2023-w3146 - 24 November 2023

Alexandra Lilian Amelia Abrahams to ask the Minister of Social Development

(1)What are the reasons that district surgeons are used in KwaZulu-Natal and not in other provinces; (2) what are the reasons that assessment doctors have not submitted their invoices for payment in the Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape provinces?

Reply from the Minister of Social Development on 24 Nov 2023

1. SASSA utilises medical practitioners in the employ of the Department of Health doctors who were previously referred to as District Surgeon in all the provinces. While other provinces have changed the title, it is still being used in some provinces, but basically refers to same. There is no different arrangement for KZN. The medical practitioners conduct social assistance assessments.

2. According to our ...

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2023-w3397 - 24 November 2023

Paulnita Marais to ask the Minister of Social Development

What (a) are the reasons she and/or her department is removing baby savers, which have been a successful method of saving the lives of new-borns and (b) interventions will replace the system as the department has in the past failed to intervene?

Reply from the Minister of Social Development on 24 Nov 2023

a) There are no legislative provisions for baby savers that mandates their existence in the Children’s Act which already has adequate child protection measures to care and protect abandoned children. Baby savers encourages child abandonment which is a criminal offence, and a person who abandons a child after birth may be charged and prosecuted.

The practice encourages infant abandonment; promotes the birth mother relinquishing ...

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2023-w3394 - 24 November 2023

Liezl Linda van der Merwe to ask the Minister of Social Development

(1)Whether, in light of the fact that the pressing issue of unsafe abandonment of infants and the need for baby savers that are also known as haven boxes, which is intended to save lives and prevent babies from being abandoned in drains, open fields and/or rubbish bins, her department has (a) declared the haven boxes as illegal and (b) called on all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) offering the service to cease immediately; if not, what is the position in each case; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) whether the discussion around baby savers is no longer on the table; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (3) whether her department will ensure that the Gauteng Department of Social Development withdraws its decision to declare the haven boxes as illegal to ensure that babies are not abandoned in unsafe spaces but are allowed to be safely handed over through the life-saving interventions; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply from the Minister of Social Development on 24 Nov 2023

1. (a) Yes, baby savers are illegal as they constitute a criminal offence in terms of the Children’s Act (Act No. 38 of 2005). Baby savers are regarded as an act of child abandonment and neglect as per the provision of Section 110 of the Children’s Act.

(b) Organisations that promote the use of the so-called baby savers contravenes the Children’s Act, which is ...

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2023-w3690 - 16 November 2023

Liezl Linda van der Merwe to ask the Minister of Social Development

What steps has her department taken to significantly reduce the number of more than 1000 babies that are reportedly abandoned annually?

Reply from the Minister of Social Development on 16 Nov 2023

1. (a) In response to steps taken by the department to significantly reduce the number of child abandonment annually, it is important to clarify that there are no records of 1000 babies abandoned annually recorded in the National Child Protection Register (CPR) which is a legislated register to keep records of child abuse cases including abandonment. The Department notes with concern the number of ...

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2023-w3706 - 16 November 2023

Jane Manganye to ask the Minister of Social Development

(a) How effective has the Community-Based Prevention and Early Intervention Programme been in identifying and removing children from vulnerable environments and (b) what is the ratio of identified vulnerable children to the number of available professionals providing social services?

Reply from the Minister of Social Development on 16 Nov 2023

a) The Community-Based Prevention and Early Intervention Programme is effective as the programme is designed in a manner that facilitates early identification of vulnerable children through home visits conducted by auxiliary child and youth care workers who uses the assessment tool (Ungubani) that has seven domains to identify the level of risk a vulnerable children is exposed to. Upon identification of risks, the child(ren) ...

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2023-w3689 - 16 November 2023

Liezl Linda van der Merwe to ask the Minister of Social Development

What steps has she taken to ensure that she and/or her department protects vulnerable beneficiaries of SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) grants against the persistent system struggles and challenges at SASSA?

Reply from the Minister of Social Development on 16 Nov 2023

The Postbank has confirmed to SASSA that all system glitches have been resolved as demonstrated in the recent payment run that went unhindered. Postbank also communicated the following to SASSA as remedial action they have taken to prevent future glitches:

  • Enhanced monitoring mechanisms to track the payment process in real-time.
  • Strengthened their technical infrastructure to handle higher transaction volumes, ensuring swift and uninterrupted disbursements. ...
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2023-w3704 - 16 November 2023

Dikgang Mathews Stock to ask the Minister of Social Development

What (a) different funding models are being explored to fund the Basic Income Grant that has the potential to reduce the Republic’s poverty, unemployment and inequality scales, despite the concerns about its funding and (b) are the advantages and disadvantages of each funding model that is being explored?

Reply from the Minister of Social Development on 16 Nov 2023

The key funding options that have been proposed for funding the basic income grant are through an increase in taxation, reallocation of current budget allocations or through borrowing.

The borrowing option has the advantage that it would provide additional funding without a need for budget reprioritisation or tax increases. However, this would be expensive for the country as it would increase the country’s debt ...

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2023-w3705 - 16 November 2023

Nkhensani Kate Bilankulu to ask the Minister of Social Development

What are the details of (a) the progress her department has made in assisting persons who were affected by the Eastern Cape and Western Cape floods and (b) her department’s social protection plan to assist persons affected by natural disasters in the future, as the country and world face frequent natural disasters which threaten to reverse the gains her department has achieved in supporting the poor and vulnerable?

Reply from the Minister of Social Development on 16 Nov 2023

Eastern and Western Cape

DSD

a)

1. The core mandate of the department is to render psychosocial support services through its cadre of professions to victims of disasters. This service continues to be available to those who need it and its availability was communicated at the Provincial Disaster Management Centre meetings where all Heads of Centres of the respective District Municipal Disaster Management Centres ...

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2023-w3691 - 16 November 2023

Laetitia Heloise Arries to ask the Minister of Social Development

(1)By what date is it envisaged that the current vacant positions of senior managers in her department will be filled; (2) whether there are any persons acting in the vacant senior positions; if not, why not; if so, what are the reasons that the positions have not been filled with full-time staff immediately when they became vacant?

Reply from the Minister of Social Development on 16 Nov 2023

1. The Department envisages to fill these key Management positions by 31 March 2024.

The Department of Social Development has twenty-two (22) vacant posts in the Senior Management Service (SMS) level.

There are six senior management posts that are at various stages of the recruitment and selection processes – advertising, screening, shortlisting, interviews, and appointments.

The remaining sixteen (16) SMS positions are being considered ...

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2023-w3692 - 16 November 2023

Laetitia Heloise Arries to ask the Minister of Social Development

What are the reasons that the R 6 billion rand that was underspent by her department and subsequently sent to the Department of Defence was not utilised to appoint unemployed social workers?

Reply from the Minister of Social Development on 16 Nov 2023

The National Department of Social Development reflected an underspending of R 6.1 billion for the 2022/23 financial year. The main underspending was reflected in the Social Assistance Programme (Social Grants Budgets). R 4.3 billion of this amount is related to the SRD R 350 grant.

During the 2022 Adjusted Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) in September 2022, an amount of R 755.303 million was ...

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