Hon Chairperson, Minister of Social Development, MECs, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I rise to motivate Budget Vote 19 of the Department of Social Development, in my speech last year I made a commitment on behalf of the Ministry that the department would be taken to communities.
In the spirit of that commitment, I dedicate this speech to every child, young person, woman and man from the village of Ga-Ramaswikana in Limpopo to peri-urban Devon in Gauteng. Yes, many more communities remain on our to- do list, but a start has been made.
Pixley ka Isaka Seme the fifth President of the ANC who is also the focus of the ruling party's May month centenary celebrations, wrote in 1911:
Co-operation is the key and the watchword which opens the door, the everlasting door which leads to progress and all national success. The greatest success shall come when man shall have learned to co-operate, not only with his own, but with all people and with all life.
These words are still relevant today as they were in 1911. Co-operation is a crucial factor for the success of any community development programme or initiative. That is, co-operation between ourselves as various units of the departments; co-operation between us and other sister departments as well as other levels of government, and; co-operation between us and civil society. Could this be what was envisaged by Pixley ka Iseme and the founders of the ANC? Yes.
I have seen how this co-operation can be possible and how it can work. Having had extensive discussions with my Brazilian counterpart, Deputy Minister Paes, on the challenges of combating the vicious cycle of social exclusion, it was evident that not only was a multidisciplinary approach absolutely necessary but it had to be anchored by a strong political will. The political will is there and it is there in abundance. Under the able stewardship of Minister Bathabile Dlamini this department is committed to the developmental agenda adopted at successful conferences of the ruling party in its 100 years of existence.
As the ruling party we are determined that the decision where money is allocated is not a structural choice but represents and reflects a political choice. We are determined that this must be applied to all provinces. Community development work takes patience, diligence and asks of us to be fully committed to a process. It therefore requires a civil servant of a special type. Do not come to the Department of Social Development if you do not have people at heart.
Hlala ekhaya ufune omunye umsebenzi. [Rather stay at home and look for another job.] [Applause.] Due to targeted areas we often do not consider sacrifices made and difficulties faced by officials who conduct community analyses, mobilisation for dialogues and the preparation for these visits. I therefore wish to honour Busisiwe Milanzi, a young woman who served as my personal assistant until 3 August 2011. Dedicated to making a difference, she died at the age of 34 years when her vehicle rolled on a gravel road close to the community of Ga-Ramaswikana in Limpopo. This was the first community targeted in our programme of taking the department to communities. We therefore dedicate this programme called, Taking the Department of Social Development to Communities, in her memory. She is gone, but her spirit is marching on.
Ga-Ramaswikana like Cassel in the Northern Cape and other areas could only be reached by travelling on untarred roads for long distances. These are the roads that many say make communities in rural areas inaccessible for the delivery of basic foodstuffs. It is ironic that beer, other alcoholic beverages and cigarettes can be delivered using the same roads. Our experience over the past two months indicates that we have to accelerate our collective efforts in reaching our target of 100 communities in the 100 poorest wards in our country. We have to travel the gravel roads and prove that communities are accessible.
Taking social development to communities is by and large about social mobilisation. It is precisely for this reason that we have partnered with Soul City, the Seriti Institute and the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, to launch Kwanda talk in June this year. Kwanda talk is a follow-up programme that inspires individuals, institutions and communities to debate development issues and mobilise for an active citizenry. There will be 10 episodes of 50 minutes each.
Of the communities visited in the eight provinces most have had follow-up visits. In many, action plans have been collectively developed and we are in discussions with sister departments, government agencies like the National Development Agency, NDA, municipalities and provincial counterparts and joint programmes together with communities. I must acknowledge and thank the MECs for their unwavering support so far. Without you there is no programme of Taking the Department of Social Development to Communities, thank you very much, MECs. [Applause.]
In order to do this work we must have trained and capable people who can assist communities, have partners with community-based organisations, CBOs, to deliver community development services in a manner that enhances the livelihood of poor and vulnerable communities.
The Bible says if you despise the poor, you look down upon God who created them. Some of the support to community-based organisations has been: the development of guidelines for CBOs - 220 CBOs and 152 community development practitioners have been trained on these guidelines; and hosting the inaugural summit for the professionalisation of community development in October 2011.
Recognising that community-based organisations and Nonprofit Organisations, NPOs, are integral to the success of community development, I therefore report that during the 2011-12 financial year the department received 18 488 new applications for registration from community-based organisations for the NPO registration status. Ninety four percent were processed within two months and 68% of all received applications were compliant at the first attempt; the register of a nonprofit organisations database has increased from 44 222 on 31 March 2007 to a total of 84 996 nonprofit organisations at the end of March 2012.
One of the functions of the department is to monitor all registered NPOs in terms of their compliance to the Nonprofit Organisations Act. The compliance rate has been improved by 26%, we are committed to further improve on this figure. Training was provided to 1200 NPOs and community- based organisations. Further plans to strengthen the sector include increasing staff members in the department who deal with registrations and road shows in order to provide information and listen to challenges faced by the sector.
Our main ally will be our developmental arm as I like to call it, the National Development Agency, under the leadership of the CEO, Dr Nhlapho and the board led by Mr Malose Kekana. The National Development Agency has in the previous years disbursed R83 million to projects and approved 53 projects to the value of R78 million. The Department of Social Development is an active member of the SA Aids Council. The department will, during this financial year, strive to reduce new HIV and Aids infections through social behavioural change programmes such as community capacity enhancement that is intended to build HIV and Aids competent communities. I know we can do this.
In our programme of Taking the Department of Social Development to Communities one of the dialogues conducted is the issue of behavioural change as it relates to HIV and Aids, this dialogue targets mainly the youth in the communities visited. All the plans are listed in the document tabled before this august House. Time does not permit me to go into detail, but rest assured that all efforts are mobilised to decisively deal with challenges faced by affected and infected communities.
I wish to thank Minister Dlamini for providing the type of support, leadership and cadreship that is without equal. Thank you to hon members from all political parties who somehow managed to balance criticism with constructive advice, especially the IFP and Cope. [Applause.] The whole is only as good as its parts and ...