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Date : 22/06/2004
Source: Ministry of Social Development
Title: Z Skweyiya: Social Development Dept Budget Vote debate, NCOP


BUDGET VOTE SPEECH BY DR ZOLA SKWEYIYA, MINISTER OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, National Council Of Provinces, Cape Town, 22 June 2004

Chairperson,
Delegates from the provinces,
The Minister of Health,
MECs from the provinces,
Leaders of civil society organisations,
Ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to first acknowledge all the new members of the National Council of Provinces and request that they, together with all the honourable members of this house, emulate the previous NCOP and maintain a clear and sharp focus on the mandate given to us by our people.

We have been given a mandate to fight poverty and unemployment, and ensure that all South Africans, especially those living in poverty or confronting other vulnerabilities are fully able to exercise their constitutional rights and enjoy the full dignity of freedom. Today, we are requesting that you support the Department of Social Development in building a caring and integrated system of social development services that facilitates human development and improves the quality of life of all of our people. This applies especially to children, youth, women, older people, and people with disabilities.

In my last address to the previous NCOP before the close of its term of service, I spoke in support of the Social Assistance and the South African Social Security Agency Bills. I am pleased to report that the process of establishing the national social security agency is now well underway and, as President Thabo Mbeki has announced, it will be operational from April 2005.

This task requires the urgent completion of the provincial inputs necessary for the finalisation of the budget for social grants over the MTEF period. It also requires that each provincial government ring-fence and subsequently separate the social grants function from other services provided by the provincial departments of Social Development. It also requires a reorganisation of the provincial departments of Social Development to give greater and more comprehensive focus on other social welfare responsibilities.

Our strategy to transform and enhance social welfare services encompasses the following initiatives:

* The retention strategy for social workers and the development of associated social service professions;
* The upgrading of the salary levels for social work professionals;
* The proposed introduction of incentives for professionals working in rural areas,
* The development of an appropriate service delivery model; and
* A policy framework for the granting of financial awards to non-governmental organisations that renders statutory welfare services.

As the Council of Provinces is aware, this latter point has been a matter of on-going concern. The existent policy is antiquated and does not channel adequate resources to the welfare institutions that need the assistance the most - especially those working with children. Many welfare institutions, in particular those created in the past ten years are under financed and do not have the necessary trained staff. Many institutions, civil society and faith-based organisations find themselves unable to cope with the need and demand for their services. We are working on putting into place an all-encompassing framework that will assist these welfare institutions, civil society and faith-based organisations - especially those working with orphaned and vulnerable children.

I am sure that members of the NCOP are aware that all the partners in the social development sector are currently conducting a campaign to register children under the age of eleven years who qualified from 1 April this year for the Child Support Grant. As we intensify our campaign to register all eligible children under 14 years by 2005/6, we expect an additional 3.2 million children to also receive the child support grant, thereby bringing the total number of children in the system to over 7 million.

While significant progress has been achieved in extending basic social assistance, there is still outstanding work that needs to be done to ensure that we strengthen contributory arrangements for comprehensive social security. The most important elements of this work is the finalisation of negotiations between the National Treasury and the Department of Health on Social Health Insurance, and the development of an integrated implementation framework for Social Health Insurance and the Road Accident Fund. These elements will be completed by September 2004. As part of the provision of basic social assistance services we will do further work to improve the understanding of the composition, value, distribution and targeting of the social wage. We will report to Cabinet on this matter by November 2004.

Chairperson, on the legislative front there is still some unfinished business that we are requesting the NCOP to address with urgency. Government presented a package of four social development bills to the previous parliament. The research, drafting, public participation processes, and re-drafting of these four bills had been on-going for more than four years prior to their presentation to parliament. It is time to ensure that the Children and the Older Persons Bills are properly considered and speedily passed by parliament. As we celebrate ten years of democracy, it is time to ensure that children and older people are able to fully exercise their constitutional rights and enjoy the full dignity of freedom.

As the Older Persons Bill is a Section 76 Bill, I have accordingly requested the Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Deputy President Jacob Zuma, to re-introduce the Older Persons Bill in the NCOP for referral to the Select Committee on Social Service. The overall goal of the Bill is to maintain and increase the capacity of older persons to support themselves and to contribute to the well being of those around them. The specific objectives of the Bill are:

1. To maintain, increase and promote the status, well-being, safety and security of older persons;
2. To maintain and protect the rights of older persons as recipients of services;
3. To regulate the registration of facilities for older persons; and
4. To combat the abuse of older persons.

The many and varied stakeholder organisations working in support of the "active aging" of our older people, have participated in the processes that will lead up to the repeal of the Aged Persons Act, 1967 and the Aged Persons Amendment Act, 1998. They are also keen to have the bill properly considered and speedily passed by parliament.

Chairperson, the priority elements of the government's programme of action for this year have been clearly articulated in President Mbeki's recent State of the Nation address to parliament. They are underpinned by the joint programmes of the various sector clusters in Cabinet, and I would like to spend some time elaborating on some key social development components of the programmes of the Cabinet clusters for this year.

First, the National Food Emergency Scheme that is part of the Integrated Food Security and Nutrition Programme. The scheme uses Statistic SA's categorisation of poor households in South Africa into five "bands" based upon their levels of expenditure on basic domestic essentials per month. To date, the Food Emergency Scheme has focused only on the poorest households - that is households in Band "A" who spend less than R200 per month on domestic essentials and do not have a household member who receives a social assistance grants in excess of R200.

In other words, the only poor households that qualify for food relief are those in Band "A" whose only form of social assistance is the Child Support Grant. According to the scooping exercise conducted by Statistics SA, the majority of these households are geographically concentrated in the nodes of the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme and the nodes of the Urban Renewal Programme. Some of the households are also located in the provincial poverty pockets.

Given the urgent human needs and the logistical challenges faced, the National Food Emergency Scheme has largely gone well but there have been some problems. Although community organisations have assisted in the identification of needy families and child-headed households, the non-involvement of civil society structures has in some cases raised problems. Service providers have, by and large, coordinated their distribution of food parcels with some traditional leaders and faith-based organisations, but a more inclusive approach could have been used.

During this year the Department will be working to standardise the use of stakeholder forums in the identification of households to receive in-kind emergency food relief. The Department will also be investigating all contracted service providers to ensure that the food parcels that are distributed contain foodstuffs of a good and nutritious quality to the value of R300, as required. We have found cases where this has not been the case, which raises questions about the ethics and practices of some of these service providers.

The Department is working with other social cluster departments, its provincial counterparts, and other stakeholders to review the entire programme in order to make it more effective and efficient; and ensure that it is both implemented correctly and reaches the most vulnerable households.

It is also necessary, in order to ensure the sustainability and the ultimate independence of the beneficiaries of food parcels; that the registration of social grant beneficiaries, the provision of agricultural starter packs and the linking of households to food production initiatives, receive attention. The non-provision of agricultural starter packs has serious implications for the sustainability and overall success of this initiative; and this matter is being addressed.

Government recognises that not all qualifying households have the capacity to prepare food for themselves. Therefore designated drop-in centres have been established to provide prepared meals and nutritional supplements to child-headed households, frail older people, TB patients and frail people living with HIV and AIDS.

The second joint programme of the Cabinet clusters that I would like to bring to the attention of the NCOP is the Expanded Public Works Programme. Government's expanded public works programme in the social cluster is aimed at expanding social services, enhancing skills and creating work opportunities. In the short term, the programme focuses on enhancing Early Childhood Development (ECD) services and the provision of Home and Community Based Care services.

With respect to Early Childhood Development services, it was estimated in 2000 that only 16% of children under the age of six years old, had access to these services. In addition, 85% of the caregivers at these ECD facilities required further training. We will endeavour to sustain our ECD interventions by linking them to the National Food Emergency Scheme and the School Nutrition Programme, with the ultimate objective of ensuring that all children attend school and receive at least one meal a day. In this regard we applaud the priority that the new Minister of education, Naledi Pandor, is assigning to pre-school education.

With respect to existing Home and Community Based Care facilities, it is estimated that they are staffed by approximately 2,500 full time caregivers and 20,000 volunteers. Only a quarter of these volunteers receive stipends of any kind. Government has made a special allocation of R70 million for the Department to support and increase the number of home and community based care sites. Increased support for the establishment of community child care forums is also envisaged. The Department is also coordinating an umbrella research project on the impact of HIV and AIDS on social service provision in government.

Chairperson, before I conclude allow me to return to the issue of the mandate that we have been given by our people. Youth are central to the government's commitment to fighting poverty and unemployment. During the month of June, which is Youth Month, we are re-dedicating ourselves to this task and intensifying our efforts to address the challenges faced by young people. In this regard our sector will focus on developing skills and work opportunities for young people.

We are working with the Department of Labour to ensure that the Sector Education and Training Authorities increase the number of learnerships available in our sector. By March 2005 the Department will have developed unit standards for young people working in the community and youth sectors. We will work through not-for-profit organisations to enhance the utilisation of the Umsobomvu Fund and ensure the broadening of the base of the Black Economic Empowerment process. This will require much closer collaboration between the National Development Agency and the Umsobomvu Fund.

At this point we would like to acknowledge the new board of the National Development Agency (NDA) led by Chairperson, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, and commend them for their strategic initiatives that not only strengthen good governance but also ensure that project assistance reaches the poorest communities in our country.

As part of our work to building a caring society we are also attending to qualitative issues such as the role and place of the family, societal value systems and moral regeneration - especially during this year, the International Year of the Family. This year we will complete the process of developing a comprehensive policy framework and strategy on families.

Members of the NCOP, it has to be said that while this work progresses, the scourge of drug and substance abuse continues to ravage our communities, families, and youth. What is even more worrying is that this problem is starting to crop up in schools and amongst children.

Working together with all spheres of government and all sectors of society we will in the coming year give this issue priority attention. We have to reduce this scourge and promote healthy lifestyles. We will therefore intensify awareness campaigns that contribute to moral regeneration; finalise the norms and standards for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts; and ensure that treatment centres are registered, function in accordance with the constitution, respect human rights and operate in terms of good governance principles.

In this regard I take this opportunity to announce that we have decided not to grant the Noupoort Christian Care Centre permanent registration but rather look at its closure. This follows the recommendations of a task team established by the Director-General that found violation of human rights; lack of compliance with legislation such as the Child Care Act and the Drug Treatment Act; and the lack of compliance with the set norms and standards for such centres; continues to occur.

This is despite the fact that the management of the Centre was given ample time over the last two to three years to address these matters. We granted the Centre temporary registration for a period of over two years after a number of parents had requested that the Centre not be closed down. We also went further and made proposals on how the Centre could bring its services in line with the constitution, pertinent legislation, and good governance principles. The report that I have received shows that not enough has been done to this effect.

We cannot as government allow this situation to continue endlessly and we would like to urge the parents and communities to cooperate with us in addressing this matter.

Chairperson, our efforts at social integration also require that we pay particular attention to services for people with disabilities. The Department is in the process of developing national norms and standards on service delivery to people with disabilities. This year, together with the Health Department and the Presidency we will be finalising the procedures for the granting of the disability grant based on a common definition of disability that encompasses the elements suggested by the World Health Organisation.

Chairperson, across the entire spectrum of the work of the Department of Social Development, the attainment of our objectives requires cooperative governance and effective collaboration with civil society. We will, therefore, this year engage civil society organisations in our country and on the African continent to develop a common platform of action in support of NEPAD.

In order for us to succeed in elaborating upon these hallmark principles of cooperative governance and implement our plan of action we urge members of the NCOP to support the Budget Vote of the Department of Social Development.

I thank you.

Issued by: Ministry of Social Development
22 June 2004

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