Hon Chairperson, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, members of Salga, members and MECs present, we gather here today at a time when people all over the world are speaking in one voice, wishing former President Nelson Mandela a speedy recovery from his recurring lung infection. Comrade Madiba is a pillar of strength and a source of inspiration for the ANC, South Africans and people around the world. We wish him a speedy recovery.
We also send a revolutionary birthday greeting to the 11th president of our national liberation movement, Comrade Thabo Mbeki, who turns 71 today. [Applause.] The ANC is proud of the contribution Comrades Mandela and Mbeki made to the struggle for liberation and the creation of a united, democratic, nonracial, nonsexist and prosperous South Africa. We urge our people to work together in transforming the country for the better. South Africa is faced with many challenges that require our national resolve as we address the imbalances of the past. We call on all sectors in our society to work with the ANC, the people's movement, in the journey to find solutions to the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality and the accompanying social ills.
The 53rd ANC national conference in December 2012 affirmed that there should be serious action to achieve social transformation. South Africa today is decidedly and qualitatively better than the South Africa of 19 years ago. The government of the ANC has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of our people and bring about social equality.
As the ANC-led Parliament, an activist Parliament, we need to earn the trust of our people. We need to lead by example. We need to be honest. We need to be selfless. We need to fully appreciate our historical mission. More than anything else, we need to be true to the values and teachings of the ANC. Hon members, there is a need for all of us to continue to engage in vigorous and searching debate on the persistence of the legacy of apartheid colonialism, as is reflected in the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment. Earlier this year we discussed the role played by the NCOP in protecting the vulnerable, especially in promoting and protecting the rights of children. We also launched a publication that contained a number of reflective assessments and recommendations. Some of the recommendations we proposed are the following: The country should collect data based on specific indicators that would show the progress that has been made in the laws being developed by Parliament. Attention should be given to ensure the obligatory provision of educational programmes to children who are in conflict with the law, with special attention to children who are awaiting trial, unsentenced and sentenced children. Parliament should review the provisions of section 8 of the Child Justice Act for an amendment regarding the age of criminal capacity. This should be done to ensure that South Africa complies with substantive provisions in relation to its international obligations and standards, and this could take place sooner than within the proposed five years.
Parliament should play a pivotal role in the oversight of the implementation of the Child Justice Act, Children's Act and other related laws that have been passed to ensure the survival, protection, development and participation of children. Parliament should ensure that the country reports in time and accurately on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and other international treaties that South Africa has ratified. The country should also prioritise the strengthening of the primary health care system as the national health response, particularly expanding the number and scope of work of community health workers to include high- impact but low-cost children's health and nutrition interventions. The NCOP in collaboration with the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures should develop a rigorous oversight programme from a multisectoral perspective to monitor the realisation of child rights in the country.
The NCOP should also develop a strategy to report back to the children from across the country who conveyed their messages to seminar participants last year. They should be told what we have done and what has happened. Lastly, special attention should be given to children with disabilities in the realisation of their rights, including the provision of transport to schools.
As we conclude this term, the relevant committees, led by the Select Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities, will assist us with reflection on the work we identified. We committed ourselves to promoting the rights of children and to protect the vulnerable groups in society. It is for this reason that we support the work that is being done by government to ensure that all South Africans enjoy freedom under conditions of safety.
We understand that we mean the whole of society when we ensure that we protect vulnerable groups and uphold the protection offered by the Constitution. We therefore say that we have to support this Bill at all costs.