23 February 2007
The Ministers Council for Social Development (MINMEC) comprising of the
Minister of Social Development and provincial MECs has undertaken to intensify
the training and recruitment of social workers, to meet the social challenges
facing many communities in the country.
MINMEC, chaired by Minister Zola Skweyiya, met in Johannesburg today, 23
February 2007 to discuss the social development sector's implementation of the
Programme of Action as outlined by Cabinet.
The Minister of Finance, Mr Trevor Manuel announced in the Budget Speech
that R365 million would be allocated to a bursary scheme for social
workers.
"We need to train more social workers and we will intensify our marketing
and recruitment strategies, to mitigate the social crisis we face in our
country. Social workers are the first port of call for many families in
distress and they should be available in all communities. Universities produce
only about 500 per annum which is insufficient given the challenges of
unemployment, the social impact of HIV/AIDS including child-headed households,
drug and substance abuse, processing of foster care and adoptions services and
all forms of social assistance. We urge universities to support us in this
campaign to rebuild this profession and make it one of the number one choices
for our young people leaving matric," said Dr Skweyiya.
In terms of the Children's Act the country will need 16 000 social workers
in the next three years. Currently there are about 4 000 registered social
workers in the country. Other key issues discussed by MINMEC, centred on how
the national department and provinces will work together to give effect to
government's declaration to intensify the struggle against poverty during the
course of 2007. These included the role of the Social Development sector in the
overall Poverty Eradication Strategy, the comprehensive Social Security System,
linking grants to economic activity and progress in the setting up of the
Social Security Agency.
The meeting provided the provinces with an outline of the contributory
social security scheme that will be put in place by 2010. Government is to
conduct extensive work on social security reform, especially to develop Pillar
2, the Contributory or Social Insurance Pillar.
There was agreement that the MECs should continue to play an important role
in ensuring that the social assistance function is effectively implemented by
the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and that there is a need to
expand social welfare services and development of initiatives to eradicate
poverty.
On the SASSA establishment, the meeting was briefed that the process is
proceeding well and is in line with expectations. SASSA has taken over full
responsibility and accountability of the administration and payment of social
grants across all nine provinces. The phased consolidation of the provincial
social assistance function into the agency has been completed. More than 6 000
grant administration staff have been migrated from the national and the nine
provincial Departments of Social Development to SASSA. In addition, further 300
staff have been recruited and appointed, principally to capacitate the SASSA
support functions at Head Office and in the Regional Offices.
"We are satisfied with the progress made in the establishment of SASSA, and
together with MECs we want to ensure that the creation of the agency translates
to better service delivery to our people. SASSA was established to make it
easier and more efficient for people to access social assistance, and work will
proceed to ensure that it meets this objective," said Dr Skweyiya.
MINMEC also agreed on putting key policies on the agenda of the social
cluster with a view to have Cabinet deliberate on them. "We approved for
further discussion on Family Policy, a policy for people with disabilities, the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) Social Policy Initiative, and
department's youth strategy."
The meeting also concluded that MINMEC will continue work aimed at achieving
social cohesion and building a caring society. This includes consulting
relevant stakeholders within government and externally on initiatives such as
the Family Policy, intensifying work on Early Childhood Development, Home and
Community based Care, anti-drug and substance abuse, victim empowerment,
disability and other programmes.
Enquiries:
Lakela Kaunda
Tel: (012)312 7653/4
Cell: 082 782 2575
Issued by: Department of Social Development
23 February 2007
