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SA: Jacob Zuma: Address by South African President, on the occasion of the celebration of the ten years anniversary of SASSA, Qhudeni, Kranskorp, KwaZulu-Natal (19/07/2016)

South African President Jacob Zuma
Photo by Duane
South African President Jacob Zuma

22nd July 2016

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Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini,
MEC for Social Development in KZN, Ms Weziwe Thusi,
Members of the Provincial Legislature,
Mayor of Nkandla Local Municipality, Cllr, Thamsanqa Ntuli,
Traditional Leaders,
Members of the civil society and NGO formations,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It  gives me pleasure this morning to be part of this important occasion of celebrating the ten years of the establishment of the South African  Social Security Agency (SASSA), a Social Development entity which  provides social assistance to, among others, senior citizens, orphaned  and vulnerable children as well as people with disabilities. 

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The  Department of Social Development has a mandate of providing care and  support to the poor and vulnerable people in South Africa. This mandate  basically means that Social Development is the heartbeat of government  as it is well positioned to tackle the triple challenges of Poverty,  Unemployment and Inequality.

To achieve this  mandate, over the past twenty two years; government has through the  Department of Social Development extended social services to all  eligible South Africans.

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The provision of  these services is made possible through cooperation between the  department and its entity, SASSA – which is celebrating ten years this  year.  

We also believe that the provision of  social services is a constitutional right which must be accessed by all  poor South Africans.

You may be aware that  prior to 1994, black people, who constitute the majority of the  population, were deprived access to most rights and privileges such as  the social grant income.

When the movement of  the people, the African National Congress (ANC) took over in 1994; uTata  Nelson Mandela taught us about the importance of sharing and living  together as a nation despite our racial and other differences.

This era did not only serve as the birth of a democracy but the dawn of what we defined as a rainbow nation. 

Addressing  poverty, hunger and inequality was at the heart of the new democratic  government, which sought to reverse the conditions of abject deprivation  that apartheid had condemned us to for many years.

To  address inequalities in South Africa; government has over the years  reviewed, introduced and amended various pieces of legislation.

The  promulgation of the Social Assistance Act 13 of 2004 led to the  establishment of SASSA - a Social Development entity which aims at  providing care, support and overall comprehensive social security  services to poor and vulnerable South Africans.

During  the ten years of SASSA’s  existence, government has contributed largely  in breaking the cycle of poverty, through the provision of Social  Relief of Distress (SRDs).

These include the  provision of school uniforms to children from the most impoverished  families and poor households throughout the country. 

We  are proud to mention that these school uniforms are produced by local  women-owned cooperatives which create work opportunities for women in  various communities.

The department also  procures most of its basic services such as food, directly from  women-owned cooperatives in the rural communities. 

Empowerment  of cooperatives is in line with the Nine Point Plan, which I pronounced  during the 2015 State of the Nation Address (SONA) in February 2015.  

We came up with the Nine Point Plan to respond to the sluggish economic growth in the country. 

Amongst  the key elements of the Nine Point Plan I highlighted the need for  “Unlocking the potential of SMME, cooperatives, township and rural  enterprises”.

This is indeed one of the  initiatives which seek to improve the living conditions of the poor and  the unemployed South Africans, and ensure that they are directly linked  to economic opportunities.        

This is made  possible through Social Development’s Outreach Programmes to communities  which help with addressing social ills through Project Mikondzo. 

Project  Mikondzo is a Social Development service delivery initiative which  seeks to increase the Social Development footprint in the most  impoverished communities of South Africa.

However,  it is unfortunate that in some areas; Social Development has been  labelled as a department which is used by the ruling party to buy votes  from the poor through what most people call food parcels.

This  is people who have never tasted how it feels like to be poor, and how  it feels like to go to bed in an empty stomach and therefore they cannot  understand these interventions.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I  would like to take this opportunity and correct that myth because  actually Social Development doesn’t provide food parcels but Social  Relief of Distress (SRD) to the poor. 

As a  build-up to departmental community outreach programmes, the department  deploys a team which works directly with people on the ground. 

This process gives the department an opportunity to directly engage and find out about community issues and concerns.

It  is during such community engagements that the Social Development team  also conduct household profiling to assess the overall needs and living  conditions of our people.

It is based on the  information gathered during household profiling that the department  determines if families qualify to receive Social Relief of Distress  (SRD). 

Social Relief of Distress is a  temporary provision of assistance intended for persons in such dire  material need that they are unable to meet their or their families' most  basic needs.

SRD is paid to South African citizens who have insufficient means of survival and meet one or more of the following criteria:

  • When they are awaiting payment of an approved social grant;
  • When applicants have been found medically unfit to undertake  remunerative work for a period of less than 6 months;
  • When there is no maintenance received from parent, child or spouse  obliged in law to pay maintenance, and proof is furnished that efforts  made to obtain maintenance have been unsuccessful;
  • In cases where the bread winner is deceased and an application is made within three months of the date of death;
  • It is also considered in cases where the bread winner of that person`s  family has been admitted to an institution funded by the state (prison,  psychiatric hospital, state home for older persons, treatment centre for  substance abuse or child and youth care centre);
  • When the applicant has been affected by a disaster as defined in the Disaster Management Act or the Fund Raising Act of 1978;
  • When the person is not receiving assistance from any other organization, or;
  • And also in cases where refusal of the application for social relief of distress will cause undue hardships.

Another  important factor is that government makes provision of a monthly Social  Relief of Distress for a maximum period of three months. 

Based on exceptional cases; an extension with further three months may be granted.

It  is also important to indicate that no person who is in receipt of a  social grant may receive the grant and social relief of distress  simultaneously.

Any person who may be receiving  both social relief and grant at the same time must be liable to repay  the value of the social relief of distress received.

However,  on instances where social grant recipients also receive DSD as a result  of a disaster; there is an exception and that amount will not be  recovered.

Fellow South Africans,

Recent social grant statistics revealed that more than seventeen million South  Africans are receiving social grants from SASSA, which helps with  addressing the triple challenges of Poverty, Unemployment and  Inequality.

Today, we are here in eQhudeni to  continue the celebrations for the milestone achievements of the  Department of Social Development, its entity – SASSA, stakeholders,  including community members and social grant beneficiaries of the ten  years celebrations of SASSA’s existence.

These  ten year celebrations were successfully launched at Dan Qeqe Stadium in  Zwide in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape Province, and the plan is  to celebrate with South Africans from all nine provinces.

SASSA  spends more than Eleven Billion, Two Hundred and Eighty Three Million,  Seven Hundred and Nine Thousand and Seventy Five Rand (R11 283 709 075)  monthly to improve the living conditions of the poor. 

Nineteen  year old social grant beneficiaries who are still studying also qualify  for Child Support Grant extension and more than 11 million children  currently benefit from Child Support Grant.

The department has also been able to reach more than ten million people with disabilities.

Two hundred and thirty War Veterans as well as more than Three Million older persons, who are now receiving social grants. 

More than Four Hundred and Ninety Three thousand children are under foster care grant system.   

Despite all these achievements, we still maintain that social grant income must be used in a responsible manner. 

No one is allowed to misuse social grant income which is intended to improve the living conditions of intended beneficiaries.

We  also call upon our people to refrain from giving their SASSA cards to  loan sharks who charge exorbitant interest on repayments.

We  call upon community members to continue working with government and  report those who abuse social grants to the nearest SASSA offices.

As  patriotic people of South Africa, you are all witnesses to the fact  that the government has done a lot to improve the lives of the people,  particularly the poorest of the poor among us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SASSA, MAY YOU LIVE AND EXCEL TO SEE MANY MORE YEARS TO COME!

I thank you.

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