Minister Zulu emphasises the importance of coordinated work within social development
In her first monitoring visit to service delivery points in Pietermaritzburg, Province of KwaZulu-Natal, the Minister of Social Development, Ms Lindiwe Zulu emphasised the importance of coordination across Government in general and between the Department and its entities in particular. This, according to Minister Zulu, will improve services and maximise the impact of the Department’s interventions and programmes on the most vulnerable.
The call by the Minister fits perfectly within the portfolio approach, which she strongly advocated for during the recent tabling of her maiden Social Development budget in both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. Minister Zulu’s delegation, which comprised of the Provincial MEC for Social Development, Ms Nonhlanhla Khoza, the Mayor of uMgungundlovu District Municipality, Cllr Thobekile Maphumulo and the Mayor of Msunduzi Local Municipality, Cllr Themba Njilo, visited Emuseni Centre for the Aged, the South African Post Office (SAPO), and later interacted with SASSA regional officials.
At Emuseni Centre for the Aged, which caters for 55 older persons, Minister Zulu was pleased with the services and encouraged and motivated social workers to keep on providing psychosocial support services to older persons.
“We really appreciate the work you are doing of looking after our senior citizens. We all have to restore our culture of respect for older persons and the support families who support, love and care for them. And it is important to have at least one social worker at each of the old age centre as they are always render much-needed professional social support to our senior citizens,” Minister Zulu said.
“We know that not all families are able to look after their older persons and it is for this reason that we have centres like Emuseni where our older persons can receive dignified treatment and protection of their human rights”, added Minister Zulu.
Minister Zulu donated blankets and dignity packs to older persons at the centre.
Emuseni is one of the centres for older persons established in terms of the Older Persons Act (Act 13 of 2006), which imposes a constitutional obligation on Government to protect, promote and maintain the status, rights and well-being of older persons in South Africa. Social Development is the custodian of the Act.
During interaction with SASSA Regional officials, Minister Zulu praised them for their continued service to the most vulnerable, but issued a stern warning that any form of fraud and corruption will be decisively dealt with.
“It is only few days since my appointment to this portfolio and I am impressed by the dedication and high level of professionalism I have witnessed thus far. You are the backbone of our Government’s work and we are conscious of the fact that your working conditions need to be improved. I am willing to work well with those that are committed to improve the living conditions of our people on the ground and we will not tolerate any form of fraud and corruption in our social grants system”, said Minister Zulu.
The second leg of the Minister’s visit is scheduled to take place in the Province of the Eastern Cape and will culminate into the official handover of a newly built Early Childhood Development (ECD) centre in Mdantsane.
The media is invited to join the Ministerial visits scheduled as follows:
Visit 1:
Date: Friday, 2 August 2019
Time: 08h00-08h30
Venue: SASSA Local Office, 25 North Street Octoproc Building, East London
Visit 2:
Date: Friday, 2 August 2019
Time: 09h00-11h30
Venue: SASSA Regional Office, Cnr Merino Street and Fitzpatrick Road, Quigney, East London
Visit 3:
Date: Friday, 2 August 2019
Time: 13h30-14h30
Venue: Masibulele Day Care Centre, 2025 NU1-Mdantsane
The Minister’s visits comes at the back of the recent announcement by the Statistics South Africa that South Africa’s unemployment rate has hit an 11-year high and is likely to increase the demand for social services, particularly in provinces hardest hit by unemployment. Data shows that women continue to be the most affected by unemployment which stands at 31.3% as compared to men at 27.1%.
As part of the portfolio approach, Minister Zulu will conduct frontline service delivery monitoring visits to all other provinces to appraise herself of issues in the sector and to respond timeously to pressing challenges that people experience.
Media can RSVP:
Sharlene Naiker
Cell: 082 673 5849 or
Email: SharleneN@dsd.gov.za
Media enquiries:
Lumka Oliphant
083 484 8067
Email: LumkaO@dsd.gov.za
