Chairperson, one had mixed feelings when preparing this Budget Vote speech. It was a feeling of discouragement and hopelessness, especially when one was looking back on and assessing the past financial years. I have honestly asked myself: What have we as the Department of Social Development done better, compared to the previous financial year, despite the abundance of resources that we have as a country to take the poor people out of poverty? Were we all committed to discharging our responsibilities in regard to what we had promised the poor South African people in this House last year? If the answer is yes, why does our strategic plan for this financial year look the same as the previous year?
If we had really wanted to achieve different results in order to better the lives of South African citizens, why did the SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, receive a disclaimer, according to the Auditor-General? Why did we not manage to reach or achieve most of the key strategic objectives as stated in our strategic plan for the last financial year? We were caught in a vicious circle of decline, and when things run down it becomes increasingly difficult.
There is a saying that trouble leads to more trouble, and weakness feeds on weakness. As a matter of urgency, all of us must go back and try to see that we get things on the right track as quickly as possible. As we are all seated here today, I strongly believe that there should be no doubt in anyone's mind about the scope of the challenges ahead of us and the urgency of tackling them. It is vital for those responsible for the results to acknowledge the situation and get to grips with what is needed to rectify it.
Hon Minister, on Wednesday last week we had a strategic plan presentation by the senior officials. Their intentions on paper are very desirable, but implementation and monitoring remain challenging issues. Allow me to borrow the words of wisdom of Albert Einstein, who defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". As a department, we have many challenges that are facing us, especially our entities, which are Sassa and the National Development Agency, NDA. The entities' delivery predicament is neither that of too little money nor that of a shortage of good intentions or courageous thoughts. Instead, it comes from a huge mismatch between the promises and the capabilities.
Now, five years after the establishment of Sassa, it is still being set up. When will Sassa become fully operational? For how long are we expected to be patient and wait for Sassa to live up to the expectations that led to its establishment?
I don't think staffing and financial constraints are entirely the problem, as is always said by officials. Presently, Sassa has a vacancy rate of 59,3% despite the norms and standards for staffing. In some areas there are more staff than required. There are still fragmented institutional structures, resulting in the duplication of efforts among units. There is no proper fit between the job demands and the available skills. In the annual report of Sassa it is clearly indicated that many of the key objectives were not achieved because of capacity constraints.
The Auditor-General also said that both financial managers and staff did not have sufficient accounting knowledge to implement the new financial instruments. As a result, they are using consultants to manage the new financial instruments. My question is: for how long are we going to depend on consultants to do the job on behalf of the paid staff?
Sassa also does not have sufficient monitoring controls to ensure proper implementation of overall process reporting, and it is still struggling to manage the performance of the employees.
On the employee costs of Sassa, they have increased from R1,3 billion in 2009 to R1,5 billion in the year under review, including R11,8 million for the remuneration of the key executive and management. This amount has increased by 29,6% in nominal terms from R9,1 million in 2009.
Irrespective of this huge salary, the financial managers did not submit the financial statements to the Auditor-General as required by the Public Finance Management Act. Fraud by staff has become rife. As I am speaking to you, the chief financial officer, CFO, has been suspended on full salary. Minister, it is high time that those who make themselves guilty of these actions are brought to book and go to jail.
The bulk of Sassa's expenditure goes to the cash payment contractors, which on average accounts for approximately 53% of the entire budget, whilst the remaining 20% caters essentially for the operational expenses. Maybe this is the time to be asking ourselves whether the department really needed Sassa to administer the grants on its behalf. Sassa has subcontracted out the very job it was supposed to be doing to the contractors, who are taking the entire budget.
An amount of R2 billion has been lost in irregular grant payments every year, and this is known by the department! Why were the management, the security data and the elimination of fraud not prioritised? Is Sassa a liability or is it an asset to the department? It is clear that the major budget of Sassa does not benefit the poor South African people. Who are the owners of these contractors? Are they some of the political elite who have proceeded to enrich themselves to the great detriment of the poor people of South Africa? If Sassa were a caring entity, why are 70% of our poor people still queuing to receive their grants from cash payments?
Re le mokgatlo wa DA ho fihlela ha jwale re a lemoha hore batho ba rona ba ntse ba ema mela e melelele ka tlasa maemo a hlobaetsang. Motho o ne o nahana hore taba ena e ne e fele nakong ya kgethollo, empa e ntse e ja setsi. [Kenohanong.] (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[We, as the DA, have realised that our people still stand in long queues under difficult conditions. One would think this ended during apartheid, but it still persists. [Interjections.]]
Why don't we accelerate the implementation of an electronic benefit system, to ensure that the eligible are paid and to improve the integrity and data in order to improve the inhumane treatment of our people who have to stand in the long queues?
Motsamaisi wa dipuisano, ntlha e nngwe e hlobaetsang kapa e hlohlontshang ditsebe tsa motho ke ya tsamaiso ya Ejensi ya Ntshetsopele ya Naha. [Chairperson, another worrying or disturbing issue is the management of the National Development Agency.]
We in the DA have during our oversight visits taken note that some nongovernmental organisations, NGOs, have been funded by the National Development Agency but that they have never been evaluated or monitored. As a result, both their contact details and their physical addresses are not known. The NGOs have long closed their doors and relocated out of town without notifying the NDA. The question is: What happened to the assets bought with NDA funds? It is also clear that the officials of the NDA lack capacity. I hope both the new chief executive officer, CEO, and the new board members will really bring hope and strategic leadership.
Hon Minister, about 60% of the social welfare services are rendered by nonprofit organisations, NPOs, on behalf of the department, and all provinces rely heavily on the services rendered by the NPOs. However, the most unfortunate part is when the provinces don't want to pay the NPOs for the services rendered on behalf of the provinces. Is it fair that they must take us to court to demand their funding? Is it fair that some of these organisations have to close down because we don't want to pay them on time? Is it fair that, as a department, we need to be under the supervision or instruction of the High Court on how to handle our financing policy? This is really a disturbing issue. The analysis also indicates that the share of this total programme allocation to the NPOs continues to decline in many provinces.
Maybe we in the department need to ask ourselves whether we have the capacity to assess all the funded NPOs and see whether they deliver as required, which is to assess whether they give value for money. Former President Thabo Mbeki, during his state of the nation address in Parliament on 3 February 2006, said:
We cannot allow that government departments become an obstacle to the achievement of the goal of a better life for all because of insufficient attention to the critical issue of effective and speedy delivery of services.
The DA acknowledges and appreciates the privilege and opportunity that is being given to students to study Social Work as a profession. However, it has come to the DA's attention that in the Free State Social Work students' monthly stipends for books, food and accommodation are not paid on time. In fact, the last time they were paid was in February. In addition, last week they were informed by the department that their accommodation would no longer be covered by the bursary. This is an absolute disgrace.
Poverty remains a deep and daunting challenge. Poverty is closely linked to the structural problems of unemployment and a lack of skills, and unemployment affects poor people severely. If we fail to address poverty, we will fail to build and defend democracy in South Africa. We need to create a good future for our children. [Interjection.] I hope that all the criticism by the DA will be taken in a good spirit.
Hon Minister, let me reassure you that the DA appreciates all the work and commitment shown by you and the Deputy Minister and officials. The DA will do whatever it takes to help build this South Africa to ensure a better future for all. [Applause.]