Hon Chairperson, we, the ANC, support this Budget Vote. We see the budget as progressive and responsive to the challenges in the basic education sector. Our view is that the R16,4 billion budget is not diagnostic, but it intensifies interventions and also consolidates interventions that took place in the previous financial year.
The budget prioritises interventions, inter alia, on the planning and delivery oversight unit, which will effectively unblock all bottlenecks in the education system. The further R5,8 billion for the education infrastructure conditional grant, school infrastructure backlogs and the indirect grant of R2,3 billion will be used to eradicate improper structures in the Eastern Cape. The R4,9 billion will be used to intensify the antipoverty strategy through the National School Nutrition Programme, to effectively reduce the drop-out rate and increase retention of learners in schools. A further R811 million will be used to expand the distribution of workbooks to Grade 9, and R21,7 million for further systemic evaluation of the education sector. Education, as we all know, is a basic human right and any party not approving this Vote is blocking progress rather than assisting. We, the ANC, support this Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]