Chairperson, the Minister of Social Development, the Deputy Minister, hon members of this House, members of the Provincial Executive Council who are here today, our stakeholders, ladies and gentlemen, today it is one year and one day ago that the fourth democratic election was held in our country. It was the fourth time that the African National Congress received an overwhelming mandate from the majority of voters to steer it on a path of social and economic transformation.
Since 1994, the Department of Social Development and its counterparts, as well as stakeholders, have transformed developmental social welfare within the social services sector. We have seen the sector develop and implement policies and legislation that have impacted on the lives of the poor and the vulnerable, and steered them on a path of dignity and hope. The equalisation of services for all South Africans, and not just for the privileged few, remains, in my opinion, one of the biggest achievements of the sector.
Sixteen years later, the sector led by the Department of Social Development remains involved to develop policies and to access the changing needs of our dynamic South African society. Therefore, the committee is in agreement with the key strategic objective of the department, and I quote:
To implement the appropriate policy interventions that respond to the immediate needs of individuals and communities, while at the same time engaging policy and research to explore long-term solutions that will address systematic poverty and inequality.
Like the Minister said, the strategic focus for the year under discussion is social security, welfare services and community development. Coming to the priorities of the department for the next five years, the Portfolio Committee on Social Development in the NA deliberated on each of them.
The Budget of Vote 18 is not ideal for the needs of the poor and the vulnerable, but it is adequate to enable them to achieve their strategic objectives. Thus, Parliament expects that Vote 18 will spend within the allocated amount. The total of R95,9 billion allocated to Vote 18 in this current financial year is an improvement on the voted amount of the previous financial year of R86,4 billion.
Social security gets the bulk of the allocation, that is, 93%, while programmes by such entities as the National Development Agency, NDA, have to make do with as little as 6,2% of the allocated amount. This scenario reaffirms - much to the chagrin of some, I might add - government's commitment to the poor and the vulnerable. Social assistance grants remain the biggest poverty alleviation tool of government today, with over 13 million South Africans on the social pension system, Socpen, with growth of more than 3 million over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, period.
We all know that the extension of the child support grant up to the age of 18 is the main reason that there is an increase in social security. This is a welcome policy implementation, because we believe that this will have a positive impact on the lives of vulnerable school-going children. Our children will now be motivated to attend school and parents will be enabled to keep their children in school, clothed and fed. I am sure that this will give rise to increased school attendance and, in the long run, to better outcomes for our children at risk.
The rise in the state old-age pension and the disability grant, as well as the marginal increase in the child support grant, are welcomed.
Programme 3 en 4 suig, soos gewoonlik, aan die agterspeen van die begroting. Daar sal daadwerklik aandag gegee moet word aan die onderfinansiering van die programme. Families en ander weerbare groepe is in die moeilikheid en sukkel om behoue te bly. Daar moet indringend gekyk word na programme wat dinamies na gedisntegreerde families en gemeenskappe kyk, om sodoende maatskaplike vooruitgang te bewerkstellig.
As ons kyk na program 5, is dit van kardinale belang dat die program genoegsaam gefinansier word. Met 'n begroting van R71,3 miljoen is dit die kleinste toewysing aan 'n program. Tog moet die programleierskap 'n toesighoudingsrol sowel as 'n kordinerende rol speel op die gebied van maatskaplike ontwikkelingsdienste. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[As usual, Programmes 3 and 4 are last in line when it comes to budgeting. An assertive effort will have to be made to address the underfunding of these programmes. Families and other vulnerable groups find themselves in difficulties and are struggling to stay afloat. Close attention should be given to programmes that have a dynamic approach to disintegrated families and communities in order to bring about social progress.
When we consider programme 5, it is imperative for this programme to have adequate funding. Its budget of R71,3 million is the smallest allocation made for a programme. Yet, the programme's leadership has to play an oversight as well as a co-ordinating role in the social development services arena.]
The department has committed itself to efficiency savings of R80 million over the MTEF period. This department started to implement cost-saving measures last year already and they have informed me that no one is flying business class and that all officials are travelling with us, the Members of Parliament, in economy class. The reduction in the baseline allocation is noted and I hope that this will not have a detrimental effect on the work of the programme.
Minister Pravin Gordhan het in sy Begrotingsrede op 17 Februarie 2010 ges Suid-Afrika slaan 'n nuwe rigting in, om groei te verseker. Dit is as gevolg van die afgelope jaar se globale resessie wat ook ons ekonomie geknou het, maar tog nie op die skaal waarop sekere lande in Europa geknou is nie.
'n Goeie dosis introspeksie het, volgens hom, die volgende vyf begrotingsprioriteite tot gevolg gehad: Eerstens, die verbetering van die gehalte van basiese onderwys, waarby Maatskaplike Dienste ook 'n belang het as gevolg van sy mandaat om pre-primre onderrig te bevorder; en, tweedens, die verbetering van die gesondheid van die nasie, soos byvoorbeeld gemeenskapsgebaseerde versorgingsdienste. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[In his Budget Speech on 17 February 2010, Minister Pravin Gordhan said that South Africa is heading in a new direction to ensure growth. This is because of the global recession during the past year that also had a detrimental effect on our economy, but not to the same extent as in certain countries in Europe. According to him a good dose of introspection has given rise to the following five budget priorities: Firstly, the improvement of the quality of basic education, in which Social Services also has an interest as a result of its mandate to promote pre-primary education; and, secondly, the improvement of the nation's health, for instance community-based care services.]
The other priorities include: Thirdly, making our communities safer - we are referring here to victim empowerment programmes, services and other social crime prevention programmes and initiatives; fourthly, the fostering of rural development - we are referring here to the development of our social welfare infrastructure - and creating new jobs through the Expanded Public Works Programme, the social work scholarship programme and learnerships; and, lastly, investing in local government and human settlements - we are referring her to the development and registering of early childhood development centres and other welfare infrastructure that form part of a cohesive community life.
All these budget priorities will put our country on a development trajectory that will benefit the poor and the vulnerable. Parliament will keep a hawk's eye on departmental expenditure to ensure that these priorities are implemented.
The portfolio committee has been hard at work during the 2009 financial year. We have engaged civil society and corporates to assess their involvement in the social development sector. These engagements have been quite fruitful and insightful, and we want to thank them for the good work they are doing in our communities.
We are looking forward to further engagement with other NGOs, the private sector, as well as the parastatals to assess the impact and the nature of their services in our communities.
Now, 2010 is upon us - with 48 days to go, government, citizens and, of course, Fifa are preparing for the event. The excitement is in the air. I am sure people are doing the diski dance everywhere. Unfortunately, I am not that agile, but I wish those brave older souls well who risked a visit to the physiotherapist in order to do the diski dance. Like all South Africans, I wish Bafana Bafana well in their match against Mexico and for the rest of the World Cup. We will welcome the visitors to our country with typical South African warmth.
However, we must also be vigilant of the dangers that criminals pose to our society when plying their trade of providing illicit services to equally socially deviant visitors who may visit our shores. The raid by the Minister and the MEC of social development on a brothel in the Free State is but one sign of the dark operations endangering the lives of our youth and women.
Minors are easily misled by those pimps who keep them hostage after luring them away from their homes with the promise of money and jobs. Young boys, girls and children are at risk and parents must be aware of the dangers that lurk out there. Child neglect and leaving your child unsupervised to play outside in the dark streets is looking for trouble.
We have seen in recent years the violent murder and rape of our babies and young children. Our young girl and boy children are especially at risk. The Northern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng have been particularly prominent in the occurrence of these hideous crimes.
Children are usually killed by someone they know, as is demonstrated in most cases. Parents also murder their children, especially men, when confronted with domestic problems.
Our courts have dealt swiftly with these crimes but we, as a society and government, have to do something to prevent this from happening. I strongly believe that the social development department, SAPS and the justice department need to come together to discuss this, but obviously not without the other nongovernmental stakeholders, like elder members of our society.
Violence against women, perpetrated by groups of young men and their partners, needs to be discussed urgently. I want to put this question to the department. Are there enough victim empowerment centres in our country? Especially in our rural areas, where the police station can be far away, where do you and your children run to when attacked by your husband or partner?
The Million Men March or Mighty Men seminars won't change society overnight. We need a stronger intervention to change and influence the mind and psyche of young and old male South Africans who subscribe to the sexist notions of patriarchy and male domination over women. Men should be oriented to accept the fact that we are now living in a society that is equal, nonsexist and democratic.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the National Development Agency can play a more strategic role in terms of development. But before that, they need to do an audit of their projects, because we found that some of the projects that they said are active are not at all active. Some of them cannot be found, as far as the oversight of members of the portfolio committee is concerned. However, there will be further engagement with the committee on this matter. And I am glad about the announcement that the hon Minister has made around the appointment of the CEO, because that was a long outstanding matter.
Substance abuse in our country, especially hard drugs like heroin and cocaine, are claiming the lives of our children. We do not have enough in- patient facilities to provide adequate treatment in our provinces. We need more of these facilities in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and North West. This is a grave situation.
The Ke Moja campaign should be in every school in our country - I mean every school, not just certain schools. The absence of community-based and aftercare services should be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Our drug rehabilitation centres should have longer terms for rehabilitation, so that your adolescent patients can be equipped with skills to empower them to finish their schooling. This will ensure that patients are less vulnerable when they go back into society and better equipped to deal with life after rehabilitation. I hope the matters raised here will be addressed by the Ministers, the Deputy Ministers, the clusters in government and the MECs in the provinces.
The ANC supports Budget Vote No 18. Thank you. [Applause.]