Zuma promises better service delivery

The president has reassured the country’s poor that government cares about their plight and will bolster its programmes aimed at fighting poverty and creating job opportunities for them

President Jacob Zuma has vowed that the government will ensure that it provides better basic services and more job opportunities to rural poor communities across the country.

Zuma told the sitting of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in De Aar, Northern Cape, yesterday that government has heard pleas for better education, improved water and electricity provision and more policing to protect women and children in public meetings at the Karoo town and elsewhere in the country.

The NCOPs sitting in De Aar is part of its Taking Parliament to the People programme.

“We agree with you that the public service has to be sensitive and responsible to these humble requests from our people. We must improve in education at both basic and tertiary levels. We must improve on safety and security, including the fight against the abuse and attacks on women and children.

“If children walk long distances, they are vulnerable to sexual assaults. It is tragic that we have such heartless and shameless people in our communities who attack children in this manner,” said Zuma.

The president said the government will ensure that it provides communities with more job opportunities through its Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and the Community Works Programme (CWP).
He said the government was already responding to some of the issues raised.

The government also planned to tackle the shortage of health care professionals and to improve municipal services by filling vacancies and recruiting more skilled people.

The president outlined new infrastructure improvements, including plans to build and pave roads in Phillipstown in the Karoo and Petrusville in the Northern Cape, and projects to improve water and electricity supply in the Thembelihle Local Municipality.

He assured the community of De Aar that government will continue to change their living conditions for the better.

“We will not shy away from our responsibility of reversing the painful experiences of the past, and to build communities that people can be proud to call home.”

Addressing the challenges of education in the area, Zuma said the provincial government was already implementing some of the projects.

“The provincial education department has noted the request for a special school in the district and in this regard, the department is currently upgrading Alpha Primary School. It will be converted into the first complete full service school in the province. The school will be able to accommodate learners with barriers to learning that need Level 1 to 3 support.

Another five Schools of Skill will be established, one in each district. This will be done over the next five years.

“Learners who experience moderate to mild cognitive barriers will be accommodated in these schools. They will acquire not only academic knowledge but also practical skills. The people have also requested an improvement in health care delivery,” he said.

According to Zuma, the provincial government bursary scheme for medical student will address the shortage of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals in the province.

“(The department) provides bursaries to medical students and bind them with a contract to work back the period that they have studied. The department is also recruiting foreign doctors and to get more community service doctors for 2013.

“Currently, most of the private doctors in the district already do sessions at hospitals, community health clinics and hospitals, which alleviates the shortages,” said Zuma.

The president said he was pleased that some infrastructure development projects were being implemented which would improve the lives of the people. This included the construction and paving of roads.

“The Phillipstown project has already started while the Petrusville project will start this month.”

In the Thembelihle Local Municipality, the projects that are being implemented, according to local authorities, include an upgrade of the main sub-station electrification, bulk water supply and the upgrading water purification.

Zuma described as unacceptable, the actions of some communities in the province which prevented children from going to school for months because of service delivery complaints such as the need for a road.

“There is no need to destroy the future in order to correct the present. I trust that we will ensure that two way communication prevents such occurrences in future. As part of promoting a response and caring society, we urge people to use the existing platforms of communication and engagement with government,” said the president

Community members could use platforms such as ward committees, community policing forums, community development forums, community development workers establishments, the parliamentary constituency offices as well as the parliamentary democracy offices.