Chairperson, Minister of Human Settlement, Water and Sanitation, the Deputy Ministers and Members of the Executive Council, MECs, present, Members of the NCOP, the ANC's 52nd National Conference at Polokwane pronounced that a developmental state must ensure that our national resource endowments, including land, water, minerals and marine resources, are exploited to effectively maximise the growth, development and employment potential embedded in such national assets, and not purely for profit maximisation. The Freedom Charter, too, remains our inspiration and our strategic guide to realising a better life and a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it.
As an ANC-led government, we are building a capable developmental state that has improved the lives of millions of our people.
Millions of people have houses, electricity and access to clean drinking water. Providing access to clean water for all has been the goal of the ANC. In 1994, only six out of ten South Africans had access to clean drinking water. Today, that figure has increased to nearly nine out of ten South Africans.
The Chairperson of the NCOP: Hon members, can you please just ... [Inaudible.] Please, proceed.