Honourable Chairperson
Honourable Members of Parliament
Comrades and friends
Esteemed ladies and gentlemen
I thank you for the opportunity to address the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on the occasion of the third reading of the Social Assistance Amendment Bill. This bill is part of the ANC government’s efforts towards building a caring society and bears witness to our ongoing work to ensure the progressive realisation of the constitutional right of access to social assistance.
Honourable members, the Ministry of Social Development has stated before: Our social assistance programme is witness to the ANC government and our society’s way of putting into practise the values of social solidarity. This we do by providing cash transfers to those of our citizens who, through no fault of their own, cannot find gainful employment. With this small, but important resource that we provide, older persons, parents with young children, people with disabilities and others are able to buy the bare necessities, primarily food for themselves, their families and their children. This provides the indigent with a measure of dignity, as they feel that they are part of society.
Honourable members,
For as long as our society remains one of the most unequal in the world, with high levels of structural unemployment and accompanying social exclusion, we must as a society continue to state unequivocally: The ANC government, as the leader of our Social Transformation agenda will, through the state instruments, lead in our efforts to mitigate against the worst impacts of poverty and unemployment and also, implement programmes aimed at reducing inequalities.
We are often confronted by comments and suggestions that our social assistance programme is unsustainable. Yet, research has indicated that our cash transfer programme has been the key intervention serving to reduce the Gini-coefficient: that is the measure of inequality. This is an important point, as international research has proven that unequal societies perform less well economically, and socially than societies that are generally more equal.
Honourable members,
Brazil was until recently, one of the most unequal society in the world, but a rapid escalation of their own social assistance programme known as Bolsa-Familia has resulted in an unprecedented reduction in their inequality rate. The reduction in inequality spurred on economic growth, increased the numbers of jobs created and generally contributed to a more cohesive society in Brazil.
Honourable members,
With a deepening of our own social assistance programme, we are on a similar path. Therefore, it is time that we change the discourse here in Parliament and society. Our new discourse should focus on the unsustainability of inequality in our country; as this is the key inhibitor of real economic growth and progress towards a more stable and cohesive society.
Honourable members, that means that your questions to us should focus on what our progress is towards building a comprehensive social security system that will, over time, facilitate a more socially inclusive South Africa. Honourable chairperson, for us to extend our social assistance programme we need to improve on how we administer it.
The Social Assistance Bill therefore sought to do three things: To introduce a new definition for disability, to provide a mechanism for SASSA to review its decisions when a beneficiary is not satisfied with the outcome, and thirdly to enhance the appeals process.
Coming to the issue of the definition of disability, which is a key area of leakage on the system, we are deeply concerned that every cent lost to bad administration, fraud and corruption in our system diverts resources from those in our society that need them. The non-reporting of an increase in a beneficiary’s income, too constitute an area of fraud and leakage. Corrupt officials and government employees have over the last five years felt the retribution of government as the special investigation unit and the courts disposed justice for their wrongdoing. We once again call on all members of our society to work with us in dealing with leakage, fraud and corruption in the grants system.
Disability targeting presents a key challenge in any social security system. In our case we lack a common assessment tool for disability. This results in errors of inclusion and exclusion in the administration of disability grant. Effective targeting for the disability grant requires the reliable and objective implementation of a uniform disability assessment tool.
The passing of this particular amendment would have enabled us to make a distinction between permanent and temporary disability as well people with chronic illnesses. The debates on this aspect of the initial bill were vigorous in the Portfolio Committee on Social Development. After much constructive deliberations, the committee felt that whilst this aspect of the bill is noble and with good intentions, it may however lead to unintended consequences such as the exclusion of people with chronic conditions.
The Department of Health indicated to the Portfolio Committee that it was not ready to implement the new disability assessment. The department outlined the challenges it has in developing a comprehensive response to assisting people with chronic illnesses and indicated that it would require more time.
Honourable chairperson, based on the fact that as government we will not be able to provide adequately for chronically ill people who may be removed from the system based on a new approach to defining disability, the Portfolio Committee felt strongly that the provision around the definition of disability should be referred back to Cabinet for further deliberations. We will, together with the Department of Health work towards an appropriate response to address the needs of those suffering from chronic conditions.
Honourable members, the right to fair administrative action is a basic human right. The Constitution guarantees that administrative action must be reasonable, lawful and procedurally fair. It also makes provision that applicants for social grants have the right to request reasons for administrative action that negatively affects them.
The Social Assistance Amendment Bill facilitates a process wherein social grant applicants and beneficiaries are treated with fairness, dignity and respect. The bill makes provision for applicants and beneficiaries to request the South African Social Security Agency to review its decisions in order to expedite resolution of disputes and avert unnecessary and costly litigation.
The bill also makes provision for applicants and beneficiaries to appeal against a decision of the agency and the appointment of the independent tribunal in a manner to be prescribed by regulations. The Tribunals are a key part of the administrative justice process and makes it possible for applicants and beneficiaries to present their grievances and, if there are merit to their claims, obtain simple and speedy resolutions of their cases.
I am indeed pleased that as elected representatives of our people, we have put our political differences aside and adopted this important piece of legislation in recognising its critical importance for the poor and vulnerable members of our society. Notwithstanding its size, this bill will impact positively on the lives of many of our most deserving citizens. It aims to ensure that our government fulfils its constitutional obligation in section 27 of the Constitution.
Honourable chairperson, the final product, the bill, that we have before us bears testimony to the robustness of the legislative making process in this country. Aside from extensive public consultation processes, the Portfolio Committee was rigorous in its examination of the implications of the bill in its original format and also asked for informative inputs from advocacy groups in civil society. The Select Committee too undertook public consultation processes which provided platforms for the electorate throughout the country to engage with the contents of the bill. The collective wisdom that emerged from these processes is gratifying and testifies of the enduring democratic spirit prevailing in this young democracy. I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the Select Committee and indeed civil society for their inputs served to improve this bill. That is what a robust policy-making process should do.
We should be heartened by the fact that we have such an open system and perhaps bear in mind that we should not always have to resort to shrill and alarmist ways of proposing or opposing policy ideas in the public domain. The debate regarding the Protection of Information Bill and the proposed Media Tribunal is a case in point, but I shall not digress to that matter now. What we are assured of, is that have a democratically elected ANC government and a robust system of decision-making system to ensure that we make decisions for the collective good of all South Africans.
In conclusion I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to officials from the Departments of Social Development and Health for their hard work on this bill. Finally, I thank the members of the House who have contributed to the debate at various stages
Honourable chairperson, I support this bill for passing by the NCOP.
I thank you.
