Address by the member of the Executive Council for Social Development Ms. Nandi Mayathula-Khoza on the occasion of the tabling of the Department’s 2017/18 Budget Vote.
Honorable Speaker
Premier David Makhura;
Members of the Executive Council;
The Chief Whip of the Governing Party;
Whips and Leaders of various political parties; Honorable Members;
Leaders of National Government;
Members of Mayoral Committees and Cllrs
Leaders of Civil Society including FBOs & NPOs; Business Leaders and Academia;
Heads of Departments and other government officials; Comrades and Friends;
Members of the Media; Fellow Gauteng residents:
Hon Speaker, we present this Gauteng Department of Social Development Budget Vote 2017/18 during a year that has been declared by the Governing party and liberation movement, the ANC, as the year of Oliver Reginald Tambo under the theme; "Unity in action - together we move SA forward".
As we mark the centenary of Comrade OR as he was affectionately known, we join the people of the world to celebrate and reflect on his selflessness, courage and his indomitable spirit.
Comrade OR led the ANC during difficult years of the liberation struggle which resulted in freedom and democracy that is today enjoyed by all, including those who supported apartheid and those that still believe that colonialism was good. I wouldn't be surprised that Comrade OR has turned in his grave at this irresponsible and racist utterance.
Hon Speaker, we draw on the rich legacy of Comrade OR to drive our actions today. Whatever challenges that our people are facing, we have every reason to be proud of who we are today. We will always salute Comrade OR and many of our fallen freedom fighters for bringing about dignity in the lives of the majority of our people. Long live the spirit of OR Tambo long live!
Hon Speaker, It is my privilege and honor; on behalf of the people of Gauteng, to table the Gauteng Department of Social Development's 2017/18 Budget Vote 6. Like the collective will of the youth of ‟76 and the consultative character of the Freedom Charter, this budget vote is based on the will of the vulnerable people of Gauteng. Our budget increases from R4.2billion in 2016/17 to R4.4billion in 2017/18 and to R5 billion by 2019/20 in order to match the needs and aspirations of our vulnerable people.
Hon Speaker Today marks the conclusion of the Youth Month - a month our country has dedicated to supporting youth and their aspirations. It crystalizes the heroic revolt by the class of 1976. This proud moment of our struggle for freedom and social justice, best symbolizes the call by South Africans from all walks of life who in Kliptown, on the 26th June 1955 demanded that the people shall govern!
It is in this context Hon Speaker that YOUTH EMPOWERMENT is critical in the work we do. In spite of all our gains, about 2.7 million young people who should be in education or working, are not. The Tshepo 500 000 initiative that was launched by the Hon Premier of Gauteng in 2014, is bearing fruit. In his Mid-term report, the Hon Premier said:
“Two years after we launched Tshepo 500 000, we reached 354 633 young people. That is when we decided to increase our target to empower one million young people by 2019.”
Our contribution to this programme was the creation of close to 10 000 job opportunities. We further skilled 57 813 young people through our social change programmes whilst 14 835 received business opportunities in our department.
Hon Speaker, in this financial year, we will enhance our contribution to the TSHEPO ONE MILLION through the introduction of the Hospitality Project. In it, young people will be recruited and trained in food preparation, housekeeping and waitressing, hair and beauty and trade related skills.
Hon Speaker, Some Young women that depend on child support grants as their only source of income are equipped with skills and decent employment opportunities so that they become self reliant. Creating sustainable and decent employment through a growing and inclusive economy is key in reducing the number of people on social grants especially young people who have the potential to be self reliant.
Our Welfare to work programme to move young people, especially young women out of welfare into employment, is beginning to yield positive results. Since 2014, we have moved 11 000 people, mainly young women, into productive and sustainable economic activities. We are expanding this programme with the aim of reaching over 13 000 people by 2019.
Hon. Speaker, I'm happy to share with the house that in Gauteng, of the 112 164 National Senior Certificates Exam candidates in 2016, 37 560 were Social grants recipients and of these young people, 31 303 passed their exams (13 392 obtained degree passes, 13 408 obtained Diploma passes and 4 503 obtained Certificate passes.) Social grants do help to change our people's quality of life .
Hon. Speaker, through NTIRHISANO and our Stakeholder Engagement programmes, we travelled the length and breadth of Gauteng, interacting with various stakeholders in schools, hostels, Coloured and Indian townships and communities in the poorest wards to push ahead with Gauteng's Radical Transformation, Modernisation and Reindustrialisation (TMR) Programme which is by the way in line with the country's National Development Plan (NDP).
Hon Speaker, Gauteng people are experiencing positive results from the work done by the ANC led government, so says independent researchers including Stats SA. The Gauteng Government Midterm report revealed that, POVERTY headcount decreased in our province by more than half from 10,5% in 2001 to 4,8% in 2011.
The Midterm Report further revealed that only 16.3% people are still struggling with inadequate food daily, meaning that food insecurity is decreasing but our goal is that no one in this province must go to bed hungry. We however remain concerned with the few people that still suffer from extreme poverty and hunger and that is why we will intensify our efforts on War against poverty proramme.
Hon Speaker, we also empathize with Mfundisi Mdluli of Ekhanya le Zion who told us that he was worried about the food shortages at food banks. We would like to re-assure Mfundisi Mdluli that our War on Poverty is based on a comprehensive process where every individual household goes through a
verification process to determine that they qualify for the food parcels, but it seeks to ultimately exit them where possible by supporting them to produce their own food assisted by the Department of Agriculture. We anticipate reaching 788 000 of the poorest households by 2019 through our Intensified War on Poverty programme.
It is for this reason that our people are keen to do more with little as in this budget. Working with them, we have placed their urgent needs first, focusing mostly on vulnerable groups such as children, people with disabilities, the elderly, youth, women, the poor and the marginalized members of society. In the words of the Hon Premier:
“We cannot bemoan the economic and social problems plaguing our province. It is within our power to change our conditions and build a common South African identity based on equality, liberty and fraternity in our lifetime.”
Hon Speaker, Our commitment to Accelerated Social Transformation and the delivery of better care to vulnerable groups remains our guiding beacon. In ensuring that we realize this commitment to our people, we now are fast-tracking implementation through the “Deliverology model” which put emphasis on implementation to directly better the lives of vulnerable people. This has given us the advantage as we now have clear practical plans and regular progress on priorities of priorities that are monitored through real time data.
Hon Speaker, in 2013 the ANC led government declared Early Childhood Development, a public good especially for those who depend on the state. We decided to focus on the first 1000 days of a child from birth. Research shows that the right nutrition during this window period has a profound impact on the child's ability to grow, learn and thrive and has a lasting effect on the country's health and wealth.
At the end of 2016/17 financial year 99 200 children were reached through services provided by 1 426 funded partial care sites, and to date a total of 2 234 partial care sites were registered. In the 2017/18 financial year we will fund NPO'S that will expand ECD partial care services to 104 000 children.
It is in this context that we are involved in the ECD massification programme to ensure accessibility and affordability aimed at ensuring that more children get access ECD learning. In this financial year, we have committed to increase the universal access to ECD services from 10.8% to 12.5 % of Children‟s population 0 – 4 years.
We will also construct 13 ECD facilities in the poorest wards throughout the Province, to respond to Ms. Phyllis Malope-Philani‟s point that some parents were even thinking of sending their children straight to Grade R to avoid paying crèche fees. We are also reprioritizing registration requirements including installing Occupational Health Safety (OHS) equipment, child friendly computers, ablution facilities and pre-intervention assessment to determine weight to height and Body Mass Index (BMI) to children before being admitted.
Hon Speaker, if we are to stop the scourge of ALCOHOL and SUBSTANCE ABUSE which is ravaging our province, we need to start at the family level to understand the root causes, address Socio-economic conditions, intensify prevention and supply reduction. The social cluster is hard at work as a collective to save our young people in particular from harming themselves with drugs.
We are also dispelling the myth that one can get high from drawing blood from another person who has taken drugs, a phenomenon called Bluetooth, which is rife in parts of Tshwane. The youth that we engaged with during the International Day Against Drugs and Illicit Trafficking committed to stop the Bluetooth and to get help from our in-patient treatment rehab centres.
During the 2016/17 financial year, we reached out to 20 464 service users who accessed funded substance abuse treatment centres. The Ke-Moja coaches deployed in schools and communities to roll out the Ke Moja Drug Prevention programme reached 653 251 children and youth. During our Stakeholder engagement, Mr Joseph Katwala from Mogale City said he was worried about drugs and xenophobia. We agreed with him. That is why we, in partnership with other stakeholders, have intensified efforts to combat the abuse of alcohol and other dangerous drugs.
We have established 3 Drug Treatment Rehabs to increase the bed capacity in Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Sterkfontein and at Witpoort In-Patient Treatment Rehabs. We also opened the Centre of Excellence in Soshanguve that provides a variety of skills development programmes targeting unemployed young persons recovering from Drug and Alcohol abuse.
In this financial year, we will increase bed capacity at Randfontein & Sedibeng Drug Rehabilitation and Treatment Centres from 400 to 1349 by 2019. We will establish the Youth Centres of Excellence in Johannesburg and Sedibeng as part of our After-care programmes to prevent service users from relapsing. This will help us focus on reduction of harm caused by drugs. But, all said and done, prevention is better than cure. We urge families to get involved. We have also started to work with National Social Development to review the National Drug Master Plan 2013-17 towards building a drug and alcohol abuse free society.
Hon Speaker, whilst Gauteng has done well to reduce HIV & AIDS prevalence, we remain committed to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS through the implementation of the Isibindi Model to effectively address the needs of orphans and vulnerable children. The model focuses on the Prevention, Early Intervention, Family Preservation, Community Development and a Child‟s Rights framework. A total of 1 559 Child and Youth Care Worker (CYCW) trainees received training whilst 52 320 children accessed services through this model. We will expand this programme for 15 182 children to access services through this model.
During 2016/17 financial year, we increased the number of vulnerable households and beneficiaries who received psychosocial support services including food provision. To alleviate food insecurity and malnutrition among the affected, we provided food parcels to 106 915 people. Furthermore, 34 752 affected beneficiaries received daily meals at drop-in centres and Community Nutrition and Development Centres. In the 2017/18 financial year, we will fund more NPOs delivering HIV and AIDS services for them to reach out to more wards as part of Project Mikondzo to intensify our focus on care and support for people infected and affected by HIV & Aids.
Hon speaker, we remain committed to making Gauteng a Province fit for children. Through our BANA-PELE programme, working together with the Education and Health Departments, we have been hard at work in the provision of Dignity Packs given to deserving girl and boy children learners for gender parity. This includes sanitary towels for girl children, lotion, deodorant and soap to last a month. We also expanded dignity packs to children with albinism for protection of their skin with sun block and lipsano. The key focus is that vulnerable and orphaned children between 0-18 years are able to access an integrated package of services through a „single window‟.
Hon Speaker, to respond to the Premier's clarion call, we in partnership with the private sector, are now expanding provision of dignity packs to boys and girls to 1.8 million and sanitary towels in particular to reach 1 million girls or more by 2019. We take this opportunity to challenge the Gauteng Corporate sector to come forward and be counted in investing in our girl children.
We will also expand the provision of SCHOOL UNIFORM packs consists of a pair of shoes, a shirt, a jersey, a pair of trousers/tunic and a pair of socks to 144 000 deserving girl and boy learners.
Hon Speaker, we join the Gauteng Cabinet in the call to an end to VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN and CHILDREN, which in the last three months escalated and manifested itself in the brutal and barbaric murder of young defenseless women. VAWAC is a disease of epidemic proportion that features intimate relationships. How does one kill someone he claims to love and care for?
There is also no justification what so ever for the killing of Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex just because of different sexual orientation. Our people with Albinism cannot live in constant fear of being hunted for their body parts. We say enough-is-enough with VAWAC which fundamentally contradicts our Constitution which enshrines Human Rights and Freedoms for all. We join the Premier in the campaign to invest in girl children and empowering young women to ensure a safe and rape free society.
We will continue with our role of empowering VAWAC and Human traficking victims to become victors, by expanding funding to more shelters managed by funded NPO'S fir them to support 30 760 victims of crime to access the Victim Empowerment Programme. Speaker, allow me to use this noble house to call upon the people of Gauteng, in particular young men of our province to declare war on the violence that seeks to besiege our society and tarnish our hard won freedom.
Honourable Members, on Children's Rights, Ms Sinah from Lungisa Community Project pleaded with us on the plight of undocumented children. These children, she says, were unable to register for their matric. We want to inform Sinah that we have set up a multi-sectoral team to finalize recommendations of a workshop we hosted last month on this matter. Chiefly, we aim to ensure that birth registration should be made compulsory in hospitals before mother and baby are discharged.
Mr Gert Jonker of Bethany House in the Westrand spoke about Per Capita funding for CYCC saying it did not take into account the Consumer Price Index (CPI). We acknowledge that this is indeed a challenge and we have mitigating plans. We will be implementing the Children‟s Act progressively and annually bid for additional budget to transform Government and NGO run facilities to allocate resources as required.
Hon Speaker, the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was first launched on the 15th of June 2006 by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organisation at the United Nations. Correspondingly, Older Persons remain pillars of support in our communities.
We acknowledge the concern by Ms Kedi Mofube of GOPF who is worried that some luncheon clubs were not being funded. We will support more luncheon clubs to expand services to more elderly people. During 2016/17, 99 770 older persons accessed services through funded community based care and support facilities while 100 008 older persons participated in Active Ageing programme provided by both government and NPOs, hence older people now live longer.
Honourable Speaker, in this past month we bid farewell to Gogo Johanna Ramatse, born on New Year‟s Day in 1883 in Krugersdorp and the world‟s oldest person who died at the age of 134 years. She was laid to rest on Saturday, the 11th of June 2017 at her home in Stinkwater, Hammanskraal, in Tshwane. May her soul rest in eternal peace
Speaker, in promoting social inclusion and the safety of PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES the Department provides residential care, assisted living and protective workshops. Education, awareness and advocacy programmes are also provided and we focus on the abuse and rights of persons with disabilities.
During this period of governance, a total of 101 945 persons with disabilities accessed services in funded NPOs including disability prevention programmes.
I also note the concern of Mr Kenny from KI Handyman in Pretoria who asked that the department should give the suppliers enough time to quote. He says some officials expect the quotation within 24 hours. It is very difficult especially for companies owned by persons with disabilities to submit quotation on the same day that was requested. As we speak, over 71 companies owned by persons with disabilities participated in preferential procurement spend.
Hon Speaker, we are steadfast in implementing the Gauteng Provincial Government‟s Township Economy Revitalisation Programme as pronounced by the Premier. We achieved 22.5% SMME outreach in the 2016/17 financial year which exceeded the Provincial target of 18% with 856 township businesses benefitting with the spent totalling R82.6 million.
In the 2017/18 financial year we set a target of 28%, to be increased to 30% by end of 2018/19 FY to intensify TER to ensure that the majority of our our people get a fair share of the provinces wealth they sweat for over 300 years. Our people have waited long enough for economic freedom in their lifetime.
Hon. Speaker, 66 cooperatives were economically empowered through the procurement of goods and services such as laundry, cleaning and gardening in our institutions at a cost of R30 million during 2016/17. We further empowered
583 cooperatives contracted to produce school uniforms and shoes for disadvantaged children. In the 2017/18 financial year we will spend R139 million on cooperatives and this will increase to R660 million by 2019. We have recorded R389.5 millions spent through preferential procurement benefitting 1
007 companies owned by historically disadvantaged individuals, 536 by women, 340 companies by youth and 43 companies by people with disabilities.
Hon Speaker, social infrastructure investment advances economic productivity, creates urban environments to promote and support landscape transformation in our province. It also serves as an enabler for poverty eradication and employment creation.
It is in this context that we have registered significant progress in the 2016/17 financial year with a number of projects that are currently at construction stage anticipating completion in 2017 financial year. These include an early childhood development centre and office accomodation in Evaton, Social integrated facilities in Boipatong, Hammanskraal, Winterveld, and Mabopane. We will also build office accomodation in Benoni, Garankuwa and Tshwane Inner city.
Hon. Speaker, our ANC led government remains committed to CLEAN GOVERNANCE and a PUBLIC SERVICE that is RESPONSIVE to communities we serve. We have placed 10 tenders on the open tender system and eight were awarded worth R73 million. Since the beginning of the 2017/18, twelve more projects will be awarded through an open tender system.
Hon Speaker, we are happy to announce that for the 2016/17 financial year, 99.83% of all received invoices were paid within 30 days.
I would also like to announce that we have done away with the NPO payment system using the practice of „conduit‟ system where an NPO is paid to transfer funds to another. We asked the Gauteng Provincial Treasury to conduct an investigation on the Are-Ageng NPO matter, whilst the Office of the Premier also launched a full Forensic investigation on conduits. A criminal case was opened with SAPS and all these investigations are at an advanced stage and near completion. We do this to demonstrate our Zero tolerance to corruptio.
Hon Speaker, We are pleased to announce that we have now completed the payment of all 2 693 NPO's who signed SLA's for the first quarter tranche. The 105 NPO'S who recently signed their SLA's will be paid by 4th July 2017. As we reported before, violent intimidation of staff and service providers during the labour strike led to the late signing of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with NPOs.
We have since met with Nehawu Provincial leadership and we all agreed that whilst the demands of the workers were genuine, violent labour protests must be condemned as they cause misery on vulnerable groups. We take this opportunity to thank all those who worked tirelessly during this tough period to serve the people at great personal risk.
National and Provincial government are responding to concerns around poor salaries of all our workers including those in NPOs. In the last two years, the Department allocated R16 million to ensure caregiver salaries comply with the ministerial determination on EPWP. In the current financial year we will allocate R29.7 million to improve conditions of services for social workers in NPOs, which amounts to 6% increase.
Hon Speaker, we have recorded four successive clean audits since 2014 and are striving for our fifth clean audit over 2017 MTEF. Progressively, we continue to record significant improvements on the Management of Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT). We attained an overall score of 85% in MPAT 1.6 which made the department 2nd best performing department in the province after the Office of the Premier.
In conclusion, the people of Gauteng have told us that today is better than yesterday. They say working alongside their government inspires them to make tomorrow better than today. We on the other hand, will always be humbled by their courage in Moving Gauteng Forward.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Premier for his unwavering guidance and support. I extend the same gratitude to the ANC for their astute leadership, the Portfolio Committee for Social Development effectively led by the Chairperson Ms. Thuliswa Nkabinde.
I thank the former HoD, Mrs. Shoki Tshabalala who took early retirement after steering the DSD ship in the right direction, the Acting HoD Mr. Makhukhu Mamapuru for his effective care-taking as well as the entire GDSD senior management for serving our people well. My deepest gratitude goes to my family members who are my pillar of strength and to families of GDSD staff members for supporting them.
I thank you.
