Thank you. I think the government of the day should really look at the situation of men fathering children. It is time that if a man fathers a child, he must maintain that child. [Applause.]
The aim of the Department of Social Development is:
To ensure the provision of comprehensive, integrated, sustainable and quality social development services targeted at vulnerability and poverty, and to create an enabling environment for sustainable development with those committed to building a caring society.
This department, however, is still faced with challenges, such as children trapped in poverty. Two weeks ago, I read about a three-year-old who died of hunger while the mother was giving birth to a second child. There is fraud and corruption, a lack of office space and resources, and shortages of much-needed social workers, to name only a few.
However, the Department of Social Development is trying their utmost to improve all welfare services by developing, piloting and implementing norms and standards for delivering much-needed welfare services. Getting people off social grants remains a challenge, and job creation, skills development and education are useful tools to help eradicate poverty.
Our hon President, in his state of the nation address, said that creating decent work remains at the centre of government's economic policies. Therefore if we are indeed serious about creating a self-reliant society, we need to break the cycle of dependency and start exploring social entrepreneurship. Time frames set for strategies to be implemented must be reached so as to enable the department to make progress, eradicate poverty and help build a caring society.
The SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, will have to set the bar much higher in order to succeed in improving the situation in the department. Firstly, fees for consultants, contractors and special services have increased, and the department should rather look at in-house training of their own employees to bring relief to an already strained budget.
Secondly, though significant gains were made in the fight to eliminate fraud from the system, the DA sincerely hopes that further strategies to avoid fraudulent and corrupt activities are in place. Sassa needs to be reminded that the more corrupt activities they encounter, the greater the chance of eventually growing accustomed to these irregularities. Overpayment to service providers is unacceptable. Surely we all know that payments need to take place only if invoices or statements for goods or services delivered are received and checked.
Thirdly, the retention of staff remains a great concern. In total, 571 employees resigned in 2008-09, bringing the vacancy rate to 57,9%. This situation surely has serious implications for service delivery and one wonders what the real reason is for this high turnover of staff at Sassa. I think it impacts heavily on continuity.
Geweldige tekorte aan menslike hulpbronne kan die uitbranding van gewillige, reeds belaaide personeel veroorsaak, en ek wil Sassa daarteen waarsku, want dit kan gebeur. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Enormous shortages of human resources can lead to the burnout of willing, already burdened personnel, and I want to warn Sassa against this, as this can happen.]
Fourthly, the moratorium on the filling of critical posts also contributes to Sassa not performing at top level.
Fifthly, the asset register for Sassa needs to be completed, as this department has been up and running for approximately four years now. The deficiencies found in the asset register were the following: The existence of various assets could not be verified; the asset register was not updated when assets were moved from one location to another; assets were described incorrectly, and in certain instances barcode numbers were duplicated. Sixthly, performance bonuses must be based on excelling in duties and achievements reached, rather than on nonperformance.
Lastly, a valid performance system is of pivotal importance, and must be put in place. The right person needs to be appointed to the right job. We need to get the correct mix of competencies to serve the citizens of our country. This step will ensure that accountability and competency play a greater role in our department.
The Independent Tribunal for Social Assistance Appeals is still experiencing severe backlogs, and in some cases applicants have to wait for up to two years before outcomes are processed.
Quite soon, we will also have dilemmas surrounding the extension of orders for foster-care grants, as these need to be updated every two years to allow Sassa to pay beneficiaries effectively. Is the Department of Justice and Social Development aware of the very important role they now play in reviewed extensions of foster-care grants? The Deputy Minister just mentioned that we have approximately 1 million children already sharing in foster-care grants.
Foster-care parents play an important role in keeping foster-care children in their care, and they can surely not afford the cancellation of these grants. The DA would like to suggest - and now I am surely on very slippery ground - that we explore the avenue of adoption. Though adoption is always a preferred option, we must be mindful of preserving cultural sensitivities and heritage.
'n Groot bron van kommer vir die DA is die 40 mobiele kantooreenhede wat ongeveer drie jaar gelede deur Sassa aangeskaf is, teen 'n koste van meer as R49 miljoen, met 'n addisionele bedrag van meer as R32 miljoen vir die onderhoud en branding van hierdie eenhede. Hierdie mobiele eenhede sou die plattelandse gebiede bedien, om sodoende dienste aan afgele gebiede te bring. En dit was goed en wel dat ons die platteland ook 'n kans gee. Double Ring Trading 222 (Pty) Ltd het hierdie voertuie aan die departement voorsien. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[A source of great concern for the DA, is the 40 mobile office units that were acquired by Sassa approximately three years ago at a cost of more than R49 million, with an additional amount of more than R32 million for the maintenance and branding of these units. These units were to have served the rural areas, and in this way brought services to the remote areas. And it was a very good thing that we also provided the rural areas with an opportunity. The vehicles were supplied to the department by Double Ring Trading 222 (Pty) Ltd.]
Chairperson, the annual report states:
During the year under review, it seems as if there was no compliance with the SLA, the service level agreement, which might have resulted in fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and the Auditor-General also found that some of the sub-assets in the mobile units were missing.
Nuwe goed het weggeraak! [New things had disappeared!]
Recently, we discovered that only 10 of these mobile office units were operating, and the other 30 were parked at offices of Sassa around the country. Budgetary constraints are the main reason for this. Two weeks ago, I also found out that not all 10 units are even operating.
The following questions now arise: Firstly, was a proper impact study done on the real needs of these mobile units? Secondly, were the cost implications of this project thoroughly considered, especially on the use of satellite rather than 3Gs, bearing in mind that most of these mobile units were to operate in rural and remote rural areas? Thirdly, was anybody benefiting from the tender? Fourthly, did the department do any follow-up on the sub-assets that were missing from these mobile units? Lastly, were any guarantees given? These were new units.
Sassa needs to explain to us just when all these mobile office units will be up and running. Surely they realise that this is tied-up capital which could be of great use to an already strained budget?
Tydens my besoeke aan projekte van die Nasionale Ontwikkelingsagentskap was dit skokkend om te vind dat een van hierdie projekte - nogal in my kiesafdeling, Witzenberg - 'n plaas, Tweefontein, reeds 'n geruime tyd gelede verkoop is. Twee ander projekte was twee jaar gelede gevra om bankrekeninge oop te maak sodat gelde inbetaal kon word. Tot vandag toe is geen gelde nog inbetaal nie.
Tydens ons komiteevergadering is hierdie feite aan die NDA oorgedra en, verbasend, was hulle geensins daarvan bewus nie. Vandag, 'n maand later, is die DA nog steeds nie voorsien van die jongste lys van nuwe projekte, asook enige terugvoering in hierdie verband nie, soos belowe deur die waarnemende hoofuitvoerende beampte. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[During the course of my visits to projects of the National Development Agency, it was shocking to discover that one of these projects - in my constituency, Witzenberg, at that - a farm, Tweefontein, had already been sold a long while ago. Two other projects had been requested two years ago to open bank accounts in order for funds to be deposited into the accounts. To date, no funds have yet been deposited.
In the course of our committee meeting, these facts were conveyed to the NDA and, surprisingly, they were not aware of this at all. Today, a month later, the DA has still not been provided with the latest list of new projects, as well as any feedback in this regard, as promised by the acting chief executive officer.]
This situation of not monitoring and evaluating makes me realise that we still have not succeeded in mastering the art of successfully monitoring and evaluating, which is of pivotal importance to any department in reaching their goals.
Voorsitter, ek wil graag hier ook mnr Waldi Terblanche, mev Burlingham, mnr Pheiffer, mnr Slater en hul spanne hartlik bedank vir hul besondere bydrae om die lewens van soveel afhanklikes van toelaes in beide die Wes-Kaap en die Oos-Kaap te verbeter. Baie dankie vir al die Saterdae - en ek weet nie of hulle hier in die gehoor is nie - wat julle in verafgele gebiede saam met die departemente van Justisie, Binnelandse Sake en die SA Polisiediens gewerk het om die lot van minderbevoorregtes te verbeter. Ons waardeer dit. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Chairperson, I would also like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Mr Waldi Terblanche, Mrs Burlingham, Mr Pheiffer, Mr Slater and their teams for their exceptional contribution in improving the lives of so many of those dependent on grants in both the Western and the Eastern Cape. Thank you very much for all the Saturdays - I do not know whether they are present among the audience - that you have been working in these remote areas together with the departments of Justice, Home Affairs and the SA Police Service, to improve the lot of the underprivileged. We appreciate it.]
I urge the department to rise to the challenge of today and tomorrow, for which we are not prepared. Let us rise to at least improve what we can do best, and the DA is only too willing to walk the walk with you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]