Whether she has been informed that a group of almost 50 nonprofit organisations (NPOs) in KwaZulu-Natal have launched an online petition to protest the ongoing late and/or nonpayment of subsidies from her department, with some organisations struggling since 2022 to get regular payments; if not, what steps will she take to investigate the issue and set things right; if so, what are the relevant details?
Yes, the issue was on the agenda of the MINMEC meeting held on 5 December 2023 and was discussed at length with all MECs. The meeting to discuss and find long term solution is scheduled for early next year with the KZN Provincial Department of Social Development. The meeting will address issues that are a challenge for both parties. All the NPOs that have ...
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(1)What systems are in place to verify and prohibit deceased SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) grant recipients or card holders from getting paid;
(2) whether there have been instances where deceased SASSA grant recipients were paid; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) (i) total number of such recipients were wrongly paid in the past three years and (ii) steps were taken to recoup the funds and (b) is the monetary value of such payments in each of the past three years?
1. SASSA works closely with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) on deceased data validation and conducts monthly checks to confirm the life status of beneficiaries before a payment is generated. Payment is effected to beneficiaries who are confirmed to be alive, as per validation outcomes.
(2) Yes, there are instances where deceased social grant recipients have been wrongly paid. This happens when a ...
(1)Whether her department monitors all the listed Gender-Based Violence (GBV) contact channels 24/7; if not, why not;
(2) Whether the reported GBV matters are referred to SA Police Service or any other agencies; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) Who is responsible for manning the GBV channels for each contact line;
(4) What are the relevant (a) job descriptions and (b) qualifications of the persons who respond to the GBV contacts?
(1) Yes, the Department monitors the GBV Command Centre on a daily basis through social workers and social work supervisors. The Technical Shift Supervisor performs at least one test per shift per channel to test that the channel is active, monitored and promptly responded to. In addition, the Quality Assurers of the GBV Command Centre provide quality assurance as part of monitoring and improving ...
(1)With reference to her department’s Ten Point Plan which represents the priorities to be addressed by the social development sector during the period 2000 to 2005, what are the reasons that the outdated Plan is still displayed on the official website;
(2) which of the ten priority points are still applicable to her department’s work;
(3) in light of the tenth point which refers to training, educating, re-deployment and employment of a new category of workers in social development, how many social workers have been trained and employed by her department each year since 2000?
(1) The 10 Point Plan was introduced in the year 2000 and was well encapsulated in the 2000-2005 Strategic Plan of the Department. The Ten Point Plan was published on the DSD homepage and is still there even today. Since these are public documents, the Department of Social Development took a conscious decision to retain archived documents on its home page in line with ...
With reference to her department’s offices in KwaZulu-Natal that are currently experiencing a shortfall in funds that has resulted in the department’s petrol cards being blocked, thereby preventing the delivery of essential services, what (a) is the current state of the finances of her department’s offices in KwaZuluNatal, (b) interventions and/or assistance has she given to her department’s offices in KwaZuluNatal, considering that they are paying non-profit organisations late due to financial challenges and (c) total number of social workers were negatively impacted by the blocking of the petrol cards?
- The question relates to the operations of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Social Development, which is under the political oversight of the MEC of Social Development. As reported in several meetings of the Portfolio Committee, the National Treasury is implementing budget cuts across all government departments, including provincial departments of Social Development.
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In view of the KwaZulu-Natal nonprofit organisations network reporting that over 47 welfare organisations, 1 714 staff and approximately 422 826 grant recipients, including children, older persons, and individuals with disabilities, were directly impacted by late payment of subsidies as at 10 October 2023, what (a) measures are being taken by her department to ensure that such life-saving organisations receive their subsidies on time, (b) on what date will the unpaid subsidies from (i) August 2023, (ii) September 2023 and (iii) October 2023 be paid to organisations and (c) are the full relevant details in this regard?
a) The Department has implemented new funding model with effect from October 2023. The new funding model entails paying NPOs in tranches on a quarterly basis. The tranche will be paid in April, July, September and January each financial year. This will ensure timeous payment of subsidies to NPOs
b)
- Subsidies for August 2023 were paid in full on 06 October 2023;
- Most of ...
Given that this department and the 4th Central Drug Authority hosted the 3rd National Summit on Substance Abuse and Illicit Trafficking from 14 to 16 November 2023 in Gauteng, what (a) was the outcome of the specified summit and (b) are the full, relevant details of the planned initiatives to fight the substance abuse crisis in the Republic?
(a) Outcomes of the CDA 3rd National Summit on Substance Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
a) The 3rd National Summit hosted by the CDA was preceded by provincial dialogues and culminated into the adoption of resolutions to address the problem of alcohol and drugs misuse, and illicit trafficking.
b) The main aim of the Summit was not to come up with new plans, but to ...
Whether, since her reply to a supplementary question on question 129 for oral reply on 8 March 2023, wherein she acknowledged, after having been alerted by a certain political party (name furnished) to the fact that very few telephone lines of the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) are working in most provinces, that SASSA had some challenges and that systems needed to be fixed to avoid long queues, any action has been taken to improve the accessibility of SASSA; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details of the steps that have been taken in this regard?
Yes, SASSA offices have undergone infrastructure upgrades to improve services. SASSA has a national toll-free number for the public to contact the Agency for any social grants related enquiries. SASSA has dedicated employees to receive and deal with public enquiries on the Toll Free: 0800 60 1011.
This is complemented by the national e-mail address for the public to contact the Agency for queries: ...
What steps has she taken to ensure that (a) her department plays an effective oversight role over the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) as it continues to pay people who are not eligible for a grant and (b) SASSA pays (i) eligible grant recipients on time and (ii) only persons who are eligible to receive a grant?
a) In fulfilment of the responsibility to oversee SASSA’s management, administration and payment of social assistance, the Department has put systems and structures in place at different levels and there are regular engagements between the two entities to continuously monitor payment of social grants.
The following are some of the key oversight initiatives by the Department:
- The Department has initiated the establishment of a ...
(1)With reference to the recent reports that the local office of the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) in Chatsworth in KwaZuluNatal has been declared unsafe for occupation and will be closed until further notice, (a) how did the situation (i) leading to the closure unfold and (ii) reach a point where closure was deemed necessary and (b) what (i) form of inspection and/or maintenance was conducted to ensure the safety of the specified premises and (ii) oversight mechanisms were in place;
(2) what (a) immediate measures are being (i) implemented to reopen the specified facilities, (ii) taken to address the safety concerns and (iii) introduced to facilitate the speedy reopening of the facilities and (b) is the timeline for the reopening of the facilities;
(3) in light of the unfortunate incident, what preventative measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of other SASSA local offices in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality region?
1(a)
(i0 SASSA KZN Region has been the occupant of the Chatsworth building since April 2006 in a shared services arrangement with the Department of Social Development (DSD), with DSD being the primary contract holder with the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. After the departure of DSD from the premises, SASSA started experiencing glitches with the building maintenance as KZN Provincial Department of ...
