Hon Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister of Social Development, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, hon guests and senior officials of the Department of Social Development, greetings to you all. I start by saying the ANC supports the Budget Vote for Social Development.
I do hope that we all participated in or contributed to remembering the glorious day when, for the first time in our country, we united and decided to embark on a noble journey that ensured that South Africa honours and treats all its citizens equally, then we made a commitment that we will be united in ensuring that we make a better life for all.
It is so befitting that after just a few days after celebrating that glorious day and the struggles of the working class, we are here talking about the strides this government has made in fulfilling that mandate of making life better for all its citizens. The contribution of Social Development in this regard is commendable and the challenges of the country require that we encourage and give the department maximum support as citizens.
The recent celebration of Freedom Day was actually a stark reminder to us that we must never forget where we come from. This department is in the midst of untangling and tackling those social issues that were planted by unjust laws.
The department has managed to make some considerable strides, despite some serious challenges with regard to the social landscape of the country and staff shortages. For example, during our oversight visit, last year, the regional SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, in the Eastern Cape had a vacancy rate of 61,3%, putting pressure at operational and supervision levels. We recommend that an action plan be developed with timeframes for Sassa to address this situation.
In the last financial year the department successfully funded 1 321 home community-based care organisations to provide services to different communities throughout the country. The visit of the portfolio committee to the Eastern Cape, last year, demonstrated that, through the National Development Agency, NDA, funded home community-based care workers, the services of the department were able to reach deep rural areas. The NDA projects not only contributed to the wellbeing of families, but also contributed to job creation for youth and women.
It is also commendable that the department was able to provide stipends to 55 981 community caregivers and also train 6 744 community caregivers. In addition to the support of the department, half a million orphans and vulnerable children received services from home community-based care organisation. These services included psychosocial support, provision of food parcels and meals, homework supervision and provision of school uniforms. This represents an important aspect of circles of care for children at community level.
As an illustration of achievements made in the area of community-based care services to children, while the committee was in the Eastern Cape, we also found that the Isibindi Model implemented by the National Association of Child and Youth Care Workers provided a good model for the implementation of child and youth care services. The goal of this model is to create safe and caring communities for children and youth who are at risk and vulnerable, such as those in child-headed households, as well as those affected by poverty and HIV and Aids. Isibindi means courage, therefore its intention is to give orphans and the vulnerable hope and courage to move on with their lives, despite the challenges they are faced with; for example, child-headed households.
There are currently 67 Isibindi projects in 32 districts nationally, and these projects have serviced more than 80 000 children in different communities. Due to the success of this model, the national department intends to expand community-based care services to orphans and vulnerable children in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period by rolling out the Isibindi project to reach more than 1,4 million children through the engagement of 400 community-based organisations and the recruitment and training of 10 000 child and youth care workers.
The model is designed to reach remote, underserviced rural areas. Utilising locally based support systems to take services to the people is in line with the policy of the ANC government of social mobilisation and empowerment of communities to provide services in partnership with government. It is important to further indicate that the youth to be recruited and trained will be directly recruited by the community itself, in collaboration with officials from the provincial department, the identified community-based organisations, and the National Association of Child Care Workers.
As mandated by the Children's Act, the department is developing the partial care strategy in consultation with relevant stakeholders across all nine provinces. The total number of registered Early Childhood Development, ECD, centres by the end of 2011 was 19 561. Eighty-nine officials from the Department of Correctional Services are being trained on Chapter 5, that is partial care, and Chapter 6, that is ECD, of the Children's Act.
The department is also reviewing the implementation of the National Integrated Plan for Early Childhood Development. The department will conduct a comprehensive audit of 5 487 ECD centres in all provinces by the year 2012-13 and increase the number of children accessing ECD by 10%. Of crucial importance, it will also facilitate the development of a programme of action to implement the declaration and resolutions of the conference held at the end of March 2012.
The plan of action will, amongst others, look at the following: Strengthening the role of parents, caregivers, families and communities in the provision of ECD services in facilities and the home-based environment; the inclusion of children with special needs and the deliberate extension of ECD services to children in rural areas; adequate resourcing of ECD services, including infrastructure provisioning; working towards improving training and the accreditation thereof, the professionalisation of the work of ECD practitioners and the application of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act in their employment relationship.
The protection of our children is the priority of the ANC, therefore, Parts A and B of the National Child Protection Register are being fully implemented. A total of 2 678 cases of abuse, neglect, and exploitation were recorded in respect of Part A of the register for the 2011-12 financial year. For Part B, 11 191 enquiries were processed. This year the department intends to screen a minimum of 4 000 more employees working with children against the register.
Siyathemba ukuba isebe liza kukhawulezisa ukuqinisekisa ukuba abantu abajonge abantwana bayabaxilongwa, ukuze abantwana bangafumani ngxaki yokuphinda baxhatshazwe ngabantu ababajongayo. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[We hope that the department will speed up the process to ensure that the caregivers are screened, so that children do not get into a problem of being abused again by their caregivers.]
In the recent past, we had sad stories of some facilities that burned down due to faulty structural problems. The department is addressing this by undertaking a condition assessment of 58 old-age homes that are at risk. This will indicate which homes can be improved structurally or closed down. In addition, this year the department will ensure that services and facilities for older persons are registered. Registration of services will ensure compliance with the provisions sections 13 and 18 of the Older Persons Act, as well as to monitor compliance with the norms and standards for both residential and community-based programmes.
The Portfolio Committee on Social Development conducted an oversight visit to the Eastern Cape last year and was briefed by the provincial chapter of Sassa on their performance on implementing national priorities. The committee also visited projects funded by the National Development Agency. We found that the provincial department had implemented the key national strategic priorities. Those priorities are welfare services, for example, services to children, women, people with disabilities, older persons and people affected by HIV and Aids.
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, despite the remarkable strides made by the department, there are challenges that reflect the broader challenges in the country, and therefore, we cannot sit on our laurels and bask in the glory of our successes.
One of the challenges we have recognised at our visit was the lack of training of home-based care workers as required by the department. There is also a lack of adequate and permanent office space. This was demonstrated by a visit to the Siyazama Family Violence Prevention project in Elliotdale. We were impressed by the psycho-social support it provided for a range of social problems, but we are obviously concerned with the lack of appropriate shelter.
The department has committed to address these issues in the financial year and will be closely monitored. These include the training of home community- based care workers and project members that will assist them with the administration and management of aspects, such as office management.
Chairperson, I wish to conclude by thanking dedicated committee members in the length and breadth of this beautiful country. Despite their own material conditions, they put their bodies on the line to ensure that those who have nothing are looked after in the spirit of ubuntu.
I wish to thank all the volunteers and say they must continue to make this country work and be a better place for all. Together we can do more!
I also wish to thank them for the support and co-operation that we are receiving from the department and its provincial counterparts. I thank the Minister for the sterling leadership that she is providing to the Portfolio Committee of Social Development. I thank you. [Applause.]