BUDGET VOTE SPEECH BY MINISTER OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, DR ZOLA SKWEYIYA, TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, Cape Town
3 June 2004
Madam Speaker, Honourable Members
Deputy Minister of Social Development
Members of the Executive Council for Social Development
Distinguished Guests
Leaders and members of the civil society
Members of the community present here today
Ladies and Gentlemen
Firstly Madame Speaker, let me first of all take this opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment as the Speaker of this House and wish you and your team all of the best.
In his State of the Nation Address the President called on us to "get down to work in a people's contract to build a better South Africa and a better world". As we celebrate our ten years of freedom and continue with the business of our third democratic government, we view this is an appropriate time to elaborate on our implementation programme for Vision 2014.
The goals in Vision 2014 are:
* Contributing to reducing unemployment through sustainable community livelihoods
* Contributing to reducing poverty through comprehensive social security, and improved household and community assets.
* Providing skills, building capacity and providing resources to encourage self-employment.
* Ensuring that all South Africans, especially the poor and those at risk - children, youth, women, the aged, and people with disabilities - are able fully to exercise their constitutional rights and enjoy the full dignity of freedom.
* Ensuring compassionate public service to the people; that national, provincial and local officials are accessible; and that citizens know their rights and insist on fair treatment and efficient services.
* Contributing to reducing malnutrition and turning the tide against HIV and AIDS.
* Contributing to building a society that can actively challenge crime and corruption and that promotes programmes that address the social roots of criminality.
* Contributing to building a South Africa that is growing, prospering and benefiting all Africans, especially the poor.
These goals have been translated into cluster priorities and departmental objectives. In order to support this work, the Department of Social Development, Stats SA and The Presidency have commissioned research to audit poverty measures used by different departments. The final report and recommendations on poverty measures will be ready by September 2004. Related to this work is research that will be undertaken on pro-poor social policy in collaboration with the universities of Oxford and KwaZulu Natal. This project will also encompass Historically Black Universities.
Broadly speaking, the Department of Social development seeks to build a caring and integrated system of social development services that facilitates human development and improves the quality of life for all people, in particular those living in poverty or confronting other vulnerabilities.
I am pleased to confirm that President Thabo Mbeki has signed it into law the South African Social Security Act, 2004. This ushers in a qualitatively new era towards a people-centred and quality service delivery of social grants. The process of establishing the Agency is now underway and, as the President has announced, will be operational as from April 2005. This Agency will be an institution of excellence working towards the efficient and effective management, and payment of social security grants through the optimal utilisation of partnerships.
Having succeeded in expanding the reach of our social security system, the challenge now is to deliver high quality services in a dignified manner. We also have to ensure that we close the leakages from social grant system by drastically reducing the levels of fraud and corruption.
Over the years the number of people with disabilities who receive the disability grant has been increasing. Currently there are over 1,3 million beneficiaries of the disability grant. Although we have made significant strides, recent events in the provinces indicate that there are still many challenges that need to be addressed. There is a high incidence of fraud and corruption and non-compliance with specified procedures. Some doctors and public servants are in cahoots with criminal syndicates to defraud the state and deprive legitimate claimants of their rights. We have consequently developed an anti fraud strategy and launched an anti - fraud hotline. This year we will also be mounting an extensive anti-fraud awareness campaign to reverse this trend.
The South African Social Agency, which we are establishing, will manage a budget of over R50 billion and provide services to more than 12 million beneficiaries. The Agency will also ensure equal access to social security for all citizens and the implementation of uniform norms and standards in the country.
The establishment of the Agency will require a redefinition of the roles and focus of both the national and provincial departments of Social Development with respect to social security. The national department will, however, be responsible for policy development, monitoring and evaluation. The establishment of the Agency will also enable us to focus more on the expansion of welfare services to the most vulnerable sections of our society such as children, older persons, youth, women and people with disabilities.
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 are scheduled to be complete 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.
Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to the honourable members of the House to assist in the registration of children under the age of eleven years who qualified from 1 April this year for the Child Support Grant. A target of approximately 900,000 children and a budget allocation of R3.6 billion in transfers to the provinces have been set for the period 2004/5.
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. In order to realise this objective, we will work closely with the departments in the social cluster departments, particularly Home Affairs, to ensure that all the eligible social grant applicants are in possession of all the necessary birth certificates and identity documents.
We will also continue to work with our social partners, notably leaders of all faiths, the business sector and civil society organisations, in our campaign to ensure registration of all eligible beneficiaries of social grants, especially the child support grant. I also take this opportunity to thank all our social partners for working with us throughout the years to ensure that indeed children do receive what is their constitutional right. Sithi siyabulela, Nangamso!
A key component of creating a comprehensive social security system is ensuring that we put children first. Earlier this week we celebrated the International Day of Children and the Child Protection Week, under the theme of "umtwana wam' ngumtwana wakho: Child Protection is Everybody's Business". It was inspiring to witness all sectors of our society rallying behind the future leaders of this beautiful nation, saying in unison: "enough is enough". We are united in saying to the perpetrators of the hideous crimes of physical and sexual abuse of our children -- we will make sure that you face the wrath of our justice system.
During the coming year we will also be giving priority attention to issues of children in conflict with the law. Our work in this regard must strengthen our efforts to divert young people away from criminal activities. To this end we will ensure that this year, 2004/2005, the 15 000 young people who have benefited from the diversion programme are kept away from crime and that the programme reaches all the corners of South Africa. I take this opportunity to also recognise the contributions of the Royal Netherlands Embassy who continue to work closely with us in ensuring that children in conflict with the law are reintegrated into society as responsible young people and eventually adults.
One of our immediate key priorities is to ensure that a comprehensive childcare legislation - for which our people have been waiting far too long - is passed by parliament by the end of this year. This Bill will facilitate the realisation of the basic constitutional rights of children in this country. It is intended to give legislative effect to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Protocol to Prevent Trafficking in Persons, among other things.
Honourable Members, as reiterated by the President in his recent State of the Nation address, a society in which large sections of the population depend on social welfare cannot sustain its development. Together with the other departments in the social and economic clusters, the Department will be using the Expanded Public Works Programme as one of our mechanisms for providing social and economic infrastructure. For the Department of Social Development, in the short term, this Programme will have the dual objectives of addressing early childhood development and the provision of Home and Community Based Care services.
Government's expanded public works programme, which will expand social services, enhance skills and create work opportunities, is meant precisely to reduce, over time, the proportion of our people who subsist solely on social grants.
In this regard we will prioritise developing the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector, so that children below Grade R are provided with the necessary material and psycho-social support so that they grow into healthy, active and responsible adults.
This requires that we evaluate the current state of facilities and identify delivery gaps within the early childhood development sector. We intend to have discussions with the United Nations Children's Education Fund (UNICEF) to explore ways in which they can assist, so that we can complete the research by February 2005. Madame Speaker, we sincerely believe that the long- term development of South Africa is crucially dependent on what we invest in our children in their formative years. We will therefore endeavour to sustain ECD interventions directed at children through 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.
Madame Speaker, the issue of mitigating the social impact of HIV and AIDS, by strengthening and supporting families and communities, remains at the top of our agenda. The needs of the most vulnerable members of our society, especially orphaned children, are the focus of our efforts. 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.
The Department for International Development of the British government is also providing support for an umbrella research project on the impact of HIV and AIDS on social service provision in government. This support is appreciated.
Government fully supports the sentiments expressed by Ms Busisiwe Mabaso, a community health worker whom I had the occasion to meet during the Soul City Community Health Care Workers Awards, that much more needs be done by all sectors of society to provide direct support to children affected by HIV and AIDS.
Another focus of our work will be to attend to issues that impede the fulfilment of children's rights. I have already had discussions with the Minister of Justice to find ways of ensuring that by the end of this year, we have the means to ensure that defaulting parents who should be paying child maintenance can be held to account and made to fulfil their responsibilities. We are also working to make the administrative systems and procedures for accessing foster care grants more efficient and user friendly.
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.
Restoring the communal and family values of love, care and support for all children is a key component of our efforts at social integration and cohesion. I would like to acknowledge the work being done by the staff and volunteers of the Family and Marriage Society of South Africa (FAMSA) who have worked tirelessly with us to ensure that issues of family life remains on centre stage - 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.
Madame Speaker, another issue that is impeding our efforts at creating social cohesion and contributing to the disintegration of families is rampant drug and substance abuse. The provincial forums on drug and substance abuse, the national department and the Central Drug Authority will expand the Ke Moja Campaign against drug and substance abuse to all provinces by the end of the year.
Youth are central to the government's commitment to fighting poverty and unemployment. The month of June, which is Youth Month, provides an excellent launch pad for the intensification 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.
Our efforts at social integration also require that we pay particular attention to services for 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.
Our strategy to transform welfare services includes 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, a policy framework for the granting of financial awards to non-governmental organisations that render statutory welfare services.
I commended the work of the Council for Social Service Professionals in assisting in the development of professional occupations for Auxiliary Social Workers, Childcare Workers and Youth Workers. The work of these social service professions will be complemented by the programme to train a cadre of community development workers.
In anticipation of these developments, we have conducted an audit of the location and numbers of available and practicing social workers and are in the process of negotiating with the Minister of Public Services and consulting organised labour with a view to improving the conditions of employment for social workers.
This year we will also focus on meeting the capacity needs of the social development sector for social service professionals. We are discussing entering into a partnership with the government of the United Kingdom through its Department for International Development (DFID) to support our training initiatives in this regard. The United Nations Populations Fund has also been providing long-standing support for government to train government planners in responding to HIV and AIDS.
Madame Speaker, across the entire spectrum of the work of the Department of Social Development, the attainment of our objectives requires cooperative governance and effective collaboration between all three spheres of government.
The first Social Development MinMec meeting of this term of government has already committed itself to a sustained engagement with local government structures throughout the country. The Social Development MEC in each province will drive this process.
Madame Speaker, the social development sector is committed to integrating its sector plans with the Integrated Development Plans at local level. Is should be noted that over thirty percent of the projects funded by the poverty relief programme had been in the nodal points of the Urban Renewal and Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programmes. Over sixty percent of the funding went to the three poorest provinces in our country, which are KwaZulu- Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo.
The special allocation for the Poverty Relief Programme is coming to an end but all the work is being integrated into the department and our current focus in this programme is on a shift away from dependency on the state and on the building of self-reliance. Existing projects will be linked to the Integrated Development Plans of local government as well as partnered with relevant development agencies and other government departments.
At this point, I would also like to note and applaud the efforts being made by the newly appointed Chairperson of the National Development Agency (NDA), Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana and the NDA Board who have, despite several challenges, ensured that community projects and non-governmental organisations continue to receive the support they urgently require. A revitalised National Development Agency is key to implementing government's objective of enhancing the participation of civil society organisations in the socio-economic transformation and nation- building.
The strong and multi-dimensional partnerships that the Ministry of Social Development has forged with various stakeholders - namely, faith based organisations, the business community, non-governmental organisations and community based organisations - will be enhanced in the coming year. Particular attention will be given to the implementation of the commitments made during the Growth and Development Summit to align the corporate social investment programmes of business with the economic and social public investment initiatives of government.
We appreciate all our longstanding patrons in the Social Development Business Summit Process -- Mr Cyril Ramaphosa and Mr Raymond Ackerman, and our longstanding business partners - Transnet, the Shell Corporation, Mvelaphanda, Johnnic Publications, Cell C, and Tiger Brands.
We would also like to acknowledge the support given to the social development sector by the soccer fraternity. Kaiser Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, Mamelodi Sundowns and Santos who have all supported projects that assist vulnerable and disadvantaged children. We hope that now that SAFA and the Bid Committee have been successful in their campaign to secure the 2010 soccer World Cup, these efforts by soccer clubs and their loyal supporters will grow in number and stature.
Members of the artistic community in our country have also been outstanding supporters of the social development sector. -- Mama Makeba, ma Dolly Rathebe, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, the young lions Andile and Zola, Solly Moholo and Phuzu Khemisi.
In line with government's commitment to building a better South Africa and a better world, we will be participating in the ten-year review of the International Conference on Population and Development this year. We will also be elaborating the social dimensions of NEPAD. In order to develop a common platform of action around our commitments at the World Summit for Social Development, which will conduct its ten -year review in February 2005, we also intend to establish a dialogue with regional civil society organisations.
In order to better coordinate our inputs into all these processes, we will by October this year host a SADC meeting of Social Development Ministers. In addition, as a follow-up to the Word Summit on Sustainable Development we will be hosting a meeting of African civil society organisations.
In order to make inputs into all of these processes and reinforce the multi-dimensional partnerships we have already established with civil society, we will jointly organise a civil society indaba to collectively consider our inputs into the people's contract to fight poverty and unemployment.
We urge members of the house to support the Budget Vote 19 of Social Development in order to give effect to the peoples mandate to strengthen families and communities for a better life for children.