As Minister Motsoaledi has mentioned, 190 000 children must still be inoculated and 700 000 pregnant women must be vaccinated against, among others, the N1H1 flu virus. This is indeed an ambitious task.]
I want to thank the national Minister for the strong leadership that he has shown in the past year with regard to the stricter management of health facilities throughout the country. I believe we will see the fruits of these actions in the year to come. It is heart-warming that the Minister recognises the ineffectiveness of the health system and that the quality of health services is poor.
Private health care is the only way possible towards meeting the health care needs in this country. [Interjections.] We are not the only country facing this challenge. It is a global challenge. There is no way that the needs of South Africa's health sector can be met if we continue separating public health care and private health care. As long as these services operate in silos, health services will continue to see-saw between the two.
The challenge for both the public and private health facilities is to approach the challenges as a common challenge and together find ways and means to address these challenges. I thank you. [Applause.]