municipalities with the implementation of Local Economic Development (LED) strategies and resolutions of growth and development summits that were held in municipalities. There is also the timely and regular audited fiscal reporting of the operations of public enterprises to permit effective oversight by the National Treasury and the major commercial public enterprises (State Owned Enterprises). In order to institutionalise these capacity and skills improvement measures as well as in dealing with the public expenditure management gaps, the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy (PALAMA) offers public servants training in the interest of improving service delivery. 1.3 Socio-Economic Development Definitions and measurements of poverty have also been agreed upon and applied. In 2007, the CRR reported that despite being a middle-income country, South Africa experiences widespread poverty and inequality. Government remains committed to alleviating poverty, and has thus introduced a number of initiatives during the period under review. These include the Social Assistance Programme. . The need for coordinated anti-poverty programmes and monitoring tools has led to the acceleration of The War on Poverty Campaign. Targeted beneficiaries are women; children; youth; people with disabilities; the aged; the chronically ill; the unemployed; working poor; rural areas, townships, informal settlements and inner cities. AsgiSA remains one of the key initiatives that is supported by these groups. It remains South Africa’s flagship project in terms of establishing a job opportunity and skills development driven safety net for new job seekers. In relation to HIV/AIDS, the country’s plan prioritises the following: the provision of strategic leadership and the creation of a social compact with organs of civil society; accelerated implementation of the HIV/AIDS, and STI National Strategic Plan 2007-2011, and increased focus on TB and other communicable diseases; review of the drug policy; and strengthening research and development. In order to increase the number of qualified teachers, the government is currently implementing the National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development, in particular the Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme and the Teacher Recruitment Campaign with a target of 12 000 new teachers by 2014. Government, through the DoE, has also introduced the National Education Evaluation Development Unit (NEEDU) in order to strengthen accountability systems in basic education. The skills development Levies Act requires companies to contribute or be taxed 1% of their payroll to the South African Revenue Service, and depending on which sector the company is in, the money will be transferred to their Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA). In the BEE Act’s Codes of Good Practice, large companies are required to spend 3% of their payroll on training black people, black women, and black disabled people. 18