Thank you, Chairperson. The majority of orphaned children live in deeply impoverished households. Apart from the loss of their parents, they face inadequate nutrition and poor access to education and health care.
Take, for example, the case of three orphaned children aged 17, 14 and 7, in the Botlokwa community in Qwaqwa, Free State. This is their story in their own words:
There are three of us. My eldest sister is 14 and she wants to be an actress. I, a 17-year-old boy, would like to be a doctor, and my little brother hopes to be a policeman, but he is only seven. We live with our grandmother, who is very poor, but she does her best to take care of us. The community helps her pay for our food, clothes and school fees. She says that she will pay them back some day but, for now, it allows us to eat and go to school most of the time.
Sometimes we still go without food for a week and we still do not have shoes. We work hard to help our grandmother and stay in school. We chop wood, clean the house and weed and water the garden. The little one would like to help with the mealie meal, but he only eats and plays. I would also like to play soccer when the chores are done.
If we are having a hard time or need things, we don't tell granny because she feels bad if she can't help us. We have some good friends and neighbours, but many of them do not know how to help. The reverend at the church we attend gives us mealie meal when we need something. If would be nice to have someone to talk to sometimes.
This is a rural perspective from the Free State.
South African children played a very prominent role in the liberation struggle and also fought for their rights. The 1976 Soweto uprisings are testament to the courage children displayed in standing up for their rights and beliefs.
In the Bill of Rights in Chapter 2 of our Constitution, a whole section is devoted to the rights of children. This section - section 28 - is a direct result of their struggle and courage. As these rights are enshrined in the Constitution, a heavy responsibility is placed on the state to firstly protect these rights and, secondly, to ensure that all children in this country have a fair opportunity to enjoy them.
In its 2010 annual report on South Africa, Unicef correctly states:
The South African government is considered to be one of the most child- friendly in terms of budget allocations for children, with large investments made in early childhood development and social protection.
This is not by accident, but clearly demonstrates this government's commitment to being a caring government that finds its policy directives from the Freedom Charter.
Allow me to highlight some achievements of the ANC government. Unfortunately, the opposition cannot claim any of these things. [Interjections.] All they can do, as we say in Afrikaans, is braak gal en maak mense bang; dis al wat hulle kan doen [is vent their spleens and scare people; that's all they can do].
As the ANC, we do acknowledge that there are still challenges around child mortality - it is still unacceptably high - and around violence against and abuse of children. However, the child support grant, for example, has increased more than tenfold since 2000, reaching more than 10 million disadvantaged children in 2011 with a monthly grant of R250. Unfortunately, the opposition also had nothing to do with that. [Laughter.]
This year, the Department of Social Development has to extend the programme ...