Thank you, hon Speaker. Hon Deputy President, I have the government's own costing report on the Children's Act in my hand and it states that if we want to implement this Act properly we need 66 000 social workers in our country. Currently, we have about 11 000 social workers for 49 million South African citizens. That is a shortfall of 83%.
Given that we only have 17% of the social workers that are needed, it is impossible for your department to monitor the increase in child-headed households, let alone ensure that the children are properly cared for. Could the Deputy President kindly explain to us how the government is helping children in child-headed households in terms of foster care placement or permanent adoption?
Secondly, I really appreciate the Deputy President's answer regarding home and community-based care, but home and community-based caregivers are not qualified people. They need supervision by qualified people. Thank you. [Applause.]