Date: 23/04/2010
Source: The Democratic Alliance
Title: DA: Kopane: Speech by DA Member of Parliament on the Social Development budget vote, National Assembly

Honourable Chairperson, Honourable Minister, Deputy Minister and Honourable members.

Parliamentary question by the DA to the Minister has revealed a severe backlog in the approval of applications for social grants by SASSA, this leaves the poorest and the most vulnerable South Africans desperate for help but unable to get the assistance they qualify for. To date 27,633 applications have not been approved by SASSA.

Ho na le tshallomorao e kgolo haholo ya dinyewe tsa molao tse tobaneng le SASSA haesale e thehwa mme sena se supa hantle hore e hloleha ho phethisa thomo ya yona.

Mmuso etelletsweng pele ke ANC o na le nalane e tsebahalang ya ho phoqa mafutsana a naha ena ya rona. Ebile ha o natse le seriti sa baahi ba rona ba kotsing ya ho utlwiswa bohloko ka lebaka la bofuma! Maqheku le maqhekwana, diqhwala le ba tshepetseng ho bona ha ba tshwanela ho mamella mathata ana a ka boomo ka lebaka la ditjhelete tsa bona tseo ba lokelang ho di fumana hore ba phele.

Bohlaswa bona bo bakwa ke dikgaello tse teng ka hara mokgwa wa tshebetso wa SASSA. Bongata ba batho bana bo se bo bile bo batlile dithuso tsa molao ka mora ho tshwariswa lefika le sa weng ke setheo sena sa mmuso wa ANC. Ruri ke mahlabisa-dihlong hore mafutsana a qetelle a mathaka makgotleng a molao ka lebaka la ho tsekella ditjhelete tsa ona ha baeka bona ba hlabile kgobe ka lemao!

Honourable Minister, the Democratic Alliance parliamentary question also revealed that to date there are 4634 legal procedures brought to date against SASSA, a number of cases have reached the supreme court of appeal and the constitutional court. One Supreme Court judge described the inefficiency of the state in the processing of social grant applications as a "WAR OF ATTRITION" AGAINST THE POOR.

The protest that we have seen on Wednesday 21 April 2010 in the North West Province is clear evidence of problems that are experienced by the community due to the incompetence of SASSA.

Re le DA le ho fihla jwale re lemoha hore batho ba rona ba ntse ba ema mela e melelele ka tlasa maemo a hlobaetsang. Motho o ne o ka nahana hore taba ena e ne e fele mohla ho fela kgethollo empa ke ena e bonahala e ja setsi!

Ebang SASSA e feela e kgathalla batho ba rona, e tla hlobaetswa ke maemo ana a sa jeseng ditheohelang. Mohlomong bongata ba mokga o busang bo lebetse hore batho bana ke bana beso, batswadi ba rona, jwalo-jwalo mme ha ke kgolwe hore ka hara ntlo ena ho ka ba le batho ba ka ratang ha ba habo ba thusetswa tlasa maemo ana.
Re a tseba hore ka dinako tse ding ho na dipula nakong eo batho ba ilo fumana dithuso tsa bona mme ha ho moo ba ka ipatang teng. Ho bile ho na le dibaka moo ho se nang ditulo le disebediswa tse ding tsa motheo.

Re le DA haesale re eletsa mmuso hore o ke o fumane ditsela tse ding tse nang le botho tsa ho sebeletsa batho ba rona. Hara tse ding re buile ka mekgwa ya elektronike ya ho lefa batho le hore ho ke ho sebediswe diposo tse ka hara naha mmoho le dibanka ho qoba mela e melelele le ditshitiso tseo ke seng ke buile ka tsona.

Re le DA re bona tsena di tla re thusa re le naha ho tlisa tsebo ya theknoloji bathong ka kakaretso mme bohle re a tseba hore ha setjhaba se na le tsebo ena, se tswela pele. Hwa bohlokwa hape ke hore le mmuso o tla baballa ditjeho tse leshwang dikontraka tse lefang ditjhelete ditsheng tsena mme tjhelete eo e tswele batho ba rona molemo ka mekgwa e meng.

Honourable Chairperson, Presently the bulk of SASSA's expenditure goes to cash payment contractors which on average account for approximately 53% of the entire budget, leaving only 27% to cover compensation of the employees whilst the remaining 20% caters for the essential operational expenses.

The DA urge the Minister to facilitate and introduce cost containment measures that will contribute towards avoiding inefficient spending and make sure that only eligible beneficiaries are paid and also to improve the integrity of data and that of the Department.

Due to the moratorium on the filling of vacant posts, the critical vacant posts especially in the Risk Management and Compliance Unit has negatively impacted on service delivery.

Ka lebaka la tseo ke di buileng, SASSA ha ya kgona ho etsa dipatlisiso tsa boitshwaro mme potso e lebang ho Letona le hlomphehang ke hore: Ekaba seriti se setle, tshebetso e ntle, boitshwaro ka hara SASSA, jwalo-jwalo di tla behwa leihlo jwang empa ho na le dikgaello tse tjena?

Tlhokeho e matla ya basebetsi ka hara SASSA e entse hore setheo sena se hlolehe ho fihlella maikemisetso le thomo ya ona ya ho fana ka ditshebeletso tse tswileng matsoho bathong ba rona.

Children are at risk because the act which was initiated to create a register of persons who should not be allowed to work with children is not fully operational yet, In a reply to the DA's question on whether the child protection register is fully operational, the Department responded that Social Development cannot obtain information on people unsuitable to work with children from the Dept. of Justice & Constitutional Development.

The response further states that the electronic integration system for sharing conviction information from the Dept of Justice & Constitutional Development and Police will only be phased in over a period of 5yrs, making this child protection register only operational from 2014.

Honourable Minister the DA find it unacceptable that it will take nearly ten years for this act to be created, given the shocking record of child abuse in SA and the fact that the budget of R2,9 mil has been allocated for financial year 2009/2010.

Funding is not the issue but the problem appears to stem from lack of political will to get the job done. Children should be given priority over the integration of a cumbersome system.

While 13 million people have now been included in the safety net of social grants, poverty remains a deep and daunting challenge; poverty is closely linked to the structural problems of unemployment and the lack of skills. Unemployment affects poor people severely.

Honourable Minister If we fail to address poverty, we will fail to build and defend democracy in South Africa. The primary mandate of the National Development Agency which is to contribute towards eradication of poverty and its causes by granting funds to civil society for the purpose of implementing development projects for the poor communities and strengthening their capacity.

But it is failing to uphold this mandate as it has poor monitoring systems in place. This institution is also suffering from lack of consistent strategic leadership. Since 2005 to date the NDA has had two CEOs and presently the post is vacant and run by an acting CEO and this leads to the instability of the institution.

We cannot talk about development if people are struggling to get quality education and are unskilled
We cannot talk about development if people are unemployed,
We cannot talk about development if people go to bed with empty stomachs, malnourished and unhealthy
And finally we cannot talk about development and freedom if our people are still staying in shacks without basic services
We need to build South Africa so that we can leave a good future of our children, one with self respect and respect for others.


Honourable Minister the DA acknowledges the progress made in the fight against fraud and corruption with regards to social grants but it is not enough to just sign the acknowledgement of debt for repayment. South Africans want to see that justice must be done. These criminals must be sentenced and be locked in jail. Be named and shamed.

Chairperson the intensions on paper by the department and its entities are more desirable, but the implementation and monitoring remains a challenging issue. The DA urges the speedy implementation to change the situation.

In conclusion: Honourable Minister let me re assure you, the DA will rally behind you to see to it that you succeed in taking this department in the right direction for the sake of all South Africans. It is within this context that the DA raises our concern.

Key a leboha