Deputy Minister of Social Development, Mrs Bongi Ntuli
Director-General and senior managers
Members of the media
The purpose of this briefing is to inform you of the priorities of Budget Vote 19 of the Department of Social Development that we will be presenting this morning to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
Through this budget, we will continue to give effect to our Constitutional and other legislative mandates by providing direct income support to individuals and engaging in research and policy development that explores longer term solutions to social ills prevailing in our country’s socio-economic landscape.
The provision and administration of social security continues to be the largest responsibility of the department. Over the MTEF period, expenditure is expected to increase to R122 billion, at an average annual rate of eight percent. The increase is mainly due to the extension of the Child Support Grant to eligible children under the age of 18 years. The Department expects to transfer R6.1 billion to South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to administer the grant system.
As part of the interdepartmental task team for social security, the department will support social security reform proposals aimed at introducing a mandatory pillar of social insurance to provide for retirement, disability and survivor benefits.
Over the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) period special attention will be given to the improvement of welfare services to address the needs of vulnerable members of society, particularly children, older persons, victims of violence and people with disabilities. In this regard, the improvement of welfare services is a key focus area of our work.
We have allocated an additional R2 million in the current financial year and R3 million in 2012/13 for a feasibility study for provincial welfare services; R9.5 million in the current financial year and R10. 7 million in 2012/13 to establish and maintain accreditation systems, develop and maintain probation case management and register children for diversion programmes.
As part of our President‘s call for job creation, we will advertise and fill all vacant funded posts. We will continue to provide full scholarships for students interested in studying social work. Over the MTEF period we will also recruit and train 10 000 Child and Youth Care Workers to support child headed households.
To date, 5 574 students studying social work at various institutions of higher learning are receiving scholarships. R244 million has been set aside to support 4 400 existing students and to further provide 1 000 new scholarships. To date, the scholarship programme has produced 2 086 graduates who were absorbed all nine provinces to bolster the provision of welfare services.
We have already started with the national campaign to ensure that all children receive quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) education, and that all ECD facilities are registered as set out in the Children’s Act.
Together with the Ministry for Women, Children and People with Disabilities and the Department of Basic Education, we launched the ECD campaign in Mpumalanga with the view to encourage primary caregivers to enrol their children for ECD and to ensure that eligible children receive state subsidy.
We want to gradually ensure that children accessing social grants are enrolled for ECD services at an early age. Over the MTEF period, we aim to increase the average cost of R12 per child per day in ECD facilities to R13 across all provinces.
We believe that our children must be given equal opportunities irrespective of where they live in the country. We also aim to increase the number of children receiving subsidies from 432 727 to 472 621.
In line with our ongoing effort to improve our services, and the public’s experience of such services, the Deputy Minister will embark on a nationwide campaign of, “Taking DSD to communities”. This campaign seeks to create greater public awareness of the department’s services and programmes. It is our intention to reach the most vulnerable communities to inform them of services offered by the department and its entities, and the whole of government.
We have allocated a total of R161 360 million to support the National Development Agency’s role in capacity building and grants funds to civil society organisations for development projects in poor communities. I am happy to report that under the stewardship of the new CEO and Board, the Agency is beginning to occupy its rightful position in the development landscape. Over the MTEF period, the focus will also be on strengthening the Agency’s monitoring capacity.
We are pleased to note that various government institutions have begun to review and enforce liquor licensing and regulations as recommended at the second Biennial Anti-Substance Abuse held in March this year. We have developed a national plan of action to take forward all the resolutions of the Summit.
The plan of action will be presented to the Inter-Ministerial Committee for adoption. We will also review the current National Drug Master Plan and appoint new members of the Central Drug Authority (CDA) to sustain the war on alcohol and substance abuse. The call for nomination of members for the CDA will commence soon and urge members of the public to participate in this process.
The recent fifth South African AIDS conference held from 7 to10 June in Durban shows that our country is on course to halt new HIV infections. We will continue with implementation of Home Community Based Care and prevention, with focus on behavior changing programs. We have allocated R43.3 million to loveLife for prevention programmes targeting youth in rural and farming communities. In collaboration with the German Development Bank, we will this year implement the project aimed at renovating community care centres and skills programme for child headed households.
Ladies and gentlemen, Budget Vote 19 reflects the seriousness with which government has set about addressing poverty and underdevelopment in our country. It is guided by the mandate of the African National Congress to build an inclusive society founded on the firm foundations of social solidarity and social justice.
I thank you.
