The Department of Social Development held an Imbizo (public participation programme) in Athlone, Western Cape, on 22 August 2013. This was a continuation of a series of Izimbizo hosted by the Department on August 2 and 5 in Tlokwe (North West Province) and Oudtshoorn (Western Cape Province), respectively.
A number of issues were raised by the community (including Hanover Park, Manenberg and Athlone) with the Minister of Social Development, who had brought with her a high level team of officials from her Department, including the Director-General of the Department, Mr Coceko Pakade, the CEO of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), Ms Virginia Peterson, and National Development Agency (NDA) CEO, Dr Vuyelwa Nhlapho.
Among the issues raised by the community in the dialogues that preceded the imbizo and the engagement with the Minister on the day of the Imbizo were issues of unemployment, young people attracted to gangsterism, teenage pregnancy, the abuse of women, children and the elderly, as well as alcohol and substance abuse.
The unemployment figure for Manenberg alone is estimated at 66% according to a local government survey. Most households are dependent on government support, via the child support grants, old age pensions, disability grants. They also rent their homes from the local government. An average of R1 200 000 is paid out in government grants on a monthly basis in Manenberg.
More than one percent of the population in the greater Athlone area has no formal schooling. While the Minister promised to deploy a team of officials together with the community to craft community development plans to address all the matters highlighted during the dialogues, she pointed out that the solutions to some of these problems lie with the community itself.
“The fight against crime, the abuse of women, gangsterism and alcohol and substance abuse must start with the community. The community must stand up to these issues and say ‘not in our area!’ The young people who commit criminal acts as parts of gangs have parents. Where are their parents when they commit these acts?” said Minister Dlamini.
The interventions the department will facilitate in these areas will take a multi-stakeholder approach. Among others, they will look into skills development for young people, especially women who care for their families, in order to improve their employability; support for children with learning disabilities from both the parents and teachers; creating more places of support for abused women and children; deploying more social workers; as well as educating the community on the use of social grants so that they are not used for inappropriate things.
The Minister is required through the Performance Agreement she signed with the President of the Republic to undertake public participation programmes throughout the country. The Minister and her department undertook sixty nine public participation programmes in the 2012/13 fiscal year.
The Imbizo promotes participative governance and will allow the community of Tlokwe to have a say in decision-making processes affecting their future, as well as make them aware of the services available from the department and its agencies, SASSA and the NDA.
For media enquiries:
Lumka Oliphant
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Email: lumkao@dsd.gov.za
