Hon Chairperson, hon Minister Patel, hon Deputy Minister Godongwana, members, comrades and distinguished guests, before I begin my speech I need to assist the hon Lees. He complained about the opportunity of having only six minutes to address this House. I think the hon member would appreciate that the ANC was voted for by many South Africans. That's why we have the opportunity to speak for more than six minutes.
The voters did so because they reject an open opportunity society because it results in open toilets. The hon member talked further about cutting our alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Cosatu. At least, as the ANC, we have an alliance and are not swallowing political parties, as they did with the ID.
The hon member predicted that we would not be able to reach the five million jobs target that we have set for ourselves as the ANC. I would request the hon member to be patient, to wait and see, because the ANC will deliver. I know that from where you are seated, you want the ANC to fail, but we will disappoint you.
The hon member talked about the R1,2 billion given to the ANC Youth League, which was misleading. No government money can be given to the Youth League or the DA. Is that what they do in the Western Cape: give the DA Youth government money? We are not doing that as the ANC. [Interjections.]
The central and most pressing challenges we are faced with are unemployment, poverty and inequality. This means that we must simultaneously accelerate economic growth and transform the quality of growth. Our most effective weapon in the campaign against poverty is the creation of decent work. Creating work requires faster economic growth. Moreover, the challenges of poverty and inequality require that accelerated growth take place in the context of an effective strategy of redistribution that builds a new and more equitable growth path.
Decisive action is required thoroughly and urgently to transform the economic patterns of the present in order to realise our vision for the future. To do this we need to proceed on a sustainable, equitable and inclusive economic growth path.
Central to the country's economic challenges in the current phase is to build an integrated and growing economy from which all South Africans can benefit. The ANC will continue to strive for macroeconomic balances that support sustainable growth and development. These balances are requirements that ensure higher rates of growth, labour absorption and poverty reduction.
ANC government action will be guided by building an economy that is characterised by high levels of manufacturing activity, modern services, expanding trade, cutting-edge technology and a vibrant small business and co-operatives sector. State, social and private capital, as well as resources and capacities in the hands of communities, will be mobilised for this purpose.
To ensure that the benefits of growth are shared by all the focus will be on creating decent jobs and ensuring an improving quality of life for workers. The focus includes programmes to eliminate economic dualism and exclusion; skills development and paying specific attention to industries that involve themselves with marginalised communities; access to microcredit; small-business assistance; land reform; Public Works projects; and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods at community and household levels.
An intensive process through the ANC's national executive committee discussed the type of government structure that would best serve our goals. The ANC wants a structure that would enable us to achieve visible and tangible socioeconomic development within the next five years. It should be a structure which will enable us to implement our policies effectively. These discussions were informed by the ANC's 2009 election manifesto, in which the ANC undertook to focus government on the creation of decent work opportunities and sustainable livelihoods as the primary focus of economic policies in building a more equitable and inclusive economy.
In addition, decent work is the foundation of the fight against poverty and inequality, and its promotion should be the cornerstone of all our efforts. Decent work embraces both the need for more jobs and for better quality jobs. The creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods will be central to the ANC government's agenda.
With all of these considerations in mind, a new Department of Economic Development has been established to focus on economic policy-making. The Economic Development portfolio will have a strong domestic focus and will address, amongst other things, matters of macro- and microeconomic development planning.
The ANC is therefore committed to addressing the problem of unemployment through practical measures in this year. Therefore, 2011 will be the year of job creation through meaningful economic transformation. It is not enough to say that more and equitable sharing of economic growth will lead to the creation of jobs. We know that South Africa experienced relatively strong economic growth during the 2000s, but we also know that this growth did not address the structural challenges in the economy.
Economic development is at the heart of driving the national project of job creation and our nation-building project of job creation. The New Growth Path indicates that our goal of growing employment by five million new jobs over the coming decade is achievable. It cannot, however, be achieved with only a single policy instrument. It needs a package of interventions that addresses a range of challenges in the economy and that balances competing policy concerns while mitigating unintended consequences.
We need to build on the strengths and successes of our policy interventions in the past, recognise their weaknesses and gaps and address these, and, crucially, seize the moment to forge a common vision to take society forward.
The ANC's policy position on a mixed economy goes to the heart of the structured approach of the New Growth Path in that it broadly addresses all key stakeholders and reflects a realistic assessment of the internal balance of forces.
In conclusion, economic development and growth and the goal of growing employment by five million new jobs over the next decade cannot be achieved with only a single policy instrument. This needs, as I said, a package of interventions that addresses a range of challenges in the economy. We need to build on the strengths and successes of our policy interventions in the past, recognise their weaknesses and gaps, and address these.
This includes macroeconomic considerations entailing more active monetary policy interventions to achieve the growth and jobs targets. Macroeconomics involves targeted measures to control inflationary pressures and support competitiveness and increased equity, which, in turn, makes the macroeconomic strategy sustainable and viable. It includes reforms in policies on skills, competition, industry, small business, the labour market, rural development, and trade policy. The ANC supports Budget Vote No 28: Economic Development. Thank you. [Applause.]