Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members of the House and guests, my speech will focus on unemployment, poverty, budget and the overall impact.
The primary mandate of this department is significant in either making or breaking this nation, particularly the management of and oversight over social security, and the developmental social welfare services that provide support to reduce poverty.
In his state of the nation address the hon President highlighted the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality. He further noted that we need higher growth and job creation to eradicate poverty and inequality. The DA agrees with the President and we are willing to share our 8% growth policy project recipe with the government.
South Africa is rich in natural resources, but to date the level of poverty is growing daily. Is the National Development Agency, NDA, doing enough in terms of its primary mandate? Are the people on the ground, the masses, really feeling the presence of this department through the National Development Agency? Those are the questions.
The demand for social grants is on the increase. At the end of March 2012, over 15,5 million South Africans benefited from this.
This increase is a huge concern in terms of fraud, corruption and the issue that files go missing in this department, some critical documents also go missing from the main files, and some loose documents still need to be placed in the files and captured on the management information system. Even though the department is trying hard to deal with these administrative errors, the increase will lay a huge burden of responsibility and accountability on the SA Social Security Agency, Sassa.
To that effect the bulk of the current budget is allocated to the social assistance programme, with the strongest growth recorded for social relief, 40,1%, followed by foster care, 13,5%. Is this sustainable? This is alarming.
Minister, previous research has shown that most South Africans prefer being employed with benefits and enjoy the financial freedom than to depend on grants, but when one looks at most poverty reduction measures by the government, they are partial and do not provide beneficiaries with the option of migrating from the welfare benefit system. So, this department should lead and advocate strongly on job creation.
The SA Social Security Agency has been paying the special investigating unit R3 million on a monthly basis for it to investigate fraud and corruption with regard to social grants. This spending can be drastically reduced if the department develops strict internal risk and control measures.
Chairperson, the education system is failing our children. The number of youth in conflict with the law is on the increase. Out of a population of 49 million, 7,5 million South Africans are out of work. In August 2011, 71% of the unemployed were under the age of 34 and now in February 2012, 73% of the unemployed are under the age of 35, and most of them graduates.
This is critical and hence the DA youth will continue advocating for the youth wage subsidy until the demand is met by government. Offering employers financial incentives to hire first-time job seekers would dramatically increase the opportunities for the youth in South Africa and eventually improve the economy of this country.
Since the birth of democracy in South Africa, many changes have taken place, but not all of these have made any real difference to lives of older persons. This is from the report on the situation of older persons in South Africa.
Minister, irrespective of conferences, there is a huge concern about the failed commitment of government to implement the Older Persons Act of 2006, which was gazetted in 2010. To date, only 4 provinces have signed a delegation of powers of the Older Persons Act. That is Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
The levels of sexual offences are persistently high and this department is a member of the victim's empowerment management team. On an annual basis member departments should submit reports to Parliament on the implementation of this Act in their departments, but to date no report has been submitted by the Department of Social Development. It is high time that government provide services. Every year the President announces a theme, but what follows at the end of the financial year is a report of underspending, overspending, fruitless expenditure and a series of qualified reports of most departments from the office of the Auditor- General.
Minister, the Department of Social Development, as the heartbeat of government, as you said, and consequently the government as a whole body, will not succeed in intensifying the fight against poverty and achieving the socioeconomic needs of our country, if we continue with this trend.
The most important question is whether the Department of Social Development has the capacity to utilize the resources allocated for development effectively, with the aim to impact on the poverty eradication.
In an open opportunity society for all, we believe that in growing job creation: Firstly, opportunities need to reach more people; secondly, government needs to improve access to education and improve education outcomes; and thirdly, develop professional skills.
The DA believes that creating employment will grow our economy and the tax base will broaden, and more revenue will be directed to those who need it the most. This is the kind of vicious cycle our country needs to address in the triple challenge of poverty and inequality.
The price of petrol continues to increase, electricity tariffs have increased and the cost of food is going up, making the cost of living even more unbearable for poor citizens.
The gap between the poor and the rich is growing and this is perpetuated by the introduction of systems like the e-tolls in Gauteng, legislation like the Secrecy Bill and the review of the power of the courts.
Imagine a country where corruption and white-collar crimes are so rife, where the poor workers contribute through taxation, where everyone is uninformed and left in the dark of the general progress and the financial ills in their motherland, because whoever informs the citizens may end up serving 25 years in jail.
Minister, our country is under attack by the evil, demonic powers of Satanism. Last week in KwaZulu-Natal a school principal stabbed his deputy at the back of his head for arriving late. We read of a teenage girl being kidnapped and gang-raped by a middle-aged man and four minors. An eight- year-old girl was dragged by a 15-year-old boy into a nearby sugarcane field, raped, strangled and left to die.
We demand the arm of the law to deal harshly with these cases. On Sunday Bishop Desmond Tutu wrote and I quote:
Many South Africans are feeling a profound sense of anxiety - and, increasingly, disillusionment - over the moral and spiritual wellbeing of the nation.
Where are we going with all of this? Is this an indication that citizens can't cope anymore due to unfulfilled promises? As they get more and more frustrated and stressed, the levels of intolerance rises uncontrollably.
He further wrote, and I quote:
It seems that every time one picks up a newspaper or switches on the television, there are new stories of corruption in government; of nasty competitiveness the leadership positions in the ruling party; of a crisis in education; of so-called service delivery protests that regularly turn destructive; of the most horrendous incidents of violent crime ... Most alarmingly, we have evolved over the 18 years of our democracy from an organised nation ...
[Time expired.]
I thank you.