Z Skweyiya: MinMec media briefing

27 March 2006

MECs,
Director-General and Heads of Social Development in the provinces,
The Chairperson of the Press Gallery Association, Mpumelelo Mkhabela
And all members of the People’s Global Action (PGA),
Government officials,

Let me begin by extending our heartfelt gratitude to all parliamentary
correspondents for the ongoing support to the Department. We have achieved a
lot as a Department through the support of the media in disseminating
information to the people we serve.

We received with great sadness the news of the passing away of your
colleague, Business Report correspondent Lynda Loxton. Please receive our
heartfelt condolences. This is a great loss for all of us.

We have had very successful discussions with my colleagues, the members of
the Minister’s Council for Social Development. We felt it important that we
share this occasion with you especially on the eve of our Budget Vote debate
tomorrow in the National Assembly.

We will be looking at the road we have travelled thus far and charting our
way forward in our quest to improve the lives of the poorest of the poor, the
marginalised and the vulnerable who are the primary clients of the Department
of Social Development. We were able to score achievements such as ensuring that
over 11 million South Africans receive social grants and finalised two critical
pieces of legislation, the Children’s and Older Persons Bills.

We received outstanding support from the media when we launched the national
campaign to address irregularities identified within the social grants system.
These include fraud, corruption and maladministration committed by individuals
who are benefiting unlawfully from the system.

The campaign continues to bear fruit. Over 119 government officials are to
appear in court in the Limpopo, Gauteng and North West province as from today,
27 to 31 March 2006. We have been assisted in this campaign by the Special
Investigating Unit and the South African Police Services (SAPS).

Investigations focusing on public servants have resulted in court
appearances around the country of over 577 officials suspected of defrauding
the system of over R10 million. As mentioned early last month we intend to
prosecute hundreds of public officials from various departments this year.

We acknowledge also that all our campaigns and activities such as ‘Child
Protection Week’, ‘Social Development Month’ and others would not have been the
success they were without media coverage. For that we thank you.

In our meeting with the MECs today we touched on a number of issues many of
which will be elaborated on during the Budget Vote debate tomorrow in the
national Assembly.

We are of one mind with regards to focusing on the following in the new
Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period:
* The phased operationalisation of the South African Social Security Agency
(SASSA), which will take over the payments of social grants in Gauteng, Western
Cape and Northern Cape from 1 April this year, with the rest of the provinces
due to be taken over between June 2006 and March 2007.

* We are reviewing outdated legislation and policy framework to address the
changing social services needs. These include amongst others, the Children’s
Bill, the Child Justice Bill and the Older Person’s Bill, the revisions to the
Non-Profit Organisations Act and the substance abuse legislation.

* The implementation of social crime prevention measures will create the
environment to address the challenges of effective and appropriate management
of children in conflict with the law.

* The development of norms and standards for social development service
delivery will enable the development of policies and programmes for care and
services to older persons and for people with disabilities.

* We will also focus on strengthening services to support orphaned and
vulnerable children including those heading households as well as HIV and AIDS
programmes especially home and community based care.

* The implementation of the early childhood development framework and the
development of social partnerships with non-governmental organisations will be
among our priority areas.

Among the remaining challenges, we need to focus our attention on improving
the effectiveness of our programmes to provide a cushion of support for those
most exposed to abject poverty. We need to ensure that those who qualify for
our services receive them timeously, pleasantly and efficiently.

Before concluding, let me welcome publicly the new member of the Social
Development family the MEC for Gauteng, Mr Kgaogelo Lekgoro. We look forward to
a wonderful working relationship with him in improving the lives of the poorest
of the poor. We also acknowledge the excellent contribution to the sector of
the former MEC Mr Bob Mabaso.

Let me once again thank you all for your support. As the Social Development
sector nationally we look forward to another very fruitful year of cooperation
with members of the Press Gallery.

For more information contact:
Lakela Kaunda
Tel: (012) 312 7653
Cell: 082 782 2575
E-mail: Lakela.Kaunda@socdev.gov.za

Issued by: Department of Social Development
27 March 2006