House Chairperson, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Minister, members of the NCOP, our delegates from various provinces, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen ...
... ke a le dumedi?a. Modulasetulo, ntumelele ke kgaleme lenyat?o pele ke tsena ditabeng. [... greetings to all. Chairperson, allow me to correct something first before I get into the debate.]
There is a problem if a person has an identity crisis, which leads to people losing direction. They will listen to everything, but be unable to take decisions. I am saying this because our Cope colleagues do not have an identity. As such...
... ga ba na molao. Molao ba tla o t?ea kae? Bjalo, ge ba se na molao ga go na fao ba tlago ya gona. [... they have no manners. Where would they have learnt that? They are going nowhere.]
As such they are going to allow the media to dictate to them and come here to debate issues that are not on the table, such as Philippi. We are not debating the public works budget here. [Applause.]
Again, if they talk about grants and beneficiaries that are not in place, they should know that we have these things in place.
Re na le SAPS le Dihawks. [We have the SAPS and the Hawks.] They will see to it that this thing goes well. As for the DA, self- criticism is part of our life as the ANC. When we falter, we make sure that we assess and evaluate ourselves and come with resolutions that will rectify the mistakes made. We are not going to wait to be told that we should be doing things your way. Remember who gave birth to you - the National Party. [Interjections.]
Let me continue to say that, given that the health needs will always outstrip available resources, we wish to commend the Department of Health for identifying and prioritising the Polokwane resolutions in their 10- point strategic plan and budget.
South Africa has the seventh highest TB incidence in the world and contributes approximately 80% of the total global burden of all TB cases. Having learnt that HIV and Aids and tuberculosis remain the focus area for the National Department of Health, we acknowledge that South Africa's cure rate is improving. However, we are worried that it is still below the cure rate of many developing countries.
The high defaulter rate has increased the probability for drug resistance. This impacts on achieving the targets for treatment success and cure. If we are to eradicate TB, we need to address the social determinants of the disease. This means that we have to address the socioeconomic needs of the affected people.
Poverty eradication, nutrition, housing and improvement of living and working conditions are imperative in improving the cure rate. Community mobilisation is critical in achieving success. The community is critical in monitoring health and education intervention.
We have a stipend for community caregivers. This is in answer to the 500 000 jobs that the President alluded to. Having more community caregivers coming onto the scene is going to satisfy our needs and promises to our people.
The Department of Health has developed the draft tuberculosis strategic plan for South Africa 2007 to 2011 that will ensure effective public health and clinical intervention. This will certainly assist in ensuring effective management and eradication of TB and its complications.
Lack of access to health facilities also contributes to our people seeking help when the disease is at an advanced stage. However, we are happy, because the Department of Health's strategic plan includes establishment of the ombudsman's office, which will receive and investigate all complaints about the quality of health services and recommend appropriate interventions.
Ba ithutile gabotse. [They learnt a lesson.]
They know that they need to get recommendations and interventions. This is highly recommended.
We also welcome the introduction of a directorate in the office of the chief financial officer, CFO, that will work directly with the provinces to strengthen financial management systems and ensure that district management teams are established. We will ensure that we do oversight on this to make sure that these plans succeed.
We want to emphasise that the auditing of nursing colleges and their establishment, that should consider the demographics of our country, should receive speedy attention. Critical to respond to is the Aids pandemic and to ensure that all health facilities have the capacity to provide ARV treatment, notwithstanding the challenges confronting us in achieving this.
Equally, it is important to implement the National Health Insurance that will guarantee that all South Africans have free access to health care. The ANC-led government will ensure that this is implemented over the next five years. We will assist in the consultation process that will be taking place until next year in 2010. The DA will oppose this, because they do not know the pain of the poor who when suffering from illness, are not able to afford the medicine from the pharmacies. [Applause.]
We also want to commend the NGOs such as LoveLife and Soul City for making sure that awareness translates into behaviour change, as well as the Department of Education for including HIV and Aids education as a compulsory subject in the curriculum.
In conclusion, I support this budget as it forms a critical part in achieving the goals we have set for ourselves to deliver quality health care to our people. I want to appeal to all to give their support to the National Health Insurance as it will be beneficial to us. We do not expect it to be a simple process, but I believe that South Africans have the will to find each other on this very important issue. Just as we stand in support of our sport teams, we must also stand together in eradicating inequality in all its forms and build social solidarity. Thank you. [Applause.]