Department of Social Development Budget Vote, North West Provincial
Legislature
30 March 2006
Honourable Speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature
Honourable Premier, Mme Bomo Edna Molewa
Honourable Colleagues in the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Honourable Members from National Parliament and Members of the NCOP
Honourable Executive Mayors, Mayors, Speakers and Councillors
Political Parties Represented
Various Unions Present
House of Traditional Leaders le Magosi a otlhe a a fano
Members of Diplomatic Corps
Director General of the Provincial Administration
Heads of Departments
NGOs, CBOs, Faith Based Organisations and Business Community
Members of the Press
Friends and Comrades
Distinguished Guests
From his poem, �Burning�, the fifteen year old Kyli Piazza-Musso writes as I
quote;
There is a fire burning inside of me
Turning me to ash,
From the inside;
Killing me.
How did this fire start?
Was it started by someone else?
Or did I light it myself?
I feel it everyday,
Growing,
Getting bigger and stronger
Making me hot and sick;
I need to put it out,
But I can�t.
Unquote
Madam Speaker, Like Piazza-Musso, the children of South Africa questions
themselves about the origins of the fire that�s burning inside of them.
These voices of the children are moved by the global human misery that has
further been triggered by the staggering poverty, the scourge of HIV/AIDS, the
plight of the rural children regarding access to education and basic health
care and many other ills.
Their voices project louder as they ask, �How did this fire start, was it
started by someone else or did I light it myself�.
Our continued work should be able to respond to this pertinent question
posed by these important elements of our population, our children.
Social Development�s key interests of fighting poverty, strengthening the
values that define society and safeguarding social justice for the vulnerable,
are intently so for the creation of a joyful and prosperous future, to be led
by our children, where the burning fire would not turn them to ash, from the
inside killing them.
Madam Speaker, as we table our budget for the 2006/2007 financial year, our
interpretation of the signs of the times, permits us to make an assertion that
the sun has long risen; no longer shall we talk of dawn.
We have learnt that the pains of our society are not so much upon reversing
the tide of our historical injustices as they are the empowerment of those
heading society into the future, to create conditions, which will never be like
the past. We remain thus conscious of our future orientated mandate.
For the sake of our children, we continue to make the strengthening of
families an important task of the department, interlinking with all other
programmes for there exists no future where family values are disintegrated or
non existent.
Social development as a process that should ultimately result in the
upliftment of society, materially and spiritually, draws its victories from the
sharpened spears that ensure the non-existence of poverty, underdevelopment,
moral disintegration and inferiority complexes amongst the masses of our poor
and vulnerable people. This provides a practical response to the voice of that
child carrying a burning soul.
Developmental commitments of the social fraternity, both on the national and
international stages, provide guiding tools to us, as we continue on our
mandate of enabling families and the destitute to deal effectively with social
issues such as psychological stress, chronic poverty, food insecurity and other
adverse social conditions.
The 10th and 11th of February 2005 session of the United Nations Commission
for Social Development, which saw a two day high level segment devoted to the
10 year review of the World Summit on Social Development, is one more platform
that further strengthens our obligations towards our people.
The declaration adopted at the 43rd Session of the United Nations,
reaffirmed that the Copenhagen Declaration, ten years earlier constitute the
basic framework for the promotion of social development for all the national
and international levels.
We must also be mindful that the programme of action adopted by the summit
and further initiatives for social development adopted by the United Nations at
its special 24th Session, recognises that the implementation of the Copenhagen
commitments and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals are mutually
reinforcing, and that the Copenhagen commitments are crucial to a coherent,
people centred approach to development.
The Copenhagen Declaration, amongst other things, commits us to:
* creating an economic, political, social, cultural and legal environment
that will enable people to achieve social development
* eradicating absolute poverty by a target date to be set by each country
* achieving equality and equity between women and men and
* increasing resources allocated to social development
For the sake of our children, who are burning inside, we are fully committed
to delivering on these goals through our social intervention programmes, which
comprehensively will be led by social cluster departments, whose responsive
mandate, related to our department, I shall elaborate further on as we
continue.
On the home front, earlier this year, the National Department of Social
Development launched the Charlotte Maxeke Collaboration project.
This project, in partnership with the University of Pretoria, is a skills
development programme aiming to generate research, provide training and develop
expertise, and stimulate critical debate in the field of Economics of Social
Protection. Work undertaken will in the long run reduce dependency on social
assistance. This indeed remains vital for our developmental approach through
our social services delivery programmes.
With respect to the national and provincial Departments of Social
Development, the collaboration will;
* enhance the capacity of the departments to make evidence based inputs into
the strategic policy decision-making and
* augment the existing competencies in existing social security policy, social
welfare policy, and social policy analysis, with competencies in economics,
welfare economics and the financing of social security.
The collaboration, targeting senior and middle management in the public
service, will over the next two years, result in the training of 120
participants; 100 at the undergraduate level, 15 at the Honours degree level
and five at the Masters degree level.
The province will continue to engage the national department in this regard
so as to seize opportunities provided by this development.
Madam Speaker we surely are encouraged by the outcomes of the recent 1st of
March Local Government Elections that saw many of our people once more ensure
that, in the best interest of our democratic processes, South Africa�s long
existing social challenges are addressed by an appropriate leadership.
We should remain grateful particularly to our folks, the elderly, in the
rural and township communities, whom we saw during the elections, braving the
rainy climate and damaged bridges, with the sole intent of going to strengthen
their contract to eradicate poverty and create employment.
The comfortable victory of the national ruling party in these elections here
in our province, as secured by these constituencies which receive most of their
services from the social cluster, is once more an assurance that we are on the
right track.
Madam Speaker, the people of this province appreciate our move from the
welfarist to the developmental department, for they are assured that they will
from now be the masters of their own destiny. As we continue our services to
them in this current era for the department, we shall remain bound by the
international and national commitments which continue to provide us with
service delivery guidelines.
The prospects of our mandate have been brightened by the economic gains
which we have and continue to record both at national and provincial level. The
recorded national economic growth at 5% and the provincial at 4.9% remain an
inspiration to us that there exist many possibilities where some have in the
past ridiculed this goal as mere wishful thinking.
Madam Speaker we are confident that we will indeed enhance these gains and
thereby halve poverty by 2014, which is what the Provincial Growth and
Development Strategy commits government to.
What this means to the millions of the poor and vulnerable people across the
North West Province, is that we collectively are marching decisively towards
sustainable economic empowerment of these masses of our people.
This economic upswing must be directed to the stemming up of the second
economy so as to realise the concerted delivery of basic necessities from the
social cluster, through building of more schools, basic health care
institutions, firming up of agricultural development at community level, early
childhood development programmes and the provision of shelter to our people as
directed to this August House as put forward by the Honourable Deputy President
in the context of Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa
(ASGISA).
Fast-tracking of job creation, especially through the booming SMME sector,
empowering those who had previously been relegated to the margins and the
sharing of skills to these masses of our people should thus be the fruit of
this economic upswing, which is anticipated to continue stimulating further
growth.
In light of the forthcoming Social Development Indaba, which is anticipated to
shed more light into the social challenges facing our constituencies with the
intent of drawing the poverty eradication strategy directing us towards the
developmental projects that will bridge the gap between the first and the
second economy, our people at the grass roots should be empowered to seize the
opportunities presented by our economic growth.
Millions of our people continue to live in the periphery and eke out a
living from social assistance grants. The North West government will host a
Social Development Indaba to address poverty trappings and dependency of
welfarism. Social Development Indaba will craft strategies to translate
people�s potential into viable and sustainable productive economic
opportunities. The output of Indaba will form part of the Provincial Growth and
Development Strategy.
Only once this vision has been translated into a practical goal, can we
affirm our position as one of the key pillars in the Provincial Growth and
Development Strategy.
Madam Speaker as the economy develops; it creates abundant opportunities
that require reconfiguration of systems, so as to better create conditions that
will allow all to seize such opportunities.
Our national government has in this regard given birth to the South African
Social Security Agency (SASSA), to take over the welfare services of the
department, leaving us entirely with a developmental mandate.
The much-anticipated establishment of SASSA has been mentioned in both the
State of the Nation and the State of the Province Addresses, respectively.
SASSA has taken over what forms the major scope of the Social Assistance
programme. This national body takes over the administration and payment of the
social assistance to the beneficiaries.
This reconfiguration of the department provides yet greater possibilities
for accelerated service delivery, clearly stipulated in the leaving the
national and provincial departments with strengthening the provision of social
services and community development, which have not received adequate attention
due to the necessary focus on social assistance, over the past few years.
Thus far we have done a lot of work in the department in laying systems
towards the move of Social Assistance function to SASSA.
In 2005/2006 we started various projects, with some work still in process,
relating to the establishment of assert register, monitoring of conditional
grant for SASSA, improvements at the pay-points on the effectiveness of grants
payments, capacitating of fraud and investigation unit, audit of infrastructure
backlogs and registry update.
We will continue to provide updates regarding the developments within SASSA
to this August House.
SASSA will continue to receive political oversight and administrative
support from the Department during the phase of its infancy.
The move from the welfarist approach, which made it necessary for SASSA to
take over the Social Assistance programme, has prompted our central government
through the appropriate department to set up a gear mode towards a
developmental state through the Integrated Service Delivery Model.
The purpose of this model is to provide a national framework that clearly
determines the nature, scope, extent and level of work that constitute the
model of service delivery for developmental social services.
The model again provides a basis for determining appropriate norms and
standards for service delivery, which will in turn provide a basis for funding
and greater efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery.
Work is continuing apace to adjust our systems, to respond to this
progressive model.
Good governance
The sun has long risen; no longer shall we talk of dawn. We remain committed
to developing our internal systems so as to better carry out our mandated tasks
to the hundreds of thousands of our beneficiaries, ensuring their sustainable
social development.
The reconfiguration of our department remains important in that it provides
an opportunity to position our programmes in a manner that continuously respond
to both our internal and external systems. Amongst others, our work is apace to
strengthen our policy development, implementation and evaluation of our
programmes, and all our units that are critical to carrying forth the
developmental approach are in the pipeline of streamlining so as to offer
effective response in this new terrain.
Our believe, Madam Speaker, is that good governance is a necessary condition
for the attainment of sustainable social development underpinned by the values
of social justice.
We have positioned the core of our business excellence, thus our corporate
management, in such a manner that allows it to best interpret and deliver on
the true acts of justice, responsive to the current challenges facing
governance.
In October we will put in place the Supply Chain Management systems that
will respond to efficiency in our awarding of services to Small, Medium
Micro-Economic (SMME), whilst ensuring that clean and corruption free
governance thrives.
Electronic systems are in place to invite, evaluate and award quotations and
bids and as a government that cares we will continue strengthening our internal
systems to further benefit all of our people.
We commit ourselves to improve on the implementation of the Fraud and
Corruption Plan. In the next six months the department will develop its Risk
Management plan which primarily will focus on eliminating any risks resulting
from the huge transfers we continue to make.
On the legal frontier, the National Parliament has recently passed the Older
Persons and Children�s Bill, to effectively deal with the plight of the older
persons and to establish the criminal justice process for accused children
respectively. These bills will through our Strategic Planning, Monitoring and
Legal Services Directorate be tabled for consideration by the legislature.
As one of the department�s key objectives is to ensure that poverty relief
projects are effective, the said Directorate will in this regard roll out an
assessment of all poverty alleviation projects to establish reasons for the
collapse of some.
A recent survey undertaken, in respect of the awareness of the employees
regarding various government policies, evidently indicated that there are
serious challenges relating to awareness, knowledge and understanding of
government policies. We will therefore engage in an advocacy exercise in
collaboration with all relevant units to build capacity amongst our employees
and stakeholders, regarding this matter.
As we continue to take the services to our people, throughout the province,
we are forever mindful that our most valued asserts are our employees. We
continue to create the conditions that are conducive for productivity, with the
obvious aims of strengthening the people�s contract in our department, through
the services we render to the poor and the vulnerable in our province.
We have set the pace with regard to the Performance Management Development
Systems, and we are encouraged by the developments in place that more of our
employees are set to continue responding positively to the service delivery
standards required.
One of the key values underpinning the vision that is articulated in our
departmental strategic plan is assurance of equity and freedom from
discrimination and harassment in the workplace and in all the services we
provide.
In line with the Provincial Gender Strategy, we have in our employment a
person focusing solely on issues of gender. Our gender unit will ensure that
there is a policy which relates to the empowerment of women at key positions in
the department as required by the governmental policies.
Through the learnership programme, our department received a total of 39
learners in the areas of Human Resource Management, Project Management and
Financial Management, 19 young women and 20 young men.
We will continue to position these young people on a platform that will
allow them to market their skills. In April this year, we will recruit an
additional 80 learners to work as Social Auxiliary workers from which we expect
a comfortable number of young women recruits.
As we address the challenges which are laid by society given the demands for
social work service to the multitudes of our people, we are faced by a
situation where the need for social work services escalates dramatically versus
the number of qualified professionals in this area.
In the midst of skills scarcity in this field, we remain hopeful however
that the service mandate and the key support mechanisms in place will assist us
to balance the scales, enabling us to produce adequate supply of these much
desired services, through stimulating more interest for our people,
particularly the young to study in the field of social work services. In the
2005/2006 we have been able to employ 104 social workers, though under very
difficult conditions laid by skills scarcity.
The employment of these workers will translate to the strengthening of our
developmental services as we continue to inspire morally and spiritually
fulfilled communities that will be able to best seize the opportunities created
by the reconfiguration of our departmental services. They will also reduce the
overwhelming burden of work that is currently taking a toll on the social
workers currently in our employment.
Previous Commitments
As I report on the successes which we have managed to record in the setting
financial year, allow me to congratulate my predecessor on the achievements
which had been on track at the time of my joining the department. She had
affirmed the rightful place for our children and families under the golden rays
of the risen sun.
The following is an account of the achievements from the Development and
Support together with the Social Work programmes of our department. I am
pleased to announce that we did not only deliver on the commitments we made,
but we have exceeded.
Through development and support, a total of 62 132 food parcels were
provided to vulnerable households at the cost of R16, 4 million beating the
target of 37 665.
After witnessing the sordid circumstances of absolute poverty in places like
Piet Plessis, Stella, and many more, an additional of 964 food parcels was
provided to 334 impoverished households living in plastic shacks in Stella and
Piet Plessis.
The emergency food scheme has had a wider impact beyond mere distribution of
food parcels to these communities. 26 SMME`s were contracted to provide private
warehousing, transport and security. These projects also created 213 temporary
jobs for people who managed warehouses and profiled beneficiaries.
In addressing food insecurity concerns we established nine new Drop-In
Centres and strengthened two existing centres exceeding the target of four
Drop-In centres. Each centre reaches about 120 beneficiaries on a daily basis,
primarily orphans, vulnerable children, youth and the elderly.
In line with the National Integrated Plan for HIV and AIDS, five community
based service providers were contracted to distribute vitamin supplements to
those infected by HIV and AIDS. 29 Community Home Based Care programmes
servicing households infected and affected by HIV and AIDS were funded at the
tune of R14, 5 million, creating 400 jobs and reached 13 438 beneficiaries.
We also trained 260 community caregivers in essential areas such as basic
understanding of HIV and AIDS, lay counselling and on implementation of HIV and
AIDS guidelines.
Through the Integrated Social Development Services Grant we have funded 5
income generating projects at R20 million, thus adding two more projects to the
initial target of three, which we had set ourselves. We funded four youth
development projects, at the cost of R3, 8m reaching out to 103 young people.
Five diversion and advocacy programmes for youth in conflict with the law were
set and four more projects for people with disability were funded.
Madam Speaker, through Child and Family sub-programme, we ensured that 184
Early Childhood Development programmes and 39 NGOs were given subsidies for
developmental services to children. 21 346 children have been placed under
foster care and all cases submitted to court have been processed without any
queries.
In our efforts of creating a safe and secured environment for the future of
our children, we should be concerned that the environment under-which substance
and drug abuse prevail, could lead to catastrophic results of our efforts.
Substance and drug abuse are the social ills, which we continue to push an
onslaught against.
In the previous financial year we made commitments towards intensifying our
battle on substance abuse. We have ensured that five substance abuse prevention
programmes were implemented in five schools in Bophirima in partnership with
the Sanpark treatment centre, during the Drug Week 20-26 June 2005.
On our commitments relating to Older Persons we continued service delivery
to these pioneers of our struggles through identification and profiling of 440
households of frail older persons. We therefore appointed service providers to
facilitate the implementation of frail care services in Bophirima District,
Kgetleng and Ratlou Local Municipalities at a funding of R4, 1 million,
targeting 11 service points and reaching 440 elderly.
We have also put in place an abuse protocol register whereby 26 old age
homes were registered as prescribed by legislation. We have further trained
Older Persons� coordinators on abuse protocol guidelines to ensure effective
monitoring of the register, trained 90 volunteers to implement the
Adopt-A-Granny headed household project in 450 households, trained Stakeholders
on financial awards policy and conducted an audit of services and skills in 10
Service clubs in the Bophirima District.
Madam Speaker, our children will continue to burn inside, as long as the
elderly feel relegated to the margins like the biblical lepers.
A model on transformation of services in protective workshops for people
with disabilities has been conceptualised. A service provider has been awarded
a tender and the Service Level Agreement has been signed for the development
and costing of the model.
Two day care centres, five protective workshops, three homes for persons
with disabilities and two specialised disability service organisations have
been subsidised.
Through the restorative justice programme, we have managed to launch a
Reception Assessment Referral Centre in Zeerust, purchased and distributed
promotional material to 25 service points throughout the province, established
two Secure Care Centres, one in Mafikeng and the other in Matlosane, launched
two Roll out Reception Assessment Referral Centres in Mamusa and Zeerust.
Our Victim Empowerment programme launched the 16 Days of Activism on No
Violence Against Women and Children in partnership with the Department of
Safety and Liaison, conducted a provincial Men-In-Action Campaign in
partnership with the National Department of Social Development, conducted a
workshop on Victim Empowerment relevant legislation, purchased and distributed
promotional material to 25 service points, established two safe houses and paid
stipends to seven volunteers in sustaining the four victim support centres
Social assistance
Through the Social Assistance programme we have ensured that the past
legacies which have denied our people access to cash flow, disabling them from
participating fairly in the markets for purposes of survival as dictated by
nature, are permanently erased.
As the late Bob Marley, a revolutionary reggae legend said in his lyrics of
the song �War� let me pronounce that, as I quote this legend;
Until the philosophy that makes one man inferior and another superior is
permanently discredited, everywhere is war� its war!
Unquote
The Social Assistance programme has through the social security grants
ensured that the philosophy that makes one man financially inferior and another
superior, is permanently discredited, so as to prevent the looming social war,
which continue to threaten the future of our children.
We have managed to take our services to the people in the most inaccessible
of our rural communities and we pride ourselves in the achievements we continue
to record with regard to these important masses of our people.
We have ensured the promotion of all grant types with specific emphasis to
eleven year old children until their 14th year birthday celebration. Currently
a total of 556 274 children are beneficiaries to the grant in the province.
2006/2007 commitments
To ensure that all of our communities attain their rightful place under the
warm rays of the risen sun, we shall ensure in the dawning financial year that
we deliver on services that will ensure consistency with the work already begun
whilst further strengthening and realigning internal systems for the successful
implementation of our developmental approach.
The priorities for the 2006/2007 financial year are in response to the
commitments made in the Local Government Elections Manifesto of the African
National Congress which called for our people to �Vote for a plan to make local
government work better�. It is further directed by the 8th of January
statement, and the State of the Nation Address recently delivered by the State
President, Honourable Thabo Mbeki.
We hope indeed that as we table these commitments, the August House will
agree that our primary challenge lies in the budget we have been allocated
compared to the services we have to render to our people.
Development and support
Desired economic growth ensures the material strengthening of our
developmental programmes that aim at empowering the community through projects,
such as the Integrated Social Development Services Grant, known as the
ISDSG.
This newly launched grant mobilises the poorest and the most vulnerable in
our communities, rallying them around a common course for their economic self
determination, where they would not be reliant on hand outs. It practically
makes our people the masters of their own destinies.
Our state of readiness is fair regarding our being team players in the
speedy implementation of the comprehensive National Youth Service Programme as
dictated by the ASGISA.
This is in response to a call from the Honourable Premier in her State of
the Province Address, for our departments to collaborate with the North West
Provincial Youth Commission and Umsobomvu Youth Fund, on this task.
Our Intra-Departmental Youth Affairs committee continue to derive its
guidelines from the Provincial Inter-Departmental Youth Affairs committee,
coordinated by the Provincial Youth Commission, in pursuing this vision through
the Community Development, Support and Research Programme we make an assertion
that the future is ours, poverty must be history.
As it remains our resolve to turn the tide of poverty through provision of
comprehensive social safety nets and developmental services, whilst we claim
this future, we are called upon to re-develop the social fibre of our
communities by building a portfolio of human, social, and financial assets
aimed at developing caring and self-reliant communities.
It is time to put community development on the pedestal with its newly
defined vision, based on sustainable livelihoods. In embracing our African
Renaissance spirit we have divorced the euro-centric and other alienating
philosophies and methodologies of community development and adopted strategies
derived from African value systems of ubuntu teaching us that motho ga a
iphetse; umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.
We consolidate people�s power and action as we stand and deliver.
During this financial year we shall continue accelerating service delivery
whilst ensuring that we work smart to maximize benefits. The locus of
development theory and practice is achieving people�s power through coordinated
actions.
In rebuilding the social fabric of our communities we commit ourselves to
intensify our efforts to mobilise social development partners, particularly
faith-based organisations. We will be hosting consultative meetings in each
district where the nature and modalities of our partnership will be
explored.
The thrust of our social contract is to create a critical mass and build
sustainable community development engines that will implement people driven
programmes to achieve equity and social justice.
It is a travesty of history that the impact of the non-governmental sector
on the socio-economic life of the province has not been quantified, but cannot
be discounted. The department will commission research to study the nature,
size, scope, geographic spread and contribution of this sector to the
reconstruction and development agenda of the province.
The research report will provide a road map on how to harmonise this energy
into a catalyst for creating a better life for all.
In building the service delivery competencies and promoting good governance
within this sector, we are committing ourselves to training community based
organisations (CBOs) in project management, business planning, report writing
and financial management.
Due to our consciousness of our being a developmental state, part of our
responsibility is to, not only create enabling conditions for development but
to fully support peoples� initiatives. It is by far large a margin, the actions
of local organisations that sustained our people against the onslaught of
social, economic and cultural colonisation. These actions serve as critical
catalyst in building caring communities.
As we continue to recognise community builders, through our support of the
Community Builder of The Year Awards, we have decided to expand the programme
by taking it to districts. Four district ceremonies will be held to recognise
and award those patrons who carry high, the flag of Vukuzenzele.
The department will continue exploring other ways for poverty reduction by
which it seeks to strengthen indigenous coping and development strategies of
communities.
We will partner with the CBO Network to host the Social Financing
Conference. Social Financing Programme aims at promoting community based
savings and credit schemes and cooperatives. Such interventions will reduce
pervasive exploitation of the poor by scrupulous micro-lenders especially the
elderly recipients of social assistance.
The sun has risen; exploitation of our people, the poor and vulnerable in
particular, should be history.
In the year in which we celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Soweto student
uprisings, we continue to ensure that through the ISDSG, we commit ourselves to
advancing community projects that ensure the economic empowerment of the youth.
Through our programmes we further, support the setting up of youth cooperatives
through the province.
Our agenda to mobilise young rural women into business formations remains on
track.
We will be hosting an Indaba on Poverty and Rural Development during the
youth month targeting the impoverished young women. The Indaba is expected to
mobilise an assortment of resource organisations and develop an integrated
economic empowerment programme for affected young rural women.
The department will establish three high impact projects on poverty
eradication targeting youth, unemployed graduates and ultra poor households, to
the tune of R2 million.
For the success of these projects skills will be developed through the
collaborations with universities on their technology programmes and other
support agents such as Small Enterprise Development Agencies (SEDA), will be
involved in provision of hard skills and entrepreneurial support to
projects.
We remain bound by the Constitution to continue meeting the basic needs of
our people. Two new Drop-In Centres in Merafong and Modimong village in Taung
will be established. This initiative is a response to the call made by the
Premier to initiate and intensify poverty reduction interventions in Modimong.
The department will in the latter mentioned area, also initiate a Community
Home Based Care Programme.
Under the warm rays of the risen sun the prayer of our people is, �profess
an end to this endemic poverty.�
As an instrument of a caring government and in concerted efforts of the
province, we commit ourselves to move the people towards common destiny, so as
to realise the strengthening of families for the future of our children, where
poverty will not let our children burn from inside, resulting in the
disintegration of family values and norms in the long run.
Social Services
Regarding our social services, the voices of the children of South Africa,
have been heard. We need to be the trustworthy pioneers of progressive African
solutions to curb our current poverty and social disintegration dilemma, so as
to leave behind a desirable legacy for these central players of our future.
For the financial year of 2006/07 Madam Speaker, we intend to strengthen our
response to the voices of the children, women and youth as we pay attention to
the plights of the families.
The strengthening of families so as to seize the multiple opportunities
created by our democracy remains key factor to our extinguishing the fire that
is burning inside our children.
Sustainable social development, I�m sure this August House agrees, cannot be
achieved in any environment under which women still remain to be social
spectators. Women account for a large contingency of the poor and the
vulnerable across the world, on the African continent in particular. No
government can thus avoid the empowerment of women, and claim to be on track to
sustained growth and development.
Key to strengthening our families, thus supporting sustainable social
development as per commitment by the Copenhagen Declaration, is recognising the
role which women continue to play in society, as we celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the Women�s March to Pretoria.
As we continue to ensure effective child care services, we will subsidise an
additional 20 sites on Early Childhood Development benefiting 600 children and
creating 40 job opportunities in Mogwase, Madikwe and Ventersdorp by September
2006, this is in line with the Expanded Public Works Programme.
The acceleration of unregistered sites continues at a faster pace in this
regard. The additional personnel through the 300 social workers to be employed
in the 2006/2007 financial year will come in handy.
We will further facilitate the implementation of the electronic and manual
Child Protection Register so as to account for the number of children in the
province. The Provincial Office and all the service points will have
implemented this by September 2006.
The foster care backlog, which accounts for 18 000 cases currently, will be
fast tracked through the recent employment of 104 social workers.
Our Social Work interventions towards the families continue through the
development of a comprehensive plan to integrate the Indigenous Knowledge
Systems, to enhance the society�s moral values, in support of the moral
regeneration project. We have various programmes that respond to this challenge
such as the Family Preservation programme, Family Re-unification Services,
Parenting Skills and Family Enrichment Services.
Madam Speaker, for us to deliver on these daunting tasks the role of our
stakeholders remains critical. These include our faith based organisations
(FBOs), non governmental organisations (NGOs), Inter Sectoral collaboration and
broader civil society movements for it takes the whole society to raise a
child.
We are further going to ensure transformation of services for older persons,
strengthen community based services for older persons, develop a strategy to
ensure effective integrated services for care and support for older persons and
capacity building for service providers so as to further strengthen the
creation of a conducive South Africa that enables our elderly to part their
knowledge and wisdom to future generations.
Madam Speaker in championing the interests and the rights of the persons
with disabilities, the department is currently working on developing a
responsive policy. We however have a strategy that continues to guide us on our
services to the people with disabilities.
In our strengthening the promotion of restorative justice, we will ensure
effective offender care services through the establishment of an additional
secure care centre in Rustenburg.
We are pleased to announce that during the Restorative Justice week in
November this year, we will launch one secure care centre in Matlosana and
establish two Reception, Assessment and Referral centres in December. Eight
diversion programmes that we currently have will also be sustained.
We will commission a study to determine the extent of the problem of
children in conflict with the law through working with the Correctional
Services Department.
Our victim empowerment programme will be strengthened in the current
financial year through the launch of Men-In-Action Campaign by May 2006. We
will also launch 10 Victim Empowerment Forums. During the Women�s Month we will
launch one safe house for the survivors of domestic violence in
Lichtenburg.
The four Victim Empowerment Centres that currently exist will be
sustained.
To further continue our onslaught against substance abuse, we will implement
the Ke Moja Substance Abuse programme in partnership with the Department of
Education, Health and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
This programme that targets young people between the ages of 10-18 will be
implemented in 56 schools across the province.
Our 22 service points will embark on anti drug abuse activities, in
partnership with various local municipalities and other social partners,
culminating to the celebration of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and
Illicit Trafficking, during the Youth Month. We will further continue to
provide after care services to rehabilitated clients in all our service
points.
Madam Speaker, allow us to emphasise on the role that is supposed to be
played by our stakeholders and broader civil society in assisting government to
achieve on its delivery of services to the people.
The NGOs, FBOs, CBOs and broader civil society has a responsibility to
ensure that they know fully the programmes of government and the direction
towards which service delivery is heading for they have the responsibility to
assist government in building key social institutions that will strengthen the
material and spiritual gains of our people.
These institutions include the churches, the community recreational centres,
civic centres and all other institutions that provide a platform for our people
to meet and drive forth society.
An ideology that teaches these important wings of society that there is dire
need for them to put their ears on the ground and move with progressive forces,
should prevail if change is to be witnessed. We will continue to inspire
transformation of institutions that are not as yet responsive to the
developmental challenges facing our country, on the social development arena in
particular.
Transformation of institutions which have previously not taken into
consideration the reinforcing material and spiritual well being of our people
must happen for transformation is not an option, it is an obligation.
I take this opportunity to pass my sincerest gratitude to the social
partners who have in 2005/2006 pulled the yoke with the department as we set
our feet on a journey towards emancipating our people from all sorts of social
trappings.
As we welcome the newly elected councillors at local government, we remain
certain that this leadership will continue to ensure efficient and strengthened
partnerships with the department, for the delivery of services to all our
people.
Madam Speaker, I now take this long awaited platform to table our budget for
2006/07 financial year as such:
* Programme 1. Administration and Management receives R 106 185
million
* Programme 2. Developmental Social Services receives R281 637 million
* Programme 3. Development and Research receives R39 740 million
The total budget for 2006/2007, Madam Speaker, is R 427 562 million.
As we conclude this address, we call on all of our people to put the people
of the flooded area of Taung in their prayers as I call forth business
community to assist through provision of relief support to these fellow
citizens in these unfortunate times.
Madam Speaker without the support that I have enjoyed from my political
home, the African National Congress, colleagues in this August House, committed
employees of the Department of Social Development and my family, the reality of
the risen sun would not have been as clear as it has been and continues to
be.
I thank you all.
Issued by: Department of Social Development, North West Provincial
Government
30 March 2006
