"Significant achievements" have been made in implementing delivery agreements between ministers and President Jacob Zuma, Cabinet spokesperson Jimmy Manyi said on Thursday.

These included progress in education, improvements in municipal audits and justice, according to an executive summary of the government's 12 desired outcomes, distributed after Cabinet's regular fortnightly Wednesday meeting.

According to the summary on education, achievements included finalisation of the teacher development plan, standard workbooks in literacy and numeracy aimed at Grade 1 to 6 pupils, and the roll-out of annual national assessments.

However, provinces seemed to have difficulties "absorbing" graduate teachers.

The development and distribution of workbooks and text books had "significantly improved", but a number of schools still did not receive materials on time.

In higher education, universities would not meet their graduate targets in areas such as engineering, natural and physical science and animal and human health. There was not adequate reporting on new bursary schemes for increasing the number of engineering and accounting graduates.

The number of police officers had increased, and more regional and district courts established. It however still took too long to finalise cases due to lack of staff and money.

In the economy, problems existed with encouraging people to save money, addressing the strength and volatility of the rand, and the price of iron ore and steel. Concerns existed around low levels of investment, including by the public sector, and inflationary-administered price increases.

Infrastructure development also notched up achievements, including almost 195,000 additional households being given electricity connections, six regional bulk water projects constructed, eight dams rehabilitated and a number of water treatment works and water supply schemes completed.

Good progress had been made in rural development, with the cumulative figure for land acquisition exceeding the annual target in land redistribution and the recapitalisation of farms in distress.

Regarding housing, informal settlement upgrading was getting the requisite support and resources, and a clear plan was being put in place to acquire land for development.

On the local government outcome, access to essential services had marginally improved. Forty-five municipalities were implementing the community work programme, giving almost 90,000 people jobs and a steady income.

Municipal financial audit outcomes showed visible improvements, with the number of municipalities with disclaimers dropping to 58 in the 2009/10 financial year, from 111 in 2008/09. Municipal financial management however remained an area of concern, along with the ability to plan, implement, operate and maintain infrastructure.

On natural resources, good progress had been made in protecting water bodies, especially wetlands. However slow progress was being made in rehabilitating degraded land. The protection of ecosystems and species showed good overall progress, but an alternative strategy to prosecute environmental crimes needed to be finalised.