Address by Dr Zola Skweyiya, Minister of Social Development to the launch of Child Protection Week and Symposium on tackling child poverty, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg

The MEC for Social Development in Gauteng, Mr Lekgoro
Director-General of Social Development,
Chief Executive Officer of South African Social Security Agency (SASSA)
Esteemed representatives of the donor community and our development partners
Members of the diplomatic corps
Distinguished delegates

Thank you for joining us at this critical symposium in which we launch Child Protection Week, and tackle a subject that is close to our hearts: child development and protection.

The overriding purpose for Child Protection Week 2007 is to raise awareness and mobilise the whole country around the protection of children against poverty and vulnerability. We also seek to strengthen collaboration to address social ills such as child neglect, abuse and exploitation as well as substance abuse and other circumstances that perpetuate child vulnerability.

We also rededicate ourselves to develop vigilant communities that care. The African proverb, 'It takes a village to raise a child' epitomises the importance of the role of the wider community in raising, caring and protecting children and young people.

Ladies and gentlemen, child poverty cannot be dealt with in isolation from the broader context of the family and the community. Most of the South African families and communities, in particular those who were disadvantaged by the past regime find it very difficult to get out of the poverty trap. They have remained poor throughout their lifespan and in many cases across generations.

There are many causes of poverty, and its nature is also multi-dimensional. Lack of access to basic services such as housing, water, electricity, education as well as the disintegration of families, communities and social networks make up some of the common features of poverty. Families and communities presenting these features suffer multiple deprivation which impact on all its members, in particular children.

In South Africa, we find a very high concentration of poverty among households with young children.

Evidence has it also that unless there is sufficient external intervention, social mobility of children living in extreme poverty is very slow and the likelihood that they can make it to the top is often very remote.

I recently visited the Alfred Nzo Municipality in the Eastern Cape, and was distressed by the abject poverty and the conditions in which some children live in areas such as Mt Frere, Cofimvaba and others.

We have to acknowledge that poverty is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Tackling child poverty will therefore require a co-ordinated approach to services for families with young children to improve access to employment, essential public services and early childhood development services. It is again very important to recognise the role of parents, community and faith based organisations and the private sector in tackling child poverty. Government cannot uproot child poverty alone but through partnerships with those who embrace the principle of a caring society.

Essential elements for an effective agenda towards tackling child poverty will include amongst others the need to:

* encourage local initiatives and community action
* increase support to non-governmental organisations
* partnerships with the community and faith based organisations as well as the private sector
* strike a balance between protection, prevention and promotion
* increase parental involvement.

Ladies and gentlemen, social grants remain one of the most effective poverty alleviation mechanisms of government. To date, eight million children are receiving the child support grant while more than 400 000 receive the foster care grant.

We are doing all we can to ensure quick registration for social grants for children and other eligible persons especially in remote rural areas. Through the use of technology and mobile trucks, the South African Social Security Agency can now assist hundreds of citizens who would otherwise have been unable to travel to urban centres to apply for social grants.

It also means we can eventually totally eliminate the long waiting periods. Basically there is no reason why people cannot hear the outcome of their applications on the same day.

I must emphasise that to effectively meet the Millennium Development Goals to halve poverty by 2015, the South African government is pursuing a broader and holistic approach to social protection.

In this regard, social protection is not limited to income or consumption protection of the poor through provision of cash transfers and other safety net provision. However, it is a powerful tool for livelihood promotion and long-term social security. That is why we also prioritise the improvement of our social welfare and developmental services. In the context of children, this includes the Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme.

The ECD is an effective child abuse detection and prevention programme. Early signs of child abuse and neglect can be easily detected if the child attends an ECD programme. The ECD programme has also been identified as a poverty alleviation mechanism and a job creation instrument within the social cluster, forming part of government's Expanded Public Works Programme.

The Department of Social Development is responsible for the registration of places of care or ECD sites where more than six children are cared for away from their parents or caregivers. Places of care include creches, playgroups, after-school centres or a combination of the three.

We register the facilities and provide care grants or subsidies, depending on the number of disadvantaged children that they are caring for. Last year we invested about R350 million in the ECD programme and this is expected to increase as more sites are registered. The programme is running effectively, in partnership with the Departments of Education and Health.

The Nationwide Audit of ECD conducted in 2000 identified a total of 23 482 sites, 60% of which were located in urban areas. More than 9 000 of the sites are registered with the Department of Social Development or Education. Of those children in ECD provision, many are in centres that do not have trained personnel or the necessary materials to ensure the appropriate development of children in their care.

The audit found that 23% of the existing caregivers have no training and most of the remaining 85% need further training.

The aim of government's ECD programme is to skill 19 800 practitioners over five years, thereby increasing their capacity to generate an income, and at the same time improve the care and learning environment of our children.

Our goal is to ensure that all children from poor households have access to ECD. We plan to have registered all the known outstanding 1 774 ECD sites by March 2008, and to identity and register all unknown sites by 2010. We will focus on recruiting, training and placing unemployed graduates and matriculants in the ECD programme as part of the Expanded Public Works Programme.

Most importantly, we want to raise awareness about the critical role of ECD services to young children. We also want to eliminate the perception that ECD is only for urban-based children whose parents can afford to send them to the centres. Ultimately, each South African child should go through an efficient, effective and well-organised ECD system. We also seek to promote uniformity with regard to subsidies, and address the serious lack of infrastructure in poor communities.

We urge our partners in civil society and faith-based organisations to assist us in raising awareness among community-based ECD centres that they should register and take advantage of the services provided.

Ladies and gentlemen, Child Protection Week 2007 is integrated in the 365 Days Programme of Action of no Violence against Women and Children.

Let me therefore use this opportunity to remind communities throughout the country, especially care givers, to use the child protection register. The register provides a database on abused children to ensure effective intervention by social workers.

This valuable information informs policy makers regarding service standards, financial and human resources, and gaps in service delivery. From 1 April 2007, the department is operating an electronic Register. The overall number of cases registered increased from 15 104 at the end of May 2006, to 17 783 at the end of December 2006.

The child protection register in itself cannot protect children, but it is a useful mechanism when intervening in a child's life.

Ladies and gentlemen there are various mechanisms we use to assist vulnerable children. One of these is residential care. We currently have 243 children's homes, housing about 14 000 children.

The emphasis on community-based care options within the government social welfare sector since about 1997 has resulted in the inadequate registration and funding of children's homes established by NGOs or community based organisations.

This has meant that over the last ten years very little has been done to redress the historical inequalities in the distribution of children's homes between provinces. Secondly there has been inadequate action to ensure that the supply of places in children's homes keeps pace with the demand for such places, especially given the numbers of children that are being orphaned as a result of HIV and AIDS, other illnesses and unnatural causes of deaths such as car accidents and crime.

The capacity of extended families and communities capacity to absorb these orphaned children appears to be declining.

According to the costing report for Children's Bill the present demand is projected as 155 000. Therefore there is a shortfall of 140 000 beds.

We are aware of the need to ensure that the existing children's homes run by NGOs are properly funded. We also need to ensure the registration and monitoring of privately funded and managed homes. An audit of all children's homes is being finalised to facilitate the registration and funding of additional NGO based children's homes.

Ladies and gentlemen, a sense of stability and permanency is provided to a child through adoption. During the 2006/07 financial year, we finalised 2 316 national adoptions and 252 inter-country adoptions. During April and May 2007, 173 children have been adopted domestically and 29 internationally. South Africa acceded to the Hague Convention in December 2003 which is the guiding principle for inter country adoptions.

We are pleased with the upward trend in adoptions, and urge more and more families and eligible individuals to consider adopting or fostering children.

The Children's Amendment Bill which covers mainly the provincial services to children has been scheduled for debate in the National Council of Provinces tomorrow, 29 May. It will add an important emphasis to Child Protection Week to have Parliament debating this legislation during children's week.

Ladies and gentlemen, stakeholders and development partners, as we launch Child Protection Week today, let us work even harder to protect our children from poverty, violence and vulnerability. An investment in our children is an investment in the future.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Social Development
28 May 2007