Chairperson, thank you for giving me this opportunity for commenting on the review debate on Welfare and Population Development. Hon Minister, MECs from the provinces, NCOP members, members from the standing committees, distinguished guests, fraud within the department and the CPS was so great that the department, in its endeavour to fight fraud and corruption, has designed a multipronged approach. A committee, chaired by MEC R N Rasmeni, has been established to address fraud and corruption in the welfare system. Any official who carries out any fraudulent actions will be severely dealt with. The new system of paying cash to beneficiaries will be fraud-free, through ensuring that only the beneficiary or procurator will be allowed to draw money. Appropriate selection and training of pensioner committees will be carried out during this financial year. Those officials who have fraudulently received social pensions, whilst in employment with the same state, are being dealt with severely. The province has embarked upon a reregistration process which aims to eradicate fraud and ghost beneficiaries. A clean database is what is aimed at. The provinces received a high return of responses in respect of the reregistration process, with 96% of cash beneficiaries having reregistered and 92% of those beneficiaries receiving payments through banks and post offices successfully being reregistered.
The department has suspended 7 500 beneficiaries. Reasons for suspensions have been that pensioners were not disabled, the medical condition was treatable, a specialist report was required, the medical form was incomplete, not enough objective medical information was available, and the person was not an RSA citizen.
This issue of people not being RSA citizens has posed a big problem in our province, because most of these nonresidents of South Africa are people from the former Bophutatswana who, indeed, are born South Africans. However, due to the legacy of the past government they are left out as noncitizens of South Africa, and are not able to secure any pensions. I hope the Department of Welfare and Population Development, together with the Department of Home Affairs, will be able to assist in this regard, because Home Affairs is not within our competency. It is within the competency of the national Government. In those applications where sufficient evidence was available, ensuring the beneficiaries were entitled to the grant, they have been immediately reinstated into the system.
It is clear that disability was often defined by the district surgeon on the basis of the individual's socioeconomic status, and not on medical grounds. Workshops have been conducted with medical teams regarding appropriate assessment. The disability policy requires rigorous review, and the need for strengthening the safety net and the provisions for a basic income grant, especially for the unemployed, cannot be underestimated.
Finally, a critical success factor is the management of fraud and corruption in the department, aimed towards 98% elimination of fraud in the payment of grants and 98% of beneficiaries receiving appropriate grants on time. Eighty percent of eligible beneficiaries are reached.
Regarding the poverty alleviation programme, a poverty fund was announced by the Minister of Finance in the 1997-98 and 1998-99 financial years. An amount of R4 million was secured for the North West province in 1997-98, and R14 million was secured from the R203 million in 1998-99. The evaluation of the R4 million allocation has been completed by the national Department of Welfare. In both these allocations, the province has made an effort to reach the poorest communities.
The call for business plans was constrained by late notices. A broad range of communication strategies was utilised and extensive collaboration with the NGO sector was undertaken. Three hundred and thirty-six projects were forwarded to the national Department of Welfare for approval, and only 114 were funded. Effective targeting of poverty pockets in the province guided the process, shifting from isolated projects to comprehensive and integrated poverty eradication programmes.
The allocation made to the province by the national Department of Welfare is not commensurate with the poverty profile of the province. Abject poverty in the province is compounded by the absence of job opportunities, inadequate water and sanitation services, and a high level of male absenteeism due to migratory search for employment.
Nine percent of South Africans reside in the North West province, and 60% of this 9% population is rural. A provincial poverty committee has been established, with representatives from other government departments, the local universities, the NGO and CBO sectors. Much planning has taken place towards the development of an antipoverty strategy for the North West province.
Furthermore, clear monitoring and evaluation measures as well as an integrated plan have been designed towards rural development. The committee is also addressing the development of antipoverty policies. The development of a management information system is imperative for the province to ensure appropriate targeting. In the two former poverty fund allocations, all moneys have been increased in terms of business plans, and projects have been submitted. In a few instances, goals and objectives have had to be reformulated to ensure sustainability. Seventy-five percent of the poverty alleviation programmes have been extended to agricultural projects, promoting job creation and the development of SMMEs. In addition, allocations have been made to disabled groups and low-income groups. The province boasts many successes.
Next, I would like to talk about flagship programmes for women and children under five. The community empowerment project piloted by the national department in the province demonstrates some best-practice models and principles of community and sustainable development.
Regarding the management of social grants, the North West has the third highest poverty rate of the nine provinces, but the sixth lowest number of beneficiaries in the country. The social security expenditure is below the national average of R364,00 per capita. The unequal coverage of target population shows the province's lack of capacity and information on the need and demand for services, which reflect negatively on the adequacy of services.
To address this issue, the popularisation of social grants has taken place with the help of MEC Rachel Rasmeni, who put together an extensive road show promotion. The 300% rapid uptake of child support grants demonstrates the effectiveness of the popularisation strategy. At present the department is paying 228 590 beneficiaries through banks, post offices and at 730 paypoints in the province.
The Department envisages an increase in beneficiaries of 240 000 in the current financial year. [Time expired.]
Prince G L ZULU (KwaZulu-Natal): Chairperson, hon Minister and colleagues, I will touch on only three issues, namely poverty alleviation, the review of pension beneficiaries and fraud.
I will start with fraud, and I am going to talk about strategies to fight fraud and corruption. Fraud and corruption is one of the ailments that continue to bleed Government of millions. In all public and other meetings, I caution both staff and members of the public of the impact that corruption causes when it comes to delivery of services and the resultant penalty.
We do not take any pride in the number of officials we have charged so far as this could be construed to be a bad reflection on the part of the management. However, this phenomenon, theft and corruption, is not unique to welfare alone. What is important is the pace the welfare department is setting in fighting this scourge. Through partnerships with the Departments of Justice, of Health and Education and the SA Police Service, we have been able and continue to put culprits behind bars. Asidlali, siyabopha - sigquma ejele. [We are not joking, we make arrests, we put criminals in prison.] [Laughter.]
Our conviction statistics are as follows: 36 suspended government officials; 28 charged government officials; 11 charged members of the public; and 91 cases pending trial in court. Regarding the question of rand savings, loss and projections, government has been saved millions of rands through joint operations mounted by the government fraud unit of KwaZulu- Natal. [Interjections.] Ewe, ndakhula ngobisi mntanexhego, hayi ngejusi. [I grew up drinking milk, not juice.] [Laughter.] [Interjections.] Savings from creche investigations amount to R103 113 780. With regard to losses related to creche fraud alone in the three-year period - 1997, 1998 and 1999 totals R3 526 610,30 to date. It is anticipated that within the next five-year period, the department projects its savings to total R3,079 million.
Regarding the question of new methods of defrauding the state, there are a number of methods people now employ in order to milk government funds.
These are, firstly, the presentation of wrong identity documents for disability grants; secondly, the illegal production of birth certificates for child support grants; thirdly, capturing of information without supporting documentation and using banks and post offices as conduits. This is not only common in KwaZulu, but it is also common all over the country. [Interjections.]
To date, a calculated loss of money syphoned via the post offices amounts to R1 117 604,97. In Durban alone, a single syndicate involving bank transactions is responsible for a loss of R379 188,11. This incident led to a staff member leaping to his death from the 10th floor during an attempted arrest. What a shame!
In terms of the latest evaluation instruments on the ground, eg fiscal audit of projects, etc, we can confirm that the goals of Government are being realised in that we see an improvement and difference in the faces of the previously disadvantaged poor communities. We must, however, admit that there were some teething problems noted on the ground.
In KwaZulu-Natal alone we still have vast tracts of land which we have not covered through this intervention. There are thousands, if not millions, of poor rural communities who have, to date, not accessed this funding due to limited resources.
The Human Sciences Research Council has identified a number of areas as poverty pockets in KwaZulu-Natal. Unfortunately, we have not been able to cater for projects for people with disabilities and people infected with and affected by the HIV-Aids epidemic. The demand is still great. It is therefore our humble submission to the NCOP that additional funding be made available to the Department of Welfare in order for it to meet its constitutional obligations and wipe out the suffering painted on the faces of our impoverished people.
I will now talk about the review of pension beneficiaries or reregistration. The KwaZulu-Natal welfare department embarked on a process of cleaning up the payment of grants system. The process involved reregistration, conducting of means tests and revamping the payment system itself.
The reregistration project was essentially a review of each current beneficiary in the province in terms of the legislation. Good progress has been recorded since the project was initiated. To date, a total of 568 843 interviews has been completed.
Regarding savings, we have suspended 25 177 beneficiaries through reregistration, and this represents a projected saving of R52 million.
An additional 39 593 grants, with a projected savings of R17 million per month, will be stopped. The only remaining challenge regarding this important exercise is the proper management of the proposed bulk suspension of 39 000 grants. Although most desired capital will be freed as a result of this project, some of it will be used to fund the winding-off exercise.
These were just highlights of the problems facing welfare and the need for more resources in order to enable the welfare department to meet its obligations. [Applause.]