House Chairperson, we would like to indicate upfront that the department really believes that it has to ensure that there is institutional recourse for our people. We also believe that the department must not allow itself to be overexposed to being directed only by courts in its response to our people. That is our commitment to our people.
Therefore, in this particular case, the department reviewed the current legal frameworks for the social assistance programme for children and has identified the root causes of the foster care programme's challenges as requiring a legal solution. The two legal frameworks - that is, the Children's Amendment Bill and the Social Assistance Amendment Bill - were finalised with key proposals on how the foster care system's challenges could be resolved.
The two Bills were then processed and tabled in Parliament for processing. The Social Assistance Amendment Bill is currently before the portfolio committee for legislative processing, while the Children's Amendment Bill is being discussed with the Leader of Government Business for prioritisation and processing by Parliament.
One also needs to indicate that these are Bills that were introduced quite a while ago - during the fifth administration - and they are now being processed during the sixth administration.
The Social Assistance Amendment Bill proposes an extended child support grant which is higher than the child support grant in value, to cater for orphans and vulnerable children that are cared for by relatives and next of kin. This was one of the major contentions.
This is one of the solutions that will relieve the pressure on the foster care system, since most relatives are applying for foster care in order to access the foster care grant.
The Children's Amendment Bill proposes a comprehensive legal solution by, among others, the following: long-term placement of
children in need of care and protection without going back to court every two years, but monitored by social workers who report to the court; devolving guardianship for orphaned or abandoned children to the Children's Court for accessibility by caregivers and relatives; strengthening prevention and early intervention to ensure protection of children and their families; and ensuring access to adoption services as part of the permanency placement for a child or children.
So the Social Assistance Act, Act 13 of 2004 provides the national legislative framework for the provision of social assistance in the form of social grants. The SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, will continue to administer the foster child care grant as prescribed by the state. The foster child grant is provided for children found by the court to be in need of care and protection and placed with a foster parent or foster parents. Thank you.