Cape Town - Government will continue to work hard in addressing issues of crime, electricity and land reform as part of its priorities outlined in the Medium Term Strategic Framework.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said this during his response to questions raised by political parties in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
A Member of Parliament representing the Democratic Alliance, Dr Manie van Dyk, had asked "whether the government would add crime, the Eskom crisis and land reform as additional obstacles to the six that have already been identified by the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa, as factors opposing economic growth."
"Government remains committed to the fight against crime, the rapid expansion of Eskom's generation capacity as well as the acceleration of the land reform programme," responded Motlanthe.
These three issues, he said, were clearly identified as priorities in the Medium Term Strategic Framework, issued by government in July this year.
"Electricity falls under strategic priority two, land reform and rural development are addressed in strategic priority three, and crime prevention is the focus of strategic priority six," he said.
He said the fight against crime, one of the government's top priorities, was receiving intensive and sustained attention.
"Apart from the fact that we have increased our real spending to fight crime and that we are increasing the number of police officers, we are also seeking ways to improve the effectiveness of our crime fighting efforts.
"We have made it quite clear that fighting crime is a top priority of this government.
"The Minister of Police and the National Commissioner have addressed this, and will continue to update Parliament regarding our strategy and its outcomes," the deputy president explained.
He said similarly land reform was a key element of rural development and the government has clearly indicated its commitment to addressing rural development as a top priority, enforced with the creation of the ministry for Rural Development and Land Reform
