Thank you Madam Speaker,

Looking that the budget, the biggest percentage increase after transfers to NGOs and NPOs is on staff.  The department should have reduced its bloated bureaucracy, leaving only critical positions in place because most of the work is actually done by NPOs and NGOs.

There is also a severe shortage of Social Workers, the backbone of the social services industry, in the province, yet only R2.4 million has been allocated despite the department acknowledging that they need R45 million to absorb all 144 trained social workers. Sadly, out of the 144 trained social workers, the department can only absorb about 8 this year. These are the positions that the department should be prioritising. It appears that we are dealing with an ANC government that does not care about the most vulnerable citizens in the province.

Madam Speaker,

Gauteng has only 11 social workers who are able to work on adoptions and foster care, yet every year, the department fails to achieve the target of the placement of children citing that this is in the jurisdiction of justice department yet they are not looking in the mirror. Over 3000 children in the province are waiting to be adopted and placed in foster care, therefore the department and province cannot not subjugate their responsibility by pointing at national government. It’s not just the department of justice that has let these children down but the department of Social Development by failing to ensure that the social workers who appear in courts are trained and capable of presenting cases in an appropriate manner. 

The department is also struggling to recruit more psychologists. One wonders why more efforts have not been put into this as this is also a very critical skill needed by the department.

The budget for people with disabilities has remained relatively stagnant since 2010.

While I support active ageing – like running gyms for the elderly, I wonder what the department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture is doing because this to me sounds like something that should not be the core focus of Social Development.

The department has one very good project with Edcon. And more initiatives like this with the private sector should be spearheaded, as they contribute to economic activity and innovation

The department says its objective is to move more people from welfare to work. Sadly, the cooperatives model in its current format is failing the people. Visiting some of these projects, one realises that the people running these projects are hungry to do more and be independent. They are simply failed by rude monitoring agents employed by the department who make them beg for a piece of bread.

MEC, the reality is that you are bloating department out of productivity. For example, cooperatives used to go directly to schools, take measurements of the school children, make the uniform, come back and fit the children. Now, they have to give the uniform to another NPO or NGO, which then goes to fit the uniform and has no clue who the uniform belongs to – it’s an unworkable system that you have created! You have forced middlemen on these cooperatives, without regard for the cost or efficiency.

A further sad dire problem is that most corporatives are run by people who perform the same core function – everyone in the business is a seamstress or tailor. No one does financial management and no one does sales or looks for new clients leading to the co-operative being stuck with one client once a year, the department of social development. One wonders what monitoring happens because this should have been resolved through training. This uncaring government is doing very little to empower these cooperatives so that they become economic drivers that create jobs and ignite innovation.

As an advocate for dignity packs, I am a concerned about the duplication of this role with the department of Education.

Another duplication: food banks, poverty alleviation and food parcels.

My other concern comes through analysing quarterly reports and a common trend emerges: targets are not being met yet budgets are spent. I thought the two go together. If targets are not met then the budgets should remain unspent. Into whose pocket is the people’s money going?

Moving over to infrastructure projects, how many times will the department budget for the same building – the department needs to hold DID to account. How many times can the department contribute to the same infrastructure projects: for example the ECD facility in Sedibeng, Rearabilwe Centre in Garankuwa.

Speaker, based on all the concerns noted above the DA not support this budget for Gauteng Social Development. This is a budget that is more concerned with salaries than taking care of the most vulnerable residents of Gauteng.