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Date
: 28/11/2005
Source: Department of Social Development
Title: Benjamin: Launch of the Integrated Service Delivery
Model
Speech by Dr Jean Benjamin, Deputy Minister of Social
Development: Launch of the Integrated Service Delivery Model, Cape
Town International Convention Centre
Programme Director,
MECs for Social Development from different provinces
Director General of the National Department of Social
Development,
Heads of Provincial Departments
Members of the Media
NGOs, CBOs, FBOs
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen
It is indeed an esteemed honour and pleasure to deliver a keynote
address at this auspicious gathering. It is of course also
inspiring to see the large number of service providers in
attendance. I bring you greetings from Dr Zola Skweyiya, the
Minister of Social Development, who cannot be with us today.
Whilst this event brings various social service providers together,
it also marks an important milestone in the history of our country
and specifically that of the Department of Social
Development.
The vision of our department is "A caring and integrated system of
social development services that facilitates human development and
improves quality of life."
In realising this vision, our department has made significant
strides in improving access to social grants for older persons,
children and people with disabilities, who qualify. Good progress
has been made in establishing the South African Social Security
Agency and addressing fraud in our social grant system.
Social work has been recognised as a scarce skill in this country
and salaries have been regarded as part of the broader retention
strategy for social workers. A capacity building programme was
successfully implemented. This enabled us to reach 1800 social
service professionals.
We have developed a Policy on Financial Awards for our partners in
service delivery. We are currently finalising two Bills, one for
Children and the other for older persons.
In spite of all these achievements, we also acknowledge some
challenges facing the department and the sector. It is common
knowledge that over the last ten years, the department has focused
mainly on social security. This is understandable given the high
levels of poverty and deprivation amongst the people of this
country. Research has shown that social grants have a huge impact
in addressing poverty and underdevelopment in the country.
Having said that, it is also true that because of the focus on
social security, attention to other services have been inadequate
to date. The crowding out effect of the social security budget has
led to significant pressure on social services provided by both
government and the non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector. The
budget for social services has therefore not kept pace with the
demand for services. It has not been adequate to address the social
conditions that are causes and consequences of poverty and
vulnerability. This state of affairs has placed severe limitations
on human, financial and physical resources in this sector. The
provision of these resources calls for involvement of all spheres
of government.
The model highlights the role of government as well as that of
organs of civil society, including private organisations; community
based organisations parastatals, etc. In this regard, it is
critical to mention that the model calls for radical transformation
to the way things are currently done. It should however be read
with other policies such as the policy on Financial Wards to
service providers, which provides for the management of the
relationship between government and the NGO sector, the indicators
for the transformation of the sector and more importantly, clearly
defies the role of NGOs against that of government. The costing
models that are attached to the policy enabled government to arrive
at a more realistic costing of services by the NGO sector.
Our society attaches great importance to the fight against the
manifestations and causes of poverty and under – development.
This underlines the critical roles that have to be played by all
cadres of social development professionals – namely social
workers, auxiliary social workers, child and youth care workers,
probation officers and community development practitioners.
Ladies and gentlemen, historically there was a welfarist approach
to service delivery. With the change in the political environment
in 1994, there was a concomitant and radical redirection of the
legal and policy framework to deal with the existing and growing
risks and challenges such as crime, HIV and AIDS, poverty and
unemployment.
In support of the political transformation, the White Paper on
Social Welfare introduced the developmental approach for the
delivery of social services, which emphasise the multi-dimensional
and integrated nature of service delivery, as well as the
achievement of socio-economic justice. In 2001, the Minister for
Social Development changed the name of the Department to Social
Development to signify the shift from welfare to development.
However, there has been much debate about what constitutes
developmental social services or social development. The new
paradigm, which aims at collective empowerment and facilitation of
processes that are aimed at enabling the poor and vulnerable to
gain control over their lives, has neither been clearly understood
nor has it informed service delivery.
* All the above factors manifested themselves in adoption of
practices that are deficient and do not adequately meet the needs
and aspirations of the poor and vulnerable sectors of our
country.
* The lack of transformation of services.
* The poor quality of services that did not contribute to our
social capital and the social and economic integration of the
marginalized sectors of our communities into the mainstream of
socio-economic development.
Although social security remains a function of the department, the
establishment of the agency, an opportunity presented itself for
the true transformation of the sector in line with the
developmental approach. The Service Delivery Model for Social
Services, seeks to redefine what social services should entail if
it is to be effective in responding to the needs of the target
population of the department.
The Service Delivery Model seeks to provide clarity on the nature,
scope and level of services in the developmental social services
sector, excluding social security. It also gives an indication of
the resource requirements for effective implementation. As such, it
provides a basis for setting appropriate general norms and
standards for service delivery, which in turn will provide a
realistic sense of the cost of such services.
The desired outcome of the Service Delivery Model is the
implementation of a comprehensive, efficient, effective and
qualitative service delivery system that will contribute to a
self-reliant society. It is premised on the sustainable development
approach, which is strength-based approach that recognises the
capacity of individuals, families and communities to interact
creatively with the environment and utilise available resources to
address their socio-economic needs.
The Service Delivery Model also recognises all the programmes of
the department, namely social security, social welfare services and
community development. This represents a value chain that could, if
underpinned by the developmental approach, be effective in
addressing the multidimensional needs of communities through a
continuum of services. This model therefore, provides a framework
for the integration of departmental services so that beneficiaries
can derive maximum value.
The reconstruction of our country requires the involvement of
various other role players responsible for the delivery of social
welfare services and developmental programmes. This therefore calls
for the involvement of all spheres of government in the provision
of services.
The Service Delivery Model represents a proactive response to
grapple with the main issues of how to reposition ourselves without
the dominance of Social Security and also attempts to answer the
question: “what do social service practitioners keep
themselves busy with everyday.” This has also revealed that
we have an inadequate number of social service practitioners.
The Service Delivery Model serves to focus attention on several
challenges of which I will highlight two
The model has enabled the department, together with stakeholders;
develop some generic norms and standards. This will increase the
operational efficiency and serve as a basis for the measurement of
the effectiveness of services. Much is still needed in this
regard.
The second challenge involves both the rate of intake and the
appropriateness of education and training of social service
professionals in social development theory and practice and the
integration thereof in practice. The President, in his state of the
Nation Address, questioned whether the country has the appropriate
cadre of personnel to deliver on its mandate towards a better life
for all. This applies not only to the quality of that training, but
also the numbers of students that qualify in a specific area. This
in itself is critical, as we do not to produce the number of social
workers needed by the country. The Minister of education has
already been alerted of the need to ensure that Social Work enjoys
the same status as other scarce skills such as information
technology (IT) and engineering.
This need was echoed at a national conference held jointly by the
Council for Social Service Professions and the department, in
October 2004. The conference declaration called explicitly for
greater conceptual clarity about the new approach and for the
inculcation of appropriate knowledge, skills and values in social
services professions from a developmental perspective. In other
words, this was a call for due recognition to be given to the fact
that many professionals in the field had not been trained in the
developmental approach.
It is imperative that higher education institutions, offering
training to social services professionals, align education with the
social development approach that has been adopted in our country.
In line with international thinking, the South African
Qualification Association (SAQA) standards for social work
education state that social work education should equip students
with the knowledge, skills, values and critical reflective practice
to address poverty, inequality and social exclusion. It is
encouraging to note that the Standards Generating Body for Social
Work sets this as a specific exit level outcome.
The appropriate education and training of social service
professionals in social development theory and practice cannot be
over-emphasised and the lack thereof will negatively impact the
effective and efficient delivery of services.
This calls for a strong partnership amongst social service
professionals, specifically our academics, in ensuring that this
country is suitably resourced in the further orientation and
capacitation of social service professionals. Let us recognise the
strengths of the individual, group or community and its capacity
for growth and development.
The recent launch of Professor Leila Patel’s book titled"
Social Welfare and Social Development in South Africa will
certainly be a valuable resource in the further orientation and
training of social service professionals. The book will also be of
value to academics and students as there are very few contemporary
South African textbooks that sufficiently inform social service
education in our second decade of democracy. An appropriate balance
must be struck between national, continental and global
perspectives.
This Service Delivery Model depicts our relentless efforts to
improve service delivery to the poorest of the poor and all the
other vulnerable groups in our society.
In launching this Service Delivery Model, I would like to take the
opportunity to acknowledge the various stakeholders and funders
gathered here today. The department is appreciative of the
partnerships that endured, despite the many challenges throughout
the years.
These partnerships facilitated the delivery of services to the
poorest and most needy sectors of our country.
Allow me programme director, while acknowledging the sector's
significant contribution to the development of the Service Delivery
Model, to also express the department's sincere appreciation for
the efforts of the departmental Transformation Task Team, which was
at the forefront of the process of developing this model. I know
they will continue, together with the sector, to bring about
continuous improvements to the model.
We hope the Service Delivery Model will turn the tide and ensure
the enhancement of closer working relationships between all those
who are striving for social justice and who are working together to
achieve the common goal of “a better life for
all”.
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