17 August 1999
1 Introduction
Members of Parliament and other invited guests
I am pleased to have this opportunity to brief you this afternoon. As I see it, the purpose of this briefing is threefold.
Firstly, to present the mandate of the Ministry and the Department of Welfare to Parliament
Secondly, to create a basis for a meaningful relationship between Parliament, its Committees (those of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces) and the Ministry and Department of Welfare for the term of government 1999 - 2004 and
Thirdly, to brief you on national social priorities that the Ministry and the Department of Welfare are actively working to address in partnership with a range of organisations.
I will begin my presentation to you by providing a quick overview of the national context within which the Ministry and Dept of Welfare is implementing its mandate. Social Welfare and Population Development is a critical aspect of the governments' commitment to the effective and efficient delivery of social services to those in greatest need.
2 National context
The White Paper on Social Welfare provides a policy framework within which this commitment is being realised. Central to this framework is the definition of social welfare. "Social welfare refers to an integrated and comprehensive system of social services, facilities, programmes and social security to promote social development, social justice and the social functioning of people". This is consistent with a developmental approach aimed at addressing both root causes of social problems as well as systemic crises that beset our nation.
What then are the imperatives that guide this Ministry's implementation of its mandate? The national context, as we all know, is characterised by persistent and deepening poverty which is accompanied by social alienation and related pathologies. This in turn has led to the most vulnerable in every household, community and province experiencing shocking levels of all sorts of violence. Violence against children, women and the elderly is an affront to the type of society we are building. Added to this is the fastest growing incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country. The two-way relationship between HIV/AIDS and poverty is unarguable. For many reasons it is those with the least resources and power that are experiencing the most devastating impacts of these problems.
In addition, low economic growth and highly inequitable income distribution (the poorest 40% of households earn less than 6% of total national income) together with large-scale unemployment in the formal sector of the economy has placed increased demands on the range of social welfare services offered by the Department at all levels of government.
Given this context the Ministry and Department has:
3.Implementing the Ministry of Social Welfare's Mandate
The Ministry of Welfare has political responsibility over the following key areas of government:
Implementing this mandate has resulted in four strategic focus areas (SFAs) in the current phase of building an integrated and comprehensive welfare system as envisaged in the White Paper. These four areas are:
This includes a safety net of social grants to children, older persons, foster parents and war veterans (see breakdown of grants attached). It also includes the multi-year Poverty Relief Fund allocations (R203m in the financial year 1998/99 and R40m in the financial year1999/2000).
Significant work will be done during the five year term to develop effective, medium and long-term programmes for poverty reduction and sustainable local economic development to improve government's response in this arena.
In particular, research will be conducted into the feasibility of creating contributory schemes or partial contributory schemes for government social assistance. Major improvements on how payment services are made, in the area of social assistance, is a long-term objective that will commence and be consolidated in the current term of government.
The objective is to transform welfare services from paternalistic and/or specialist services to developmental and holistic services, that are able to respond to the varied range of chronic critical social problems and where
- the capabilities of the individual, the household or group are supported and enhanced and
- welfare services are organised in such a way that individuals and communities are offered the widest possible range of services in their 'immediate neighbourhood'. The intention is to work towards a situation in which every community has access to services for children, women, youth, families and older persons.
This transformation process is supported by
- the new financing policy effective from 1 April 1999.
- Creating a welfare services environment that supports poverty reduction initiatives, human capacity development and social integration of vulnerable persons will be a major programme of government for the current five-year term.
- Developing a comprehensive, integrated social security system: This is an inter-departmental initiative led by the Department of Welfare to outline for Cabinet a set of recommendations covering the risks related to unemployment, disability, medical insurance, accident cover, lack of retirement provision and other identified risks. The study will have a series of research outputs/presentations covering, inter alia, the risks to be covered, appropriate social security mechanisms, restructuring of the system to avoid double dipping, affordability and other related problems.
The study to design options for a comprehensive integrated social security system is expected to be completed within two years. Implementation of the recommendations will be addressed during the ensuing period.
This strategic focus area seeks to integrate national priorities such as HIV/AIDS, women and poverty, substance abuse, survivor support and development into all aspects of the Department's work.
The design and implementation of appropriate programmes relating to the above, as well as participation in the government's drive for a National Crime Prevention Strategy is a major initiative for the current term of government.
4 Departmental Programmes and Initiatives
The following represent the four priority programmes of the Department of Welfare for 1999/2000 and for the medium term to 2001/2:
Social assistance in the form of grants remains one of the most extensive forms of redistribution in South Africa. The welfare department has ended legal disparities by race, changed access to grants and established a unified administrative system at the provincial level. Fraud in the pension system has been reduced and a major revamp of the payment system is currently underway to ensure high levels of operational efficiency and quality service to citizens.
The introduction of the Child Support Grant in April 1998 has seen a slow uptake in the first year. Current applications stand at 100 000. The objective for FY1999/2000 is to reach 500 000 children in payment. Co-operation with NGOs such as SANCO have borne fruit in increasing the uptake of the grant.
In the FY 1999/2000, the Department of Welfare will pay around R17bn to 2,9 million beneficiaries, of whom 1,8 million are older persons.
The objective of the WPIS is to design a service that will offer citizens who qualify at least the following:
- Access to a range of payment options including physical and electronic cash services and partial withdrawal of benefits
- Access to a high quality service with quick turn around times between application and first payments
- Value added services such as interest-bearing savings mechanisms and other micro-finance services
- Access to information regarding the full range of welfare services offered in South Africa
The objective is also to offer government at least the following:
- The most cost-effective way to administer public funds
- Significant and incremental fraud reduction
- Accuracy of beneficiary information to ensure that the service is targeted in line with government policy of reaching the poorest of the poor
- A high level of productivity of staff responsible for the payment and information functions
- The ability to reconcile payments on a daily basis
These stated objectives will also improve medium to long term budgetary planning. The current cost of disbursing social grants is estimated at around R500m per annum.
The design of an anti-poverty strategy for the Department of Welfare is in its first phase. The model includes the following features:
- Allocation of funds to local projects (both large- and small-scale) on the recommendation of provincial welfare departments
- Allocation of funds to national projects in collaboration with other national departments (Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism) and non-governmental organisations (Federal Council for the Disabled, National Trauma Network)
- A developmental facilitation role played by the national and provincial department of welfare to promote sustainability of the recommended projects and the programme as a whole
- A capacity-building role played by a large number of non-governmental and community-based organisations to support local projects with skill development and knowledge transfer, also in support of project sustainability. The Independent Development Trust (IDT) is a major partner in the disbursement and administration of the funds, while the Departments, NGOs and CBOs are responsible for promoting long term project sustainability.
- The national Department is also responsible, in collaboration with provincial departments, for designing appropriate poverty reduction strategies, which link the investment of the funds to preventative services and early intervention services. For example, projects will be encouraged where HIV/AIDS counselling services for young people in rural villages and towns, that typically do not have access to welfare services or other counselling services, are supported. To this end, the national Department will also be seeking co-operation with a growing number of government departments including health, agriculture and education.
- Funds specifically designated for capacity building will be set aside in each successive year of the poverty relief programme. The Department (and in some instances projects themselves) has also secured support from international donor agencies. The Micro-Save programme is supported by the UNDP. The European Union, on the basis of an allocation and commitment to fund from the Department of Welfare is considering funding for the National Trauma Network.
- Training for national and provincial staff has been embarked on to introduce and/or revitalise project and programme management skills.
Past and current arrangements for financing welfare services are based on a subsidy related to the number of staff working at the institution. The new financing policy proposes a number of shifts in financing to promote services which focus on prevention and early intervention measures; "one-stop shop" type services/facilities; services which link remedial services to social development initiatives. The policy is concerned with whether the particular service meets the needs of the local community and whether the quality of the service is appropriate to the needs expressed. Citizens and clients of welfare services will have greater say in reviewing the nature and quality of services.
The current welfare services budget is around R1,45bn per annum. These funds must be used more cost effectively and distributed more equitably between rural and urban areas. This is a key objective. The "basket of services" will be costed using a funding model to test and plan the effective distribution of services and resources, both human and financial.
The financing policy is a key element of the programme to transform welfare services and will be introduced over the period 1999 - 2004. Quality assurance mechanisms and measurements will form a crucial part of the programme.
Other programmes and initiatives include:
Transformation of the child and youth care system to ensure that, wherever possible, children are diverted from the criminal justice system and are provided with legal representation when required. The transformation process incorporates a wide array of measures including diversion programmes; family and group counseling secure care facilities separate from facilities for adult offenders. A number of pilot programmes have been implemented in various provinces and will be replicated. Reports are available from the Department. Survivor support and development (previously known as victim empowerment) which will design services to inter alia, survivors of rape, domestic violence, criminal violence, child abuse and neglect
This aspect of the departments work involves a review of all welfare legislation including social assistance legislation, as well as legislation pertaining to children and older persons. The following legislation will be presented to Parliament before March 2000:
- The Developmental Welfare Governance Bill aims to establish appropriate arrangements for a relationship between the Minister of Welfare and the non-governmental welfare sector to ensure that the objectives of the White Paper for transformation and equity in welfare services are achieved equally within government and within the broader welfare sector.
- The Status of Older Persons Bill aims to enshrine the rights of older persons to care and protection from harm in law, whether they are cared for in the home or in residential care facilities. The Bill seeks to provide redress for any persons who may require it, more importantly the Bill seeks to prevent the abuse of older persons by providing appropriate mechanisms for public complaint and oversight. The Bill will be a further step in the deracialisation of services and institutions for older persons.
- The Disaster Relief Fund Bill seeks to rationalise a number of pieces of legislation dealing with disasters and emergencies to create a coherent framework for the administration of funds.
- A minor amendment is proposed to the Not-for-Profit Organisations Act.
To ensure that the Department of Welfare is able to meet these very important objectives, a major restructuring project is underway. Following a number of initiatives in the first five years of government, the National Department is continuing its own internal transformation initiatives through, inter alia:
The employment of an appropriate pool of persons bringing together a multi-disciplinary package of knowledge and skills is the major objective of the human resource management approach of the Department. In excess of 15 posts have been advertised in the past 10 months, aimed at recruiting new knowledge and skills in fields such as local economic development, development planning, information strategy design and management, strategic business development, internal audit. An adequate pool of human resources has, thus far, not been achieved.
5 National/provincial relations - building co-operative government
All the projects and programmes referred to above are conducted in collaboration between the national and provincial departments of welfare. The continuous clarification of roles is a necessary part of building the kind of cop-operative government, where, though services are effected at provincial level the national Minister retains responsibility for the overall implementation of the policy and the realisation of specific policy goals.
In the past, the national and provincial heads of department have consulted on a wide range of issues at a meeting referred to as Departmental Committee on Developmental Social Services (DCDSS).
The work in collaboration with provincial departments, national department and the Department of Finance for the MTEF planning is also critical in building corporate governance and decision-making.
Concluding comments
The welfare environment is a fascinating world with much to do and much to contribute towards the reconstruction of South Africa. The value of building a welfare sector that will be driven by people and that will promote human development and social justice cannot be over emphasised. In my first few months within this Ministry I have been visiting a number of provinces and organisations to listen to the views of the people on the ground and to see for myself the range of issues that need urgent attention. The situation is awesome. The challenges are many. The low morale of social service workers across the country needs to be addressed. The voluntary welfare sector and the non governmental sector need to consolidate their critical involvement with the government forge renewed partnerships to address the many challenges. Indeed, we need to mobilise every person to come together as a collective force as we attempt to build a better life for all our people.
In the words of our President " We face an enormous task in creating a caring society. It is a challenge which faces the entirety of our people, not only the government alone". I look forward to working with you in the future.