The Department’s Budget and Plans for the financial year 2011/12 is presented under the theme: Fighting Poverty and Social Disintegration.
The Department’s budget allocation for the 2011/2012 financial year amounts to R1, 332 billion, an increase of R97,794 million on the previous year.
With the allocation of R1,332 billion the Department will spend:
- R664,573 million for Transfers to Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs). This is the Department’s biggest spending area, of which more than R354,637 million is allocated towards Child Care and Protection;
- R457,795 million on Compensation of Employees to fund its current establishment of 1 900 personnel and increasing the staff numbers to 2 253 by the end of March 2012;
- R190,180 million on Goods and Services, with the main cost drivers being:
- Outsourced Services R55 million. This includes Horizon and Clanwilliam Secure Care Centres, Kensington and Western Cape Rehabilitation Centres;
- Travel and Subsistence R37 million.
- Property payments R20, 5 million. This includes security, cleaning and municipal services.
- R5,520 million to Transfers to households for funding of services relating to the escorting and placement of children;
The next phase of the Budget Speech will cover our progress on deliverables in the previous Budget Speech, including report backs relating to poverty, hunger and unemployment, the building of social cohesion through strengthening families, the provision of ECD programmes, the problems of child abandonment and abuse, substance abuse, creating opportunities for the youth and improving the lives of our senior citizens.
We will look at clean governance and accelerated service delivery, our upcoming implementation of our new Funding Policy, and the improvements we have seen as a result of the modernisation process.
Additional Budget speech announcements
- Providing quality care and support services to those families in our communities that face the biggest challenges is crucial in the development of a just and cohesive society. To this end, a total amount of R35 million has been prioritised. This will be used to implement and procure services relating to:
- Finalising a new Family Policy, taking into account the departure from the “traditional” family structure due especially to the impact of HIV/Aids;
- We also have 1 438 child-headed households in the province that need our support;
- We will also be providing support to young mothers, which is particularly important in view of the high rates of teenage pregnancies and child abandonment in the province;
- Programmes with boys and men, as well as young fathers, to ensure that they are encouraged to be responsible and involved parents;
- The R7 million prioritised under the Victim Empowerment Programme will be used to increase the current number of shelters for victims of gender violence from 12 to 14.
- The Department itself is committed to the mainstreaming of disability and will include in its new 5-Year Human Resource Strategic Plan, processes to reach a target of 2% or more persons with disabilities within our workforce. Our total budget for persons living with disabilities is R58.7 million, which is mostly for homes for the disabled, protective workshops and funding to service providers.
- Our Social Crime Prevention and Support programme has exceeded all expectations and I am happy to announce that we have successfully brought down the number of children awaiting trial in prisons to 25 or fewer on any given day.
- For dealing with our department’s responsibilities and contributions in the fight against Substance Abuse, R67 million has been budgeted. Whilst the number of inpatient beds will be maintained, there will be an increase in prevention and awareness, early intervention, as well as evidence-based treatment.
- Poverty remains the biggest social challenge facing the people of the Western Cape. In our fight against hunger, 30 000 beneficiaries will be supported with nutritious meals at 367 Community Nutrition and Development Centres, through an allocation of R12 million. We have also set aside R20 million for job creation projects. This is in line with our belief in assisting people to become self-reliant.
- With the conditional grant of R4, 7 m, the department will benefit 300 unemployed youth for a period of 11 months, offering them training, skills development and work opportunities, leading to job creation within the sector.
NPO sector support
- We will further support the development of the NPO sector by allocating R1, 1 m to capacity-building initiatives, benefitting 50 NPOs with intensive training and mentoring support.
- We will also ensure that a further 600 NPOs receive capacity-enhancing interventions within the six regions of the department, so that a vibrant NPO sector is developed, which, together with the department, delivers on our social development mandate.
Conclusion
With its Budget Speech 2011/2012 the Department of Social Development humbly recommits itself to the achievement of the Western Cape of our dreams.
Media enquiries:
Steven Otter
Cell: 084 233 3811
