Deputy Chairperson, Chairperson of the NCOP, our Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, the President has made a profound call to this House that we should use this platform to reflect on service delivery challenges. Therefore, as the Free State, we would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made and challenges we are faced with in responding to the five key priority areas that the Deputy President has alluded to. We will not stoop to the level of the DA and Cope - every time they see hundreds of thousands of our people, they obsessively want to convert a platform such as this to canvass for elections. [Applause.] This is not a hunting ground for elections based on warped policies.
The call for working together to speed up the delivery of services to our people ties in very well with the people's yearning cries to rid their living conditions of the terrible social ills of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, lack of rural development and disease. In the Free State, we have elaborated on the programme of action based on the five key priority areas, as mentioned by the Deputy President.
We welcome, and have enthusiastically embraced, the new outcomes-based planning methods. Outcomes-based planning forces integration and co- ordination between departments in the pursuit of key priorities. From this financial year, 2010, we have also introduced this new planning method, and thus all Votes were allocated in keeping with the outcomes-based method. In this way, we will be maximising our gains out of what we have for the improvement of the lot of our people.
We have since launched a flagship programme which we call Operation Hlasela. This campaign is informed by the imperatives of mass mobilisation, intervention, collaboration and partnership, to fulfil the notion of "working together, we can do more". Our Operation Hlasela is an integrated service elivery model that aims to ensure that the provincial and local spheres of government and other relevant stakeholders work together to plan and implement projects and programmes aimed at delivering better services to our people.
We are not only interested in a speedy recovery from the recession, but have also embraced the new growth path of growing the economy in a shared manner that creates decent jobs and sustainable livelihoods. We recognise the central role of a recently introduced industrial policy action plan in this new growth path dispensation. This plan will go a long way towards promoting the long-term industrialisation and diversification of the South African economy.
We recognise and promote the crucial role of the private sector. That is why, in our province this past Tuesday, we participated in the launch of Sasol's expansion programme, the cost of which is estimated at R14 billion. This programme is an important investment in our provincial economy. It will certainly help stimulate economic growth and create approximately 3 500 job opportunities. We will, therefore, step up our efforts for industrial development and diversification, and promote the expansion of the productive sectors of the provincial economy.
The work we are doing in the mining, manufacturing and agricultural industries will have to go beyond just saving these industries, to increasing their productive capacity and value chain. Our work on economic development in the province will therefore integrate three main pillars, namely industrial development, rural development and the development of small, medium and micro enterprises, SMMEs. We will use infrastructure to continue to contribute to economic growth in the province. Our infrastructure budget for this financial year to reduce the backlog on road networks, schools, human settlements, hospitals and other public amenities is R3,7 billion.
As a province, we want to go beyond what has been allocated from the fiscus to fund our huge infrastructural backlog, which includes roads. In this regard, we are exploring various methods of funding this backlog. We are working with National Treasury to find answers for this.
By way of addressing our housing backlog, we will build 10 000 units during this financial year. The construction of the Harrismith Logistical Hub will remain our mainstay infrastructure project. This hub will serve as a major centre for the packaging, processing and distribution of freight that passes through the Free State to various economic centres in the country, that is, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Another major infrastructure project in the province is the revival of the passenger rail service that will run between Bloemfontein, Thaba Nchu and Botshabelo.
Health and eucation remain the two largest allocations in our provincial budget. Collectively, they account for nearly 70% of our entire provincial budget. This is the case because health and education are central to national development. This is also part of our attempt to address the huge backlog emanating from our past legacy of underdevelopment and social deprivation. The provincial focus of our work in these areas, therefore, continues to be about expanding access to and improving the quality of the health and education systems.
The provincial government awarded 2 300 bursaries at the beginning of this year to young people in the province to enrol and study at institutions of higher learning in certain identified scarce skills such as engineering, accounting and medicine. We have therefore set aside R128 million for this purpose, as well as for new enrolments in 2011. We have developed the povincial srategy on larner atainment that is aimed at continuous improvement for our Grade 12 results. We will also analyse individual challenges of schools, and develop and implement school and subject improvement plans. These will be followed by structured monitoring and evaluation.
We are actively implementing the ten-point plan in health. We have also reinforced it by developing and implementing a turnaround strategy that responds to problems in the health portfolio that are particular to our province. The turnaround strategy has already borne fruit. Since last year, we have filled 1 329 vacant posts for critical health and support staff. A total of 1 000 health care professionals will be employed specifically to pay dedicated attention to TB management issues.
The supply of ARVs in all our greater facilities has since stabilised. We have also introduced measures in our medical depot that ensures the availability of medication to all our health facilities. A nursing college will be reopened. The Deputy President has just alluded to it now. We are going to reopen this nursing college in the area called Thaba Nchu in April. May I remind the DA April is next week!
We are working very hard to improve the capacity of local government to deliver basic services and enhance its developmental mandate in areas such as local economic development. We have put in place measures to reduce the number of bad audit opinions for both municipalities and provincial departments. These measures will include support to improve performance in the functions of financial accounting, risk management and internal auditing. Hands-on support will also be increased for municipalities to develop and implement properly aligned integrated development plans, IDPs, and budgets.
To conclude, Deputy Chairperson, with only 76 days before the kick-off of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup, we are proud to proclaim that the Mangaung/Bloemfontein host city is ready, and so is the entire Free State province. We are waiting in anticipation for the biggest world sporting carnival of the beautiful game on our shores. Ubuntu and compassion will be the hallmarks of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup. Our Free State stadium has been completed, and we have also increased the number of beds for accommodation. Afrika ke nako! We celebrate Africa's humanity. I thank you. [Applause.]