countries of similar socio-economic development.
Although government has made some strides in improving efforts to reduce levels of corruption, it appears that the 2014 target of securing 170 convictions is unlikely to be achieved. We need to fight this scourge as a societal problem.
In ensuring that we settle land claims, the challenge is with the finalisation of these claims. Claims settled are not necessarily finalised for hand over. As a result our targets for settlement of outstanding claims will not be achieved, especially in the context of the reopening of the Restitution process.
The country is also facing challenges of proper maintenance of infrastructure in various places, affecting the quality and functionality of services. Of the 7 most critical targets, which cover access to basic services, municipal administration and financial performance, 6 are unlikely to be achieved by 2014.
In response to these and many other challenges that still face our country, we have begun a process of developing an implementation plan for the National Development Plan. The 2014 to 2019 Medium Term Strategic Framework has been developed and discussed by the Cabinet Lekgotla earlier this month. The plan will be discussed with different government departments and will be implemented after the 2014 National Elections.
As I said earlier, we called you here so we can debate these indicators and find solutions as a country to make sure we move together and put our country on correct developmental path. Let us all remember the stubborn challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment have not been overcome, our success is highly dependent on our collective thinking.
I look forward to exciting and well informed deliberations.
I thank you.
