Our countries poor, most vulnerable and those with special needs require an
adequately resourced and efficient network of social development services in
order to minister to their various needs. The Minister and the Department
are at the veritable coal-face of this very important portfolio, a portfolio
in which delays in provision of services can cost lives.

The Hon President in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) identified 3 key
challenges facing the government which are namely, POVERTY, INEQUALITY AND
UNEMPLOYMENT. As it is the core mandate of the department of social
development to build a caring and integrated system of social services that
facilitate human development and improve the quality of life for all it is
to this core mandate that we turn when we measure the overall success of the
department.

The IFP welcomes programmes such as -

Early childhood Development and the development of infrastructure related to
ECDs as these centre are very important as they deal with the development of
a child from age 0.

Child and Youth care programmes that address the needs of orphans and
vulnerable children through appointing child and youth care workers to
provide support to children in their homes and communities.

Anti-substance Abuse campaigns aimed at educating the population on the
dangers of substance abuse which will have a knock-on effect in assisting
with the reduction of related crimes such as violence against women,
children and people with disabilities

The IFP further supports the "Zero hunger and food for all" programmes which
will be implemented in partnership with the Department of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries to deal with issues of improving access to food in
households that are most likely to experience hunger. It is important to
note that this initiative includes support to female headed households,
children and people with disabilities that are in the grant system.

Whilst these programmes are all wonderful initiatives, the IFP hopes that
they are implemented in such a way so as to ensure even distribution of
benefits, particularly within our rural communities. The Department must
ensure that the projects are sufficiently funded and have adequate human
resources if these programmes are going to have the desired impact on the
ground.

Old age grant beneficiaries are targeted at being 2, 828 223 million by
March 2013 and Child support grant beneficiaries 11 491 702 by March 2013.
We support the re-registration of beneficiaries that is currently being done
by the department and hope that it will also assist in making sure that the
beneficiaries receiving these grants are those that are supposed to and
qualify to do so. The introduction of the new SASSA smart card which
operates in both a formal banking environment and at designated cash points
is also welcomed as this will alleviate grant beneficiaries from travelling
extra distances to access funds.

As CSOs are funded by the NDA, they must be supported by programmes that
will enhance their capacity to enable them to carry out their work
effectively. Funding and not educating them on how to successfully run their
organisation is not helping them. They also require oversight, monitoring
and evaluation.

The IFP also notes that there has been a great improvement when it comes to
missing files and hopes that measures are now in place to ensure that the
situation does revert back to where it was.

The improvement of local offices and pay point infrastructures must be
attended to urgently as conditions at some pay points are not conducive to
effective service delivery.

In conclusion, the IFP is happy with the progress the department has made to
date and we continue to offer our full support to the Minister and her
department as we as a country seek to address the social inequalities of our
citizens.