Budget Vote speech by the Minister of Social Development, Dr Zola Skweyiya, to the National Council of Provinces in Cape Town

Honourable Chairperson
Honourable delegates
Honourable Deputy Minister of Social Development
Members of the Provincial Executive Councils
Distinguished guests
Representatives of civil society in the public gallery
Ladies and gentlemen

Honourable Members, we meet just a few days before the start of the celebrations of Child Protection Week in the country, from 28 May to 4 June. Child Protection Week unites the country in promoting the rights of the child, and in highlighting the holistic development, care and protection of children. This year our focus is on "child development, especially tackling child poverty."

This year we are rededicating ourselves as government and communities to protecting children from abuse and other social ills. As a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, South Africa has an obligation towards the protection of children from all forms of abuse, neglect and exploitation. The first legal step towards realising the rights of children was the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1924, which stated that "Mankind owes to the child best that it had to give."

Post 1994, the South African Government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In so doing we committed ourselves to implementing the principle of "first call for children," which was subsequently entrenched in the country's Constitution, thereby extending to children a range of civil, cultural, and socio-economic rights. To give practical expression to this commitment, government introduced policies and programmes to promote the rights of children and to enhance their safety in communities.

This year marks the 10th year since the Department of Social Development introduced Child Protection Week to raise awareness about the need for child protection as well as to mobilise all sectors to respond to social ills facing children in South Africa. The National Child Protection Week has become an annual campaign of government to educate and mobilise communities to put children first. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all stakeholders who have been actively involved thus far for their continued support and determination to free households and communities of violence and abuse against children.

Chairperson, allow me to extend a warm welcome to the children from schools around Cape Town who have joined us for the debate today. This debate is dedicated to them and all the children of our country.

Tackling child poverty

Chairperson, over the past 10 years, government has recognised the need for a comprehensive approach to poverty reduction; especially as it relates to our children. Budget Vote 17, calls for a renewal of our pledge to a national partnership to fight child poverty, social exclusion and to promote social cohesion and improve service delivery. We note with concern that, despite the Government's commitment to the long-term objective of transforming the country into a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic nation, children remain on the periphery of social transformation. Children continue to be hard hit by poverty in various parts of the country.

Chairperson, the human life cycle suggests that early childhood development is vital for human development and as such gives children the best start in life. This, therefore, requires investment in the early learning, health and nutrition of children, including access to basic services such as potable water, basic sanitation, and protection from violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination. Given this, we will continue to intensify our effort to expand early childhood development.

Chairperson, this year, we will initiate the consolidation of existing and fragmented pieces of legislation and policy developments on social insurance, social assistance, welfare services and social relief measures for children in South Africa. This will contribute towards the move to integrate and consolidate all services for children, and the subsequent amendment of the Social Assistance Act, 2004. This initiative will provide a framework that integrates service delivery to children in the sector and possibly in government as a whole.

During the past year we assessed the gaps in the comprehensive social security system. These gaps reveal a need for an expansion of the social safety net. Going forward, we will make every effort to register an estimated 750 000 eligible children for the child support grant believed to be still outside the system.

In addition, Cabinet has approved that we investigate the desirability of in-cash and in-kind measures to support vulnerable children older than 14 years and to link grants to access to basic services such as education and health. This strategy will bring together Social Sector Cluster departments from education, health and social development, for a start. In the medium term, it will be further consolidated to include housing and access to free basic services. This will require strategic partnerships at all levels.

One of the main impediments to accessing the grants by many children remains the lack of birth registration certificates. In order to overcome this challenge, we have decided to work with the Department of Home Affairs to link registration at birth to applications for social grants by eligible children. This is aimed at improving the take up rate of Child Support Grant to children under five years of age who currently constitute the smallest number of recipients of the grant. Ultimately, the Government should be able to enrol young children for the Child Support Grant at the time of receiving birth certificates.

Meanwhile, the department is commissioning an assessment of the implementation and impact of the Child Support Grant as a policy intervention. The review will look at the overall effectiveness of the grant in reducing poverty in households. This includes understanding why eligible children do not access the grant and why ineligible children do access the grant. The review will inform both Department of Social Development (DSD) and South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) on relevant policy and implementation reforms to ensure efficient and effective service delivery.

Last year, in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, the Department of Social Development developed a Policy Framework for orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. This is a great achievement. Through this process, the issues of orphans and vulnerable children have been put on the national development agenda. We have just completed a database of maternal orphans up to the age of 13. This will go a long way in assisting the department and its implementation partners to ensure that these children receive proper care.

Chairperson, the rate of child abuse, neglect and exploitation in the country is disturbing. The department will contribute to efforts to mobilise communities to take a firm stand against violence and other crimes against children. This includes the provision of safe houses for children in need of care and protection.

Welfare services

Chairperson, during my address to the National Assembly in March 28, I outlined challenges facing the Social Development Sector with regard to the expansion of social welfare services. Amongst other challenges, I have acknowledged the fact that our ability to deal effectively with poverty, unemployment, inequality and other social ills is made difficult by the fact that community development and welfare services are, by their nature, labour intensive. This is so in the face of significant shortages in the supply of social service professionals required to deliver these services. High workloads and inadequate working conditions of social workers, for example, lead to burnout and poor quality of services. Effectively, insufficient numbers of social workers impose a limitation on our ability to meet service delivery demands and consequently, impact negatively on our ability to fulfil our statutory obligations.

Chairperson, the expansion of developmental welfare services requires a dedicated focus on human capital development, facility improvement, simplifying the service delivery processes and technological development to support the implementation of services. I am pleased to announce that trends in social welfare services expenditure and allocations continue to show a positive trajectory. My department's expenditure for social welfare services grows by about 90% from 2006/07 to 2007/08. It further grows by an annual average of 56% over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period. This significant increase will support the expansion of social welfare services.

The need to significantly increase the numbers of social workers, social auxiliary workers and community development practitioners has become very crucial. We have approved and are implementing the recruitment and retention strategy for social workers aimed at addressing the terms and working conditions of this professional category of workers in order to stem the tide of skills flight and their exodus from the profession and the country. The strategy will be regularly updated and extended to include other categories of other social services professionals.

The department will, over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, allocate R365 million to train new social workers and use additional resources to develop the capacity and skills of social workers already within the system. Extra capacity for developmental social welfare services will be created to promote social integration and the protection of individuals, families and communities so that they can function optimally within society. Such extra capacity will also assist in the implementation of social crime prevention measures in order to create a conducive environment to address the challenges of management of children in conflict with the law.

During the financial year 2007/08, the department will allocate resources to improve social welfare service delivery by implementing the Older Persons Act of 2006, the Children's Act of 2005 and the Child Justice Bill. We will also work with both houses of Parliament to finalise the processing of the Children's Amendment Bill. These pieces of legislation require the state to progressively extend services to older persons, improve the protection of children and set up systems for the management and care of children in conflict with the law. The Deputy Minister will elaborate further on developments on these areas.

This year during the Imbizo focus week, I visited "Itireleng Workshop for the blind." I was appalled at the conditions under which people with disabilities in that institution live and work. The Department developed guidelines for residential facilities, protective workshops, rehabilitation services and minimum standards that give effect to the overarching policy on Disability and provide a benchmark against which a desirable or an accepted standard of services can be measured. I urge you to support me and the department in ensuring that these guidelines are effectively implemented and monitored.

We have over the past five years strengthened our interventions aimed at combating HIV and AIDS. Work in this regard includes prevention programmes and provision of care and support services to people affected by HIV and AIDS. These services will be undertaken and implemented in partnership with NGOs including community-based organisations (CBOs) and faith-based organisations (FBOs).

The department continues to provide home community based care programme (HCBC) to many children and orphans. This service include psycho-social support, alternative care placements, assistance with access to social grants, provision of material assistance such as food parcels, school uniforms, provision of stipends to caregivers, poverty alleviation initiatives and advocacy for the promotion and protection of rights regarding access to services, information and awareness. These services are provided in partnership with community-based organisations registered with the Department of Social Development. Although there remain challenges with the standardisation of stipends provided to care givers, I am pleased with the progress made in this regard.

Community development

The department strives to build and promote sustainable livelihoods within communities. Improving the livelihoods of people means ensuring that individuals and families have access to the assets, income and basic services. Through this approach, empowerment of the youth and deepening youth development programmes becomes important. We have finalised the Youth Development Strategy. Its implementation will go a long way in improving the well-being of the youth. This will include engaging young people in activities that develop and benefit their communities, whilst acquiring skills that can enable them to access economic opportunities for sustainable livelihood. This approach will necessitate partnerships with other government departments, especially local government and civil society organisations.

As part of the broader community development mandate, the National Development Agency will be working closely with the provincial departments and other development agencies of government to contribute towards economic growth and poverty eradication. This will be done through mobilisation of community-based organisations, non-governmental organisations, faith based organisations and traditional leadership, around the importance of leveraging opportunities created by government and other role players.

During the financial 2007/08 the National Development Agency received a transfer of R129 million to its budget as a contribution towards the fulfilment of its mandate. We are currently engaged interviews for nominees for the Board of the National Development Agency, which will lead to the appointment of a new Board shortly. I take this opportunity to thank the outgoing Board for their commitment and sterling work, even under difficult circumstances.

Chairperson, significant strides have been recorded in implementing the Expanded Public Works Programme and giving effect to the commitment of creating work opportunities and skills development in the process of service delivery and service provision. The mid-term review of the sector recently undertaken confirmed that the efforts dedicated are beginning to show results. Given more efforts, the sector should be at the half way mark consistent with the mid-term period of implementation we are in presently.

The sector has committed itself to expanding the reach of our services through the scaling-up of work opportunities created within the Early Childhood Development (ECD) and home community based care programmes. We have investigated the potential and prospects of the social sector expanding beyond ECD and HCBC. Our investigation suggests that there are more service delivery interventions, which currently include work opportunities created in the social sector. Proposals towards this are advanced.

Social security

Chairperson, in response to poverty, inequality and destitution, government has focused its efforts on expanding the social assistance safety net over the past decade. The number of beneficiaries of social assistance has increased from about 3,5 million in 1999 to 12 million today. Over eight million children now have access to social assistance. These include 7,9 million children benefiting from the child support grant, close on 412 000 benefiting from foster care grant and over 98 000 benefiting from the care dependency grant. More than 2,1 million elderly people receive the old age grant and 1.4 million people receive the disability grant. Expenditure on social security increased from R36,9 billion in 2003/04, that was 2,9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to a projected R73 billion in 2009/10, constituting 3,1 percent of GDP). Growth in the disability grant has tapered off, indicating close on 100% coverage. In a related development, we will soon present policy options to Cabinet for people with chronic diseases to address this gap. A new disability assessment tool was piloted recently with a view to standardising disability assessments. This tool will ensure uniformity in the assessment of disability, thereby contributing to more efficient management of disability benefits.

The study on incentive structures in the social assistance dispels assertions that our social assistance programme encourages teenage pregnancies, that children are fostered for the purpose of accessing grants and that people with disabilities harm themselves in order to continue accessing social grants. We will continue to focus on the benefits of social assistance and comprehensive social security programmes for the long-term growth and stability of our society.

My department, the South African Social Security Agency and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) signed an agreement that spells out plans to work together to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the child support grant; link social grants with access to education, health and other basic services. This agreement will result in significant donor funding to ensure that we improve access to early childhood development and education by children.

Last year, I made several commitments to work towards a comprehensive social security system. These commitments are in line with decisions made at the Mafikeng and Stellenbosch conferences of the African National Congress (ANC). These measures encompass amongst others a mandatory system of retirement provisions, system of social health insurance and expanding coverage of unemployment insurance. We will work to ensure that these social insurance matters are addressed and a comprehensive system of social security is in place by 2010.

The department is finalising feasibility studies into contributions and benefits proposals, proposals on governance and regulatory aspects of retirement funds, which should address the weaknesses in the current system of retirement provisions. Our proposals will be submitted to the inter-ministerial committee set up by cabinet within the next few weeks.

Chairperson,

We will recommend that the means test for the old age pension be removed as soon as possible and that all people meeting the qualifying age receive the old age pension. To ensure sustainability of our pension system, all employed South Africans must save for retirement. The new pension system must reflect the system of solidarity, which is the South African cultural thrust of the spirit of Ubuntu. Our proposals will ensure that the cost of saving for retirement be reduced significantly.

The reforms of the current retirement system will be the most significant social policy change since 2004. We will ensure that we engage with members of the Tri-partite Alliance, the religious community, NGOs and CBOs and all South Africans in this important endeavour.

Chairperson,

I am glad to announce that the agency establishment process is proceeding in accordance with our plan as contemplated in the Social Cluster Programme of Action. The Agency has taken over full responsibility and accountability of the administration and payment of social grants within all nine provinces. The current administration system for the payment of social assistance grants has been reviewed by the agency and reforms are being implemented.

Furthermore, the agency is considering a new proposed strategy on payment services that considers the Cabinet decision of making the Post Office, through its Post Bank, as the appropriate payment services mechanism for social grants.

The agency has procured 90 fully equipped mobile offices with appropriate technology to render services in remote rural areas, so as to bring services closer to the beneficiaries. The transfers to SASSA for both administration and grant transfers will be R66,6 billion in 2007/08 growing to R78 billion 2009/10.

Chairperson, since the bulk of our services are implemented through a partnership model, there is a need for an effective monitoring and evaluation system. This will support service delivery at the implementation level and ensure effective oversight over the implementing agencies including provinces and NGOs.

International developments in the area of research and policymaking and policy implementation have highlighted the value and relevance of bringing in 'research evidence' in policy making and implementation. We have established a programme to drive this effort in the department. We have taken steps to share the advantages of this evidence-based social policy in the Southern Africa region. A draft Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Social Policy endorsed by 11 Ministers of Social Development is was tabled at the Labour and Social Affairs Commission of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa in April.

As part of strengthening our interventions and making sure that our policies are effective, efficient and meet the department's objectives, we have adopted the evidence-based policy making paradigm. As part of our efforts to improve the quality and rigour of research and policy development we have established partnerships and collaborations with the universities both at home and abroad, including: KwaZulu-Natal, Fort Hare, Venda, Pretoria, Stellenbosch and Oxford.

Chairperson, I conclude the Budget Vote 17 by emphasising that the battle lines against poverty are drawn. My department working together with its provincial counterparts will intensify the struggle against poverty on all fronts. The acid test of our success in this regard must be based on the extent to which we extricate our children from abject poverty.

Chairperson let me conclude by extending my heartfelt appreciation to:
* our Deputy Minister Dr Jean Swanson-Jacobs
* the Members of the Executive Committees for Social Development
* the Director-General
* the Chief Executive Officer (CEOs) of the Public Entities
* all staff in the department and agencies for their hard work and support

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Social Development
23 May 2007