The government rejected on Wednesday a report by the SA Human
Rights Commission (SAHRC) that said it was not honouring its
commitment to improve the lives of the poor.
The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), quoting a Statistics SA report, said there had been an upward trend in the delivery of services in various sectors.
About 67,8 percent of households had access to public health care in 1995, and the number had increased to 69,4 percent in 1998, the GCIS said.
The SAHRC's fourth annual economic and social rights report released in Johannesburg said health services were inadequate because of, among other things, the Health Department's bureaucratic bungling.
"One of the major challenges facing the health system is to close the gap between policy initiatives and implementation," the report said.
It said serious shortfalls included the unavailability of tests for the human immuno deficiency virus, pregnancy and Rhesus.
There was a lack of health equipment, drugs and human resources, as well as "insufficient skills updating on tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases."
The report urged government to carry out immediately the Constitutional Court's ruling on the treatment of mothers and newly born babies living with HIV and Aids.
Aids activists have accused government of largely ignoring last year's court ruling.
On the question of housing, the GCIS said there had been an increase in the number of houses built since 1995.
The proportion of households in formal housing was 65,8 percent in 1995 and 72,6 percent in 2000, it said.
The SAHRC report said the housing department's failure to spend its allocated budget in the past financial year was contributing to a housing backlog.
"The department's under-expenditure was about R100-million in the period and no reasons were provided for this."
It said the trend of under-spending was evident in most provincial housing departments.
Other hindrances to the delivery of housing was the unavailability of suitable land and delays in transferring land to beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the United Democratic Movement (UDM) said the African National Congress had became arrogant and refused "to see the suffering it caused through its mismanagement of poverty and HIV/Aids".
"The government refuses to listen to the plight of millions of poor South Africans except to host extravagant pageants masquerading as imbizos," UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said.
"These (imbizos) are designed to pretend that the government is listening because it is the year before an election."
The New National Party (NNP) said it agreed with the SAHRC report the government should prioritise the provision of anti-retrovirals to HIV-positive people.
"However, we again have to point out that not all people who are HIV-positive need anti-retrovirals but only those who reach a medically well defined stage of Aids," NNP health spokesman Kobus Gous said.
Anti-retrovirals would not only save thousands of lives but would also improve the quality of life, productivity, lessen hospitalisation and lessen the chances of transmission.
In the long run it would be money well spent and would be much cheaper than dealing with Aids deaths, Gous said.
The SAHRC report should act as a wake-up call to the ANC government, the Democratic Alliance said in its reaction on Wednesday night.
Spokeswoman Raenette Taljaard said her party would propose a debate on a matter of public importance in Parliament to discuss the findings of the report.
"The ANC's promises of "a better life for all" have not been met, and instead we see a lack of delivery," she said in a statement.
"There is a huge gap between the election promises of 1994, 1999 and 2000 and the reality on the ground."
She said although much had been done in the almost 10 years that the ANC had been in power to stabilise the economy and to focus on social delivery, there was no excuse for the continuous failure to deliver to the poor.
"The report constitutes an audit of a litany of broken election promises. This cannot be the change many people voted for."
Taljaard said Parliament needed to show that it was capable of overseeing the executive for delivery and policy implementation - Sapa
The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), quoting a Statistics SA report, said there had been an upward trend in the delivery of services in various sectors.
About 67,8 percent of households had access to public health care in 1995, and the number had increased to 69,4 percent in 1998, the GCIS said.
The SAHRC's fourth annual economic and social rights report released in Johannesburg said health services were inadequate because of, among other things, the Health Department's bureaucratic bungling.
"One of the major challenges facing the health system is to close the gap between policy initiatives and implementation," the report said.
It said serious shortfalls included the unavailability of tests for the human immuno deficiency virus, pregnancy and Rhesus.
There was a lack of health equipment, drugs and human resources, as well as "insufficient skills updating on tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases."
The report urged government to carry out immediately the Constitutional Court's ruling on the treatment of mothers and newly born babies living with HIV and Aids.
Aids activists have accused government of largely ignoring last year's court ruling.
On the question of housing, the GCIS said there had been an increase in the number of houses built since 1995.
The proportion of households in formal housing was 65,8 percent in 1995 and 72,6 percent in 2000, it said.
The SAHRC report said the housing department's failure to spend its allocated budget in the past financial year was contributing to a housing backlog.
"The department's under-expenditure was about R100-million in the period and no reasons were provided for this."
It said the trend of under-spending was evident in most provincial housing departments.
Other hindrances to the delivery of housing was the unavailability of suitable land and delays in transferring land to beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the United Democratic Movement (UDM) said the African National Congress had became arrogant and refused "to see the suffering it caused through its mismanagement of poverty and HIV/Aids".
"The government refuses to listen to the plight of millions of poor South Africans except to host extravagant pageants masquerading as imbizos," UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said.
"These (imbizos) are designed to pretend that the government is listening because it is the year before an election."
The New National Party (NNP) said it agreed with the SAHRC report the government should prioritise the provision of anti-retrovirals to HIV-positive people.
"However, we again have to point out that not all people who are HIV-positive need anti-retrovirals but only those who reach a medically well defined stage of Aids," NNP health spokesman Kobus Gous said.
Anti-retrovirals would not only save thousands of lives but would also improve the quality of life, productivity, lessen hospitalisation and lessen the chances of transmission.
In the long run it would be money well spent and would be much cheaper than dealing with Aids deaths, Gous said.
The SAHRC report should act as a wake-up call to the ANC government, the Democratic Alliance said in its reaction on Wednesday night.
Spokeswoman Raenette Taljaard said her party would propose a debate on a matter of public importance in Parliament to discuss the findings of the report.
"The ANC's promises of "a better life for all" have not been met, and instead we see a lack of delivery," she said in a statement.
"There is a huge gap between the election promises of 1994, 1999 and 2000 and the reality on the ground."
She said although much had been done in the almost 10 years that the ANC had been in power to stabilise the economy and to focus on social delivery, there was no excuse for the continuous failure to deliver to the poor.
"The report constitutes an audit of a litany of broken election promises. This cannot be the change many people voted for."
Taljaard said Parliament needed to show that it was capable of overseeing the executive for delivery and policy implementation - Sapa
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