It’s becoming the norm for the Department of Social Development to become recipients and winners of National Government Performance Awards. Our latest accolade in our trophy cabinet , which is surely becoming too small, is the SAIGA Annual Public Sector Reporting Award.
SAIGA is the South African Institution of Government Auditors. The award we received is based on the pursuit for excellence in Departmental Annual Reports and is a significant initiative and must be seen against the background of the promulgation of the Public Finance Management Act and related legislation such as the Treasury Regulation.
The Annual Report of 2011/12 of the Department of Social Development was adjudicated as the winner in the category for Departments in the Northern Cape and 8th in the country.
The Award Panel and the Technical Award Committee is constituted from SAIGA office bearers, experts in the field of public sector reporting, representatives of the Office of the Accountant-General and the Auditor-General.
The fact that the awards are managed and administered by an independent institute which has been active in the public arena for the last 15 years, adds the much desired elements of independence and credibility to the Award. The Quality Assurance relating to the technical analysis and evaluation was done by the Department of Auditing, University of Pretoria.
The trophy which we received is in the form of a glass pyramid. This shape (pyramid) symbolises the departments’ (upward) pursuit for excellence. The Pyramid also encloses the concept of three points, drawing a parallel to the so-called 3 Es, efficiency, effectiveness and economy. The glass represents transparency. The overlaying pyramids of glass indicate that more than one report is produced to make up the financial statements.
The SAIGA Award follows shortly after our department received 7 consecutive unqualified audit opinions and in the 2012/13 financial year we made the giant step to receive an unqualified audit opinion with no findings.
This award was preceded by the Auditor General country’s Best Performing Department Award for the 2012/13 financial year. Similarly, the Balelapa household profiling has received the 1st runner-up award for the Most innovative service delivery instrument by government.
The awards were received on the eve of the Department of Social Development’s presentation of the 2012/13 Annual Report to the Portfolio Committee. A year in which the department changed gears and moved from unqualified audit in 2011/12 to a clean audit in 2012/13.
This is a clear indication that the department has achieved the targets and the pre determined objectives set aside to create a better life for all within the budget allocated to the Department of Social Development.
The department therefore made significant improvements in terms of achieving its targets and objectives and spending it accordingly within the framework of government financial policies and in particular the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
The measures put in place to ensure we achieve these targets and pre-determined objectives include amongst others:
- Monitoring of financial expenditure against service delivery output through the Budget Monitoring Tool
- Building and sustaining a culture of compliance through Internal Control Measures
- Performance Monitoring (Financial and Predetermined Objectives) through Quarterly Performance Review
- Leading service delivery improvement measures
The core mandate of the Department of Social Development is to enable the poor, vulnerable and the excluded within the South African Society to secure a better life for themselves.
The policy priorities which guide us to ensure that all our designated groups which are the disabled, the youth, women, children and families positively benefit from our services are:
- Policy Priority 1: Protecting the Poor
- Policy Priority 2: Youth Development
- Policy Priority 3: Crime Prevention
- Policy Priority 4: Building cohesive, caring and sustainable communities
In highlighting some of the department’s achievements as reflected in the performance tables in the 2012/13 Annual Report, each one is directly linked to one or more of the policy priorities, which in essence describe the impact which the department strives to make.
Our Balelapa Household Profiling Project has culminated into six reports, each giving a perspective of poor households in the Northern Cape in terms of the province and each of the five districts. This is regarded as a major achievement, enabling the department and Provincial Administration to take the War on Poverty to a higher level.
As part of the department’s Food For All Programme, 78 Soup kitchens and 32 Drop-in-Centres were funded by the department and this provided 740 884 nutritious meals to 53 407 people, while food parcels were distributed to 30 416 people through our Social Relief of Distress Programmes.
These interventions are aimed at addressing hunger and food insecurity, and it was augmented by blankets, school uniform vouchers, mattresses and basic amenities handed out to families in distress, especially during winter and rainy seasons.
The department facilitated and coordinated a range of services by other government departments based on 97 093 referrals made from the Balelapa Household Profiles, including approval of social grant applications, provision of water tanks, school reintegration, provision of housing and shelter, issuing of identity documents, etc.
The Annual Report also reports on interventions that sought to alleviate poverty and building a caring and sustainable communities through job creation, early childhood development and youth development.
In this regard, over 6 000 job opportunities were created through the social sector Expanded Public Works Programme alone; 22 873 children’s early childhood development services were subsidized at R15 per child per day and 670 young people some identified as change agents were linked to education, training, skills development and employment opportunities.
In addition, 10 288 young people accessed various services including education and awareness on topical issues like HIV and AIDS, substance abuse, crime prevention, etc as well as information about opportunities through 25 Youth Service Centres funded by the department.
In line with the National Youth Service Programme, 2 689 young people participated in community upliftment & Letsema projects by volunteering their time and services to paint, clean and repair community facilities and homes of elderly people. The department also launched the research on the status of youth development in the province and piloted one Intergenerational project in Calvinia, a socio-economic initiative comprising of youth and older persons.
The Golden Games has also become the flagship Active Ageing project for older persons, enabling them to participate in district, provincial and national competitions through 58 community based Older Persons Service Centres funded by the department.
More people with disabilities were reached through services of the department as well as through training for parents and caregivers of children with disabilities and advocacy programmes. A concerted effort was also made by the department to not only improve its reach and services to children, in particular those living on the streets and those who were in need of safe care but also to families by providing parenting skills training and family reunification
services.
Non Profit Organisations (NPO’s) , Community Based Orgainsations ( CBO’s) and Faith Based Organisations ( FBO’s) are the extending hands of the department to ensure that we implement development services to vulnerable communities , with the aim of reducing poverty , providing home based care services to people suffering from HIV and AIDS , funding of Early Childhood Development Centres to ensure that children between the ages of 0 to 5 receives educational programs that develops them cognitively and physically .
You will therefore realise that a bulk of the department’s budget is transferred to these organisations which are assisting us in delivering these developmental programs and services.
