Hon Speaker, hon Deputy President and hon members, as we draw to a close this year, I think we all can agree that it has been one of the busiest, especially as our election campaigns gather speed. This year has not been without its high-lights and its low-lights, and I am not making reference to anyone's hairstyle when I say this.
In this House, we have had our fair share of arguments, debates, engagements and sometimes a little hysteria when we discussed crucial issues. We stopped short of throwing punches at one another, but we took the word "robust" to a whole other level. We did this within the healthy space of tolerance and, for the ANC, always with the overwhelming sense of duty to ensure that we created a better life for all our people.
As we approach our national elections next year, in the same year that we celebrate 20 years of democracy, every one of us sitting here, irrespective of the party one belongs to, must be honest enough to admit that South Africa in 2013 is a far better place than in 1994. [Applause.]
As the dawn of 1994 beckoned, there were many, some even in this House, who forewarned about the end of days or Armageddon if the ANC took over. When the ANC proved that it sought to improve the lives of all of South Africa's people, both black and white, the doomsayers appeared muted. Now that our fifth national election is approaching, the doomsayers are back in all bluster, forewarning of all sorts of doom and gloom, and they cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the vast progress we have made.
We have changed lives in 19 years. Access to electricity, water and sanitation has been increased tenfold for those who knew no such comforts; and nobody can deny this. Through the national subsidy scheme, we have housed around 11 million people since 1994. Nobody can deny this. [Applause.] Since 1994, the ANC government has redistributed 7,950 million hectares of the country's arable land to the previously disadvantaged. And since the inception of the restitution programme in 1995, 79 696 claims have been lodged and 77 334 have been settled. Nobody can deny this. [Applause.]
Over R600 billion in Black Economic Empowerment transactions have been recorded since 1995, and here I must thank the DA for its inadvertent support for the Employment Equity Amendment Bill. [Applause.] Never mind all the flip-flopping talk doing the rounds. Our public health care system works, education levels are up, and our adult literacy rate has been increasing steadily over the past 10 years. You cannot know this because you do not know much of South Africa. Proudly brought to you by the ANC! [Applause.] No one can begrudge us because of these achievements. [Interjections.]