Hon Speaker, the ANC government's continual failure to fulfil its constitutional obligation to children and the elderly has resulted in both the national department and the Free State department of social development being taken to court by the NGO sector to force the government to honour its obligations to them.
Recent court findings highlighted the fact that skewed funding resulted in the Free State department allocating between R5 000 and R6 750 per month per child for a state-run children's home while it paid only R2 000 per month for homes run by nonprofit organisations, NPOs. The judgment by the court orders the department to revise its funding policy within four months and that the policy must have a fair, equitable and transparent method of determining how much should be paid to NPOs.
It is an indictment on the department that, due to a lack of capacity and leadership within the department, the court will supervise the implementation of the judgment. It is a very sad day when organisations that are at the coalface of protecting the most vulnerable in our society are forced to go to court to get the government to do its job. This does highlight, however, the hypocritical attitude that the ANC government has towards children's rights in South Africa. I thank you. [Applause.]