Pretoria – Cabinet says the outcomes of the latest General Household Survey (GHS) show that government is making progress in improving the lives of South Africans, especially those in disadvantaged communities.
Released on Wednesday, 31 May, GHS 2016 showed that government is making inroads in providing housing, with South African households living in RDP (state-subsidised) dwellings having increased from 5% in 2002 to 13.5% in 2016.
The survey revealed that the uptake of government’s social assistance programmes increase from 12.7% in 2003 to 29.9% of the population in 2016.
“There is also a marked increase in access to water, electricity and sanitation, which is an important marker for the South African government’s ambition to redress the wrongs of apartheid and provide basic services to all the people,” Communications Minister Ayanda Dlodlo said during a post Cabinet briefing on Thursday.
Cabinet, however, noted that while higher education enrolments are on the increase, only 3.3% of black South Africans aged 18 to 29 years were studying, compared with 18.8% of Indian/Asian individuals and 17.5% of the white population in this age group. The survey showed that only 3.5% of the coloured population was studying during 2016.
It further indicated a decrease from 23.8% to 11.8% of households the experienced hunger, which shows progress in addressing communities living in extreme poverty.
Progress made in implementing NDP
Meanwhile, Cabinet says government has made considerable progress in implementing its 14 priority outcomes and advancing the objectives of the National Development Plan (NDP).
The NDP is South Africa’s blueprint for reducing poverty, unemployment and inequality by 2030.
Minister Dlodlo said Cabinet was apprised of the fourth performance quarterly progress reports for 2016/17 (January to March 2017) on the implementation of priority outcomes.
“Cabinet’s oversight over the implementation of the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2014 to 2019, results in improved service delivery. This takes us closer to the realisation of the NDP’s Vision 2030,” she said.
The Minister said challenges affecting implementation and action required to improve delivery were also identified. - SAnews.gov.za
