Pretoria - Although 2011 was a challenging year, government has made strides in creating and maintaining a better life for all, President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday.
In his end of year message, Zuma said 2011, which was dubbed 'The Year of Job Creation', was hit by difficult economic conditions, including the euro-zone debt crisis, which posed a serious threat to SA's economy.
Despite this, the Expanded Public Works Programme saw the provision of income for a total of 280 000 persons, and more than 80 000 job opportunities under the Community Work Programme.
In addition, 100 000 jobs will be created in the next three years in the construction of electricity plants, rail and road upgrades and water management.
Zuma said the R9 billion Jobs Fund will further encourage new initiatives both inside and outside of government.
Moving to the performance of the State, the President said his office and the offices of the premiers were jointly implementing a programme of monitoring front-line service delivery, which is the experience of citizens when obtaining services from government.
The results of monitoring will also be regularly presented to Cabinet and premiers' offices, with the aim of putting in place focused improvement initiatives.
"All these measures are designed to improve the performance of the State and to encourage a culture of excellence amongst public servants," said Zuma, adding that the results of the Census will also help government to understand what it needs to do better in the delivery of public services.
Another achievement was the finalisation of the draft National Development Plan, which the National Planning Commission in the Presidency has released for public comment.
The plan puts emphasis on ideas such as growth and prosperity as the best way to fight poverty and unemployment, and involving individuals and communities in their own development.
Turning to the provinces, Zuma said cooperation with provincial administrations improved considerably due to the regular meetings of the premieres and local government representatives in the President's Coordinating Council.
He said plans were in place to strengthen the performance of certain departments in the provincial administrations.
Zuma mentioned the cooperation between the national government and Eastern Cape to revitalise education in that province, as well as the tightening of spending and combating mismanagement by helping the governments of Gauteng, Free Sate and Limpopo.
On fighting crime, which is one of government's key priorities, Zuma noted the decline in violent crimes. This year, there was a 5.7% reduction in serious crimes, while police arrested over 149 659 people.
Government was also making strides in health care. The President singled out the fight against HIV and Aids, saying government has made "tremendous progress."
So far, more than 13 million people were tested for HIV and more than eight million were screened for TB. From January 2010 to September 2011, the number of public health facilities initiating patients on antiretroviral treatment increased from 495 to 2 948.
In addition, while 290 nurses were accredited to initiate and provide treatment a few years ago, now the number has increased to nearly 10 542 nurses.
A landmark achievement for the country is the 50% reduction in the transmission of HIV from mothers to children between 2008 and 2010, from 8% in 2008 to 3.5% in 2010.
"This is a remarkable response by South Africans," said Zuma.
Progress was also made in revitalising rural small towns as well as human development, child care and housing.
Among other notable achievements was the recent COP17 conference that was held in Durban as well South Africa's role on the world stage.
Zuma said a key challenge for the country on the international front was the political crisis in Libya.
"South Africa was principled and consistent in its efforts to help secure a resolution of the situation in Libya, despite the unfortunate developments around the misuse of the United Nations' Resolution 1973 which was meant to protect civilians."
Within the range of challenges the country faced, Zuma believed there were plenty of moments that gave South Africa an opportunity to grow and prove its mettle.
"Those that set us back, or challenged us in one way or another, simply redirected us to the drawing board where we often found new ways of doing things that would take our country forward," he said, calling on the nation to use the festive break to renew its commitment to the country.
"Let use the New Year, 2012, to build on the good record we've established collectively as a nation."
