However, some 14% of the actions show some delays that “call for urgent attention by government”.
“Overall, our own detailed assessment of the implementation of our programme of action reveals that of the 307 concrete actions contained in the government's programme - some of which we announced in the last State of the Nation Address - 51% of those with specific timeframes have been undertaken or are being undertaken within the deadlines we set; 21% have been or are being undertaken, though there were slight delays in terms of the time frames that we had set ourselves; 28% have not been fully carried out, and the reasons behind the delays are such that new deadlines will have to be set for their accomplishment,” he said.
Mbeki drew on a recently published report by Rand Merchant Bank commending the South African government's “good track record of implementing prudent fiscal policies” and which indicates, among other things, that real domestic output growth accelerated through last year to reach an annualised rate of 5,6% in the third quarter - a rate last seen in 1996.
The report further elaborated on the current economic upswing - which it said is the result of the economy being in the process of changing from one driven predominantly by consumption to one driven to a greater degree by fixed investment - and indicated that the unemployment problem in South Africa is beginning to improve.
Mbeki said that due to these factors, government had been able to achieve a number of its objectives such as the one that it set itself in 2002 of ensuring that all who are eligible for social grants receive them within three years, with 90% coverage of social grants.
He added that, since last December, the country passed the ten-million mark in terms of South Africans who have gained access to potable water since 1994 and that in the same time frame, two-million housing subsidies have been allocated to the poor.
“The democratic State will not walk away from its obligation to come to the aid of the poor, bearing in mind available resources,” Mbeki said.
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