Hon Chair and hon Members of Parliament, this month marks the signing into law of the South African Constitution on national Human Rights Day. As we celebrate the restoration of the dignity and human rights of all citizens in our country, and especially the Bill of Rights, we also celebrate a decade of this Mental Health Act that is before us through the amending Bill.
This legislation is generally regarded as world-class. Through this, our government, this Parliament, and the people of our country gave effect to the Constitution and closed yet another dark closet in the history of our country. Lest we forget ... [Interjections.]
Chairperson, may I address you on a point of order please? I would like to know why the Deputy Minister is speaking from her bay instead of the podium. Has there been a change in the Rules?
I am also curious, you know! [Laughter.] I saw the Deputy Minister coming up, but all of a sudden she decided to give her speech from her bay. That is better, hon Deputy Minister. Please continue with your speech.
My apologies. As I have indicated, this month marks the signing of the South African Constitution into law on national Human Rights Day. As we celebrate the restoration of dignity and human rights to all citizens in our country, especially the Bill of Rights, we also celebrate a decade of this Mental Health Act of 2002, which is before Parliament today for amendment.
This legislation is regarded generally as world-class. Our government, this Parliament and our people gave effect to the Constitution and closed yet another dark closet in the history of our country. Lest we forget, a history of myths about mental illness resulted in stigmatisation, abuse and neglect and, in many cases, the torture of patients with mental illness.
The Act ushered in a human rights environment for mental health care users as previous abuse of people, merely because they had mental illness, had increased significantly. Furthermore, an indigent mental health care user is entitled to legal aid by the state in respect of submitting an application, lodging an appeal and appearing before a magistrate, judge or review board or any proceedings instituted in terms of this Act.
The Act is also aligned with a number of international and regional human rights treaties to which South Africa is a signatory. The amending Bill has two objectives. The first objective is to provide for the director-general to delegate to other officials some of the functions relating to the decisions of care, treatment and rehabilitation. Currently, over 200 new admissions - 3 000 periodicals - are reported annually. The Act only provides for the director-general to deal with this personally. In delegating this function, we will certainly enhance access and efficiency.
The second objective of the Bill is to repeal the remaining chapter of the Mental Health Act of 1973, thus limiting the regulation of all hospital boards, including mental health hospitals, to being governed by the National Health Act.
While these amendments may seem administrative, once passed into law they will augment the revised policy framework and the strategic plan, both of which aim to improve the quality of mental health services, protect the rights of patients, enhance efficiency in administrative justice, and professionalise the services.
Whilst we have made significant progress, it is of concern that 16,5% of adults have experienced a mood anxiety or substance use disorder in the past 12 months. This is according to the South African stress and health survey. Neuropsychiatric disorders ranked third in their contribution to the overall burden of disease. And, of concern is that one in six South Africans were likely to experience a common mental disorder, depression, anxiety or substance abuse disorder, including us in this House, during any year of our lives. A further concern is that the prevalence will continue to grow if we do not deal decisively with the socioeconomic contributions.
More public campaigns are needed to raise awareness about mental health and mental health services, as research indicates that 75% of those that require these services do not even know how to access them and where to access them. They come at the tail end when there are already complications.
As we introduce national health insurance and re-engineer primary health care services, we believe that the integrated school health programme, the work-based outreach health teams, the district specialist teams and the recruitment of general practitioners to clinics will go a long way in identifying the risk factors and symptoms, in order to ensure prevention and early access to the continuum of care for those who need mental health services.
We thank the chairperson and members of the portfolio committee for processing this Bill before this House. We ask the House to endorse this Bill so that it will be presented for a second reading. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chair, Ministers that are here, Deputy Ministers and Members of Parliament, I greet you all. I greet you all in the name of Jesus. I want to thank the members of the committee because we worked very well. We tried to work very fast without compromising the quality of the Bill. We think that this is something that should have been done yesterday.
As has been said, this Bill is all about delegations to the head of department. I am going to lean towards begging you to make sure that you understand that this Bill is about improving service delivery. The statistics that tell us how many people have not received proper service delivery owing to a lack of delegations are actually the tip of the iceberg.
We want to lobby you to help us in making sure that this does not hamper the Department of Health financially. Firstly, there is diagnosing somebody who is mentally ill. Mental illness is a functional illness which has no organic nature to it. A diagnosis can be done by self-diagnosis. You see yourself and think, look, I have a problem, a mental problem. I need to see a doctor. However, most of the time we fear doing this because we think that uyahlanya [you are mad] - and you don't want to be told that.
The second way you could be diagnosed is when people tell you you look abnormal mentally, and ask you please to seek attention from somewhere. Even that depends on the person and the integrity of that particular person who is telling you that.
In fact, to most of us who have never had primary health care, the only thing we know about mental illnesses is that umuntu uyahlanya - that on is mad. That is all, when we talk about psychosis, whereas a lot of other people have a whole spectrum of diseases, like depression. To further prove this, and I am sure everybody would agree with me, there is no word for depression in the African languages. If anybody knows one, tell me.
The third way of diagnosing people who have mental illnesses occurs when somebody commits a serious crime. If you look at jails, you will find that 70% of the people who are in jail have mental illnesses. I am not saying that somebody who is in jail should not be taken to jail but rather be taken for treatment. I am not trying to say that. I am saying that somebody who is in jail usually has an undiagnosed mental illness, and when they have served their time in jail, their case should be considered and looked into so that they can be helped later on. I do not want people to misquote me in what I am saying, but you do ask yourself what makes people commit crimes. I think this is a minefield.
Why do people commit crimes? I think there are two things, mainly, that make people commit crimes. One is anger. The other is paranoia. I have to qualify this. It is normal to be angry. It is normal to be paranoid, but when the stimulus of that anger is not equal to the anger that you have shown, it then becomes abnormal. I want to go back and say the anger or the paranoia that normally comes is usually related to our mindset.
If you look at our mindset, we have two ways of thinking. One part is the conscious mind; the other part is the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is that area of our bodies that is out of our control. You cannot control the subconscious mind, but you can control your conscious mind. It is unfortunate that the subconscious mind is that area that keeps your past in an area that you cannot control yourself.
In fact, we are an angry nation - not all of us, but if you look at South Africans, they are very angry - and that anger comes from our past. Our past adds value to the fact that we have anger in our subconscious minds and we don't know where it comes from. That particular anger will not take 20 or 30 years to pass - it could take even longer. If you are so angry, the stimulus is such that you cannot control yourself and the things that you do are the things that land you in jail.
Now, all I am trying to say is that we come from a very difficult past where we had an intracountry war. By this I mean we were fighting with ourselves. On the one side they were saying, no, we have to look after our security in this particular country, because there are terrorists that are harming our security. On the other side, we were saying this is our country; we have the right to be in this country. Whether you had a gun or not, you were part of that, and that has remained in our subconscious mind.
So, when you become angry and you cannot control your anger, that is when you start doing certain things that you cannot control because of the subconscious mind. I shudder to think, even in Parliament, were we not to have this area, this no-man's-land, what would happen if we became angry and our subconscious mind got evoked. It is good to have this no-man's-land so that we cannot do so, because when you look at the emotions that arise, sometimes you think that there are some serious things that could happen.
In fact - you might not be aware of this - some of us, if you have ever heard the definition of a psychopath, because of our past, because of our family problems, have become psychopaths. A few of us are psychopaths! A psychopath is somebody who has no remorse, no empathy, no sense of responsibility, and is somebody who does not have a conscience. They can do anything. That is what is actually happening. It does not mean that those people should not be jailed, but after their jail term, they should be considered for therapy.
I must say, in thanking the members on the portfolio committee for fast- tracking this Bill and making sure with its quality that we pass it, and in begging you to pass it, we must understand that it is all about delegations of the head of department - to delegate to a suitable person to make sure that service delivery takes place. Obviously, the statistics we are seeing of people that need these delegations are far less than the numbers we have in South Africa.
We have people with mental illnesses who end up in jail, who need therapy while they are in jail. There are more psychiatric problems that are obvious, and there are more people that commit crime. As I said, 70% of the people in jail need psychotherapy, not that they do not need to be taken to jail. We need to go beyond jailing people. We need to try to make sure that, as this august House, we go around and make sure we prevent this from happening, in understanding what makes some of the people go to jail. I think it is understandable that we are supposed to be angry; we have a right to be angry. However, that anger must equal the stimulus that has caused it. Sometimes, however, you see that the anger is beyond the stimulus; it is not proportional to the stimulus.
Let us make sure that we try to pick up people early before we see them committing crimes that are very serious. I think what we need to understand - all of us - is that the window is broken, and if the window is broken, the draught that comes in makes us all catch the flu.
Rather than asking questions about whether the window was broken from the inside or the outside - we should not be asking those questions - what we should be doing is making sure that we repair the window and making sure that we move together. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon House Chair, every South African deserves quality health care, because we all know a sick nation can never be a successful nation.
The provision of accessible, affordable and high-quality health care to our people is therefore not only a right and a moral imperative, but also contributes to local economic growth. Let's face it, the health care system is failing our psychiatric patients on a daily basis. According to a Global Watch 2 report:
People with mental illness often end up being misdirected to prisons instead of appropriate mental health care and support services. A significant portion of prisoners suffer from mental illness, making prisons the new mental health asylums of our time. Humiliation and sexual abuse by prison guards and other inmates pose as a further threat to their physical and psychological wellbeing.
Prison mental health services are often neglected, as are the people they are meant to serve. There is a huge lack of funding; a lack of resources and adequately trained medical personnel. In some areas, mental health services for prisoners are missing entirely and rendered inefficient by poorly trained staff and abusive and alienating practices such as solitary confinement.
South Africa's prison population is amongst the highest in the world, seventh to be precise, and the highest in Africa. And although the rates of mental disorders among prison populations are well known in Western countries, there is currently little available data for South Africa.
A recent study by the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine revealed that of the 193 prisoners in KwaZulu-Natal surveyed, 185 were males and eight females. It was found that 23,3% suffered from psychosis, and bipolar, depression and anxiety disorders, and a further 22,1% suffered from substance abuse and alcohol-related disorders. These figures are aligned with international statistics. We have to be worried about all those who have gone through, and continue to go through the system undiagnosed.
The presence of mental illness in our prisons not only deprives prisoners of their rights and proper treatment and care, but also leads to possible maltreatment and stigmatisation. There is an ethical obligation to stop this.
I strongly believe that there should be adequate facilities in place to preserve their dignity and rights. The government needs to re-engineer urgently community psychiatric services with dedicated mental health care nurses. As long as the budget for mental health care is treated as the Cinderella of health care services, mental patients will continue to be deprived of their rights to be managed on mental health premises rather than in prison. The amending Bill is a step in the right direction. This will promote the effective implementation of the Act and improve service delivery in the area of involuntary health care services. The DA will support the Bill. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, to be a politician is problematic. [Interjections.] When you leave, I want to leave with the Chief Whip.
There is a lot of talk about this Bill. There is a lot talk about prisoners, etc. But the Bill is a very simple Bill. Nobody addresses the Bill. You might think that we are referring to all mad people, but the Bill, basically, only has two objectives. The first objective is to allow the director-general to delegate some powers. The second objective is to repeal the Mental Health Act, Act No 18 of 1973. Hon members, these are the objectives of the Bill which Cope supports.
The proposed insertion, as per the Memorandum on Objects of Mental Health Care Amendment Bill, states that the proposed insertion "enables the director-general ... to determine the transfers of state patients from detention centres to health establishments pursuant to court orders issued in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977." This amendment brings to our purview the psychiatric hospitals to which these patients will, in most cases, be transferred.
It also allows the director-general to delegate powers to review the mental health status of state patients. This means that the transfer of these state patients to health establishments is aimed at providing them with mental health care so that, at one point, they are sent back to their community and family. The question is: Are these health establishments equipped to achieve these objectives?
In order to achieve their objectives, these health establishments should be allocated adequate funds. It is unfortunate that the budget allocations to these hospitals are usually lower when compared to general hospitals. They usually receive a third of what is allocated to the general hospitals. This inequitable funding is exacerbated by the significant shortage of mental health professionals.
The budget allocation has an impact on modernising psychiatric hospitals, which, in most cases, have fallen into disrepair. This is bound to affect the morale of professionals within these institutions and will definitely affect the ability of these institutions to rehabilitate state patients.
Cope hopes that this amendment will encourage the Minister and his department to take a closer look at these establishments which provide this mental service. We hope that, amongst other things, efforts will be put in place to ensure that adequately skilled and professional staff will be systematically trained. Cope will support this Bill.
Chairperson, the objective of this Bill is to provide for the delegation of powers by the director-general to officials within the national department to improve service delivery in the area of involuntary health care users and to ensure effective implementation of the Act generally.
The proposed insertion enables the director-general to delegate powers to review the mental health status of state patients, determine their transfers between health establishments and transfers from detention centres to health establishments in terms of a court order.
The ACDP will support this Bill, which is not in itself contentious in any way and should improve efficiency and effectiveness.
In October 2001 the ACDP also voted in favour of the new Mental Health Care Act, legislation aimed at ensuring that appropriate care, treatment and rehabilitation services are available to people with mental health problems.
Our concern at the time was that efforts to balance the rights of people with mental disabilities and the rights of the public were in question when it came to state patients, with communities facing all the risk in terms of patient rehabilitation.
I remember the trauma faced by my sister and her daughters just one year before this legislation came into effect when the man who murdered their son and brother did not have to stand trial, as his use of drugs ensured that he was not in his right mind at the time of the murder. This meant, in terms of the Act, that he could be granted leave of absence or be discharged at any time without prior notice to the victim's family. And that could even be within one week. At the time, this family believed that they were in danger - not just them, but the whole community - and lived with the worry that the man they knew to be a con man and murderer would be allowed back into the community without any warning.
The ACDP moved amendments in the portfolio committee which would address these concerns, but in spite of broad support in the committee, including by those who had actually worked with state mental patients and knew first- hand the deception often involved, they were left out, even the minor concession with regard to leave of absence.
As we have seen, when an accused can afford a top defence lawyer, the use of drugs can be a protection against even standing trial. We, therefore, again call on the Minister and the department to consider seriously the need for the families of victims to be given the opportunity to appeal the leave of absence and discharge of state patients who pose a threat to society, or at the very least be informed of such decisions. Thank you.
Chair, this amending Bill brings many necessary and timely changes to the Mental Health Act of 2002. The delegation of powers by the director-general to officials in the national Department of Health is very welcome, and it is hoped that these officials will carry out their new responsibilities with zeal and devotion so that service delivery to our mentally ill will be greatly enhanced and improved. Effective administration and expeditious health care service delivery must remain the core business of the department and the Bill speaks to both of those issues. The IFP therefore supports the Bill.
Yet, mental health care extends beyond the seriously mentally ill patients at our various institutions to ordinary healthy citizens as well. There is a general trend developing in South Africa and the world at large that by taking a pill all of one's problems will be solved. We have pills to wake us up, pills to help us make it through the day, pills for anxiety, pills for depression, pills to eat, pills to prevent us from eating, and pills to help us sleep.
This daily cocktail of drugs is creating a society dependent on its daily drug fix in order to function. This, I submit, is highly dysfunctional and unhealthy. What happened to eating correctly and getting enough fresh air and exercise as general tonics for optimum physical and mental wellness? These are the disciplines that must be inculcated into our communities.
The increased use of stimulants and cognition-enhancing drugs by students has also raised a number of safety concerns, the most worrisome being direct physiological side effects, as well as the possibility that the use of these may become habit-forming. We as a society must address these dangerous trends that are developing.
March is intellectual disability awareness month in South Africa. This disability is said to affect four out of 100 individuals in this country and can happen to any one of us. Prevention is paramount and we would like to see greater departmental awareness campaigns being conducted in our rural communities which educate our young people. Parents could potentially cause permanent damage to an unborn child through using alcohol and drugs during pregnancy.
Programmes must be developed for our schools which provide our youth with basic information on intellectual disability in the hope of reducing the stigma and discrimination attached to it, as well as informing them about lifestyle choices which help to prevent intellectual disability. The aim must be to use the youth as a catalyst for change, encouraging them to pass this information on to their peers, family members and the community at large. I thank you.
Hon House Chair, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, hon members and distinguished guests, as the House knows by now, the department has been on a relentless path to health reform. This health reform is geared towards a better life and better health. Indeed, this reform, championed by our fearless and charismatic Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, is aimed at achieving a long and healthy life for all South Africans.
The Bill that is currently before this House is one of many initiatives of health reform in the quest to attain a long and healthier life for all South Africans. This Bill will surely restore the dignity of our people, especially the mentally impaired. It will assist mentally ill patients who have been prosecuted, found guilty by the court, sentenced to jail and classified as state patients. These people should not be treated as though they do not exist. These people need care, treatment, and possible rehabilitation. This reminds the state that it has a responsibility to care for the people within the country irrespective of what they have done.
I have heard horror stories regarding the ill treatment of these patients. I have also heard that their relatives, who stay many kilometres away, have difficulty accessing these patients, because they cannot afford the transport to visit them, and they need to discuss this with the authorities. They cannot do so because the offices are far away.
We have a situation in which the next of kin is shunted from pillar to post whenever they need assistance. I am of the view that when the powers contemplated in this Bill are delegated, the management, treatment and care of these people will improve. The state must provide care for these people, just as it does for any other person within government facilities. This will assist in decentralising management, which is key to improving service delivery for our people. This will, hopefully, shorten the turnaround time for enquiries, speed up the decision-making process, and lead to a quick resolution of the problems of the patient and family, as well as the staff. However, I must caution the department that the delegation of powers provided for in the amending Bill must not be abdicated. It should also be noted that the Bill says that power "may" be delegated and not "must" be delegated. This House must continue to hold the national department directly responsible for the care and management of these patients so that there isn't confusion every time we ask about this and are told that this is somebody's function. The national department remains the custodian of the health of the people and, as such, the Bill merely addresses the administrative matter without taking and transferring primary responsibility. The House must be vigilant in ensuring that it plays an oversight role in monitoring and implementing this Bill.
I need to state that the department must work with the stakeholders to ensure that the Bill is fully understood, particularly by the rural and uneducated masses of our people who may find themselves in this situation. I want to assure the House and the department that if the department continues to demonstrate its commitment to the reforms, we will have the best health care system in the country - a health care system that is responsive to the needs of the people, that addresses the basic needs of the people and that identifies with the people. I am further convinced that even this will find fertile ground for implementation. However, I would like to caution the Department of Health to be extra vigilant in the manner in which it monitors the implementation of policies and legislation.
Mental patients are people. We love them. Let me remind members of this House - and I think the hon chairperson of the committee has already reminded you of this - that, by the way, all of us have some mental illness of some sort. We just differ in the degree of illness. What you are hearing now is part of that madness. [Laughter.] Hon members, I am going to tell you what really happens when we deal with this Bill. I even want to reassure you that we hold our meetings during the day.
House Chairperson, could the hon member tell us what disorder she is undergoing? [Laughter.]
That is not a point of order. Could you continue, hon member?
I will do so, Chair. I think something has to be done with some of us. [Interjections.] [Laughter.] We hold our meetings during the day, and it is during the day that we see shadows. If I remember correctly, I have never seen the shadow Minister of the DA at the discussions on this Bill. I only see him now. Now I am saying, in order to do justice to our people, we must take part in the portfolio committee discussions so that when we stand here all of us are represented. You cannot just choose what Bill you are going to discuss, and come and debate here as though you have been part of the whole process. [Interjections.]
Order! Order! Order!
It is so nice today, because what we are dealing with is what the chairperson spoke about. You can hear the anger and you can even feel it. I am debating here ...
House Chair, may I address you on a point of order? I would like to ask the member if she is having a moment of temporary insanity. [Interjections.]
I think you have already answered yourself, because you are having a moment of temporary insanity as I am standing here. [Interjections.] I am debating what I discussed in the portfolio committee and I am sure of what I am talking about. Thank you. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
Hon members, please lower your voices, and remember that provocation also begets provocation or reactions.
Chairperson, the UCDP's approach to governance focuses on the decentralisation of power, and that is why we shall continue to support any Bill or law that affords other people the right to play a role as this Bill does. It is in this regard that the UCDP will support this Bill, because it gives power or even authority to the head of the department.
There is no doubt that legislation plays a massive role in trying to find solutions to institutional problems, thereby bettering our lives. This is why the White Paper led to notable strides in elevating mental health care to the primary health care setting, thereby making it more accessible. There are a number of issues, though, that remain a challenge and which the legislation will not necessarily address effectively and efficiently. These issues have had a huge impact and have limited progress in attaining effective mental health care.
A lack of trained professionals in the field and a lack of effective communication between primary health care centres and the district care centres are still issues that appear not to have been dealt with satisfactorily in this piece of legislation. Many mental health care facilities remain severely understaffed and underfunded, with high staff turnover linked to the conditions under which they have to work.
The increasing prevalence of mental illness in South Africa means that we need to look at ways of holistically addressing the issue, and channel the appropriate resources needed to execute an effective mental health care strategy. In many instances, the complete cure of a mental illness is attained gradually, and therefore the paucity of resources makes it difficult to succeed.
We cannot overlook the notion that the westernisation of African culture has an impact in terms of the increasing prevalence of mental illness. Research has found that only 6% of women in urban environments are free from the symptoms of a health disorder.
The growth of the industrial sector and urbanisation are undermining the social fabric of traditional society. And, in conclusion, it is unfortunate that most hospitals which cater for mental patients are in a terrible state of disrepair, and, as such, do not cheer up the inmates.
We hope, as the UCDP, that with the resources available and at the disposal of the department, the intended delegation of authority will also go with resources. The UCDP will support the Bill.
Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, the main objective of this Bill is to amend the Mental Health Care Act, Act 17 of 2002. This new clause 76 will reduce the workload of the director-general by delegating powers to the appointed official in the national Department of Health. The aim is to have effective implementation of the Act.
This will enable the director-general to delegate some of the powers in the Act to appropriately trained officials in the office so as to improve service delivery with regard to state patients and mentally ill prisoners. The head of department may, at any time, withdraw a delegation or amend any decision made in the delegation of such powers.
The aim in point iii of government's Ten-Point Plan is to improve the quality of health services - that entails refining the detailed plan on improvement and immediately implementing it. The improvement we are talking about in point iv of the Ten-Point Plan is to overhaul the national health care system and improve its governance and management. Therefore, this amending Bill strengthens the ANC government's health road map of 2009 to 2014.
One of the priorities and tasks of the Department of Health is to focus on re-engineering primary health care. This needs a decentralised operational model and management, including new governance arrangements. According to the Bill, the current powers to be delegated include providing for the director-general to determine the transfer of state patients from detention centres to health establishments pursuant to court orders issued in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977. Also included are determining the transfer of state patients between designated health establishments upon an order issued by the review board; and reviewing the mental health status of state patients after six months from commencement of treatment, with rehabilitation services being continued on a 12-month basis thereafter.
The director-general is required to authorise the transfer of these patients, after considering their reports, in order to make a final decision. Therefore, this requires very careful consideration and its importance needs the Department of Health's attention. This amending Bill will also improve the turnaround time for the transfer of state patients without any further delays.
Kaloku, soloko sisithi kukho ukulibazisa kwiSebe lezeMpilo. Masikhe sijonge ke ngoku ukuba lo Mthetho Sihlomelo uza kusibeka phi na xa sisithi makungabikho kulityaziswa ... [Because, we always say there are delays within the Department of Health. Let us see where this amending Bill will take us when we say there should be no delays ...]
... because the referral and transfer of patients is always a concern. On a concern of the hon Dudley, let us convince one another, I think, in the committee. Yes, I'm glad that you said your party is supporting the Bill despite its concerns.
Regarding the 1992 Ready to Govern document of the ANC, most of us here were adults or at least already born at the time. We also had the Reconstruction and Development Programme document. I just want to remind everyone that at that time we had a government of national unity, which, to my understanding, was in place from 1994 to 1999. But we seem to forget - hon Segwale-Diswai. I am trying to respond to the complaint she spoke about. People on the left seem to forget about there being a government of national unity, because the first five years of this government started with all of us on board. But you never hear anybody saying that we had a government of national unity in the first five years of ANC government.
We did not build this unity then. Now we seem not to want to take this unity forward. All of us here were elected by South Africans, regardless of our political parties. Let us join hands if we want to move forward, because nobody is just here. We are here because we are representing the masses out there. [Interjections.]
About the response of the Deputy Minister on the issue of information, I think, Minister, it is high time we went to the media for information so that our society is not confused. This is because some of us here want to get votes out of nothing. That is why I say: if you want to better the lives of the people through health in this Parliament, let us move forward and leave our petty issues behind. We are here to build South Africa. We know that when we were saying, "let us all rebuild South Africa" in 1994 as the government of national unity, we meant that this country had been torn apart for more than 300 years. Therefore we wanted to mend this torn country. Those people who tore this country apart are now somersaulting, telling us that they care about our people more than we do.
Today, let us remind ourselves about that government. What did you do in those five years? This is because we were all together. That is why I am always worried when we say that the ANC has been in government from 1994. Yes, of course, it has been leading, but you were also in that government for five years. So, let all of us think back and remind ourselves of that in order to build this country again. This country is still torn apart, because the people who tore it apart are still with us. Now, they are dragging us backwards. We cannot go backwards. We are moving forward. The ANC supports this Bill. Thank you. [Applause.]
House Chair, let me thank the hon members for debating this Bill. Indeed, as I've indicated, it seems like it is just an administrative amendment. Yet, I would like us to focus on the fact that we will be 20 years into democracy next year, but it is a decade since this Act was promulgated.
Indeed, in April last year, as the Ministry of Health, we convened a summit with over 4 000 experts and stakeholders to review the implementation of this Bill. We can assure you that the collective in that summit recognised the progress that has been made in reducing the stigma and improving access. There are hospitals, like the Weskoppies Hospital, that before the onset of the democratic era were dilapidated and not fit for human use. I would like to invite members, perhaps the portfolio committee, to visit some of these facilities. However, we recognise and acknowledge that there are other facilities that we still need to improve and, indeed, we are on course as part of the Hospital Infrastructure Revitalisation Programme.
I would also like to make members of this House aware that mental health is a very serious problem. When we were medical students, the risk group for mental illness was, in particular, white male executive Afrikaners. I guess that was due to the stresses of those days in terms of having to defend the apartheid system. But today we have a lot of young people, especially men, committing suicide. So, we need to take seriously the issues of mental health, and communicate with our children at home, realise and identify the early signs of depression, and be able to access the services that we are talking about.
This Mental Health Care Act reinforces the fact that mental health is like any other illness and the services must be available. I thank you very much for supporting the Bill. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Debate concluded. Bill read a second time.