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Amplats will build 12 000 houses in North West and 8 000 in Limpopo over the next 10 years, as part of the Each-One-Settle-One campaign, launched by Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale last year to help government address the housing backlog estimated at more than 2,3 million.

This has resulted in many families being forced to live in poorly constructed houses in unsuitable areas that exposed them to floods, health hazards and fire. Government has built over 3 million subsidised housing units since 1994. In this regard, South Africa is the only country with such a rate of delivery.

Thanks to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, as well as good neighbourliness and a willingness to learn, a group of former farm workers in Limpopo became successful cucumber farmers and their business is still growing.

It has been a case of "sweet returns" for a KwaZulu-Natal North Coast farmer who ensured that his investment in a sugar cane farming business did not leave a bitter taste in the mouth. Although Joseph Mbuyazi only started leasing 187 hectares of land about three years ago, his Big Cedar Trading 250 sugar-cane farming business is growing rapidly.

More than half of the crime incidents in South Africa take place in Gauteng. It is therefore fitting that more resources to tackle the crime challenge are made available to police in this province.

National Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele handed over more than 500 vehicles to Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Mzwandile Petros.

Government has launched a new HIV counselling and testing campaign called First Things First. The campaign aims to encourage at least 15 million South Africans, including tertiary students, to get tested for HIV and know their status by June 2011. This lays the foundation for an HIV-free society.

The people's priorities for the new year

Stef Venter, Centurion

The year of job creation

Government is tackling the unemployment challenge head-on. By declaring 2011 as a year of job creation, government aims to create more than five million jobs in the next 10 years. This was announced by President Jacob Zuma at a business summit on job creation held in March. To achieve this goal, President Zuma acknowledged that government would require more direct investment in the economy and greater involvement from the private sector.