Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen and my children up there in the gallery for support, I would like to congratulate the Minister Mme Edna Molewa and the Deputy Minister Mme Bathabile Dlamini on their appointment. We are really looking forward to working with you. The Department of Social Development plays a very critical role in the lives of ordinary South Africans. Without its critical intervention, many South Africans would be left out of the social welfare safety net.
Modulasetulo, Mosotho o re mosadi o tshwara thipa ka bohaleng, ka hona ke a dumela hore ha se ka phoso ha Lefapha la Thekolohelo le tla tsamaiswa ke bomme. [Mahofi.] Mme kahoo ke re ho bomme: Mosebetsi ke oo, ha re weleng temeng setjhaba sa Aforika Borwa se tshepetse ho rona. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[Chairperson, there is a Sesotho saying that says a mother will do anything to protect her offspring. That is why I would like to believe that it is not a mistake that the Department of Social Developement will be led by women. [Applause.] Therefore I say to the women: Here is a task, let's get to work because the nation of South Africa has put its trust in us.]
I strongly believe that we have all come here today because we have the common objective of bringing hope and dignity to our people. I hope that any apparent criticism from the DA, based on the department's performance, will be taken in this context. Therefore we need a collective, sober assessment of the problems facing the department.
We need to have the necessary commitment and passion to do our work diligently. During the past two weeks we have been given presentations on the strategic plans of the Department of Social Development, the SA Social Security Agency and the National Development Agency. Their intentions on paper are welcomed, but the implementation and the monitoring of these plans remain challenging issues.
Having succeeded in expanding our social security net, the challenge now is to deliver high-quality service in a dignified and sustainable manner to our people. We are facing an economic meltdown in our country, and the levels of poverty and unemployment remain very high. Thus our people are exposed to many social ills like child abuse and rape. These impact negatively on the moral fibre of our society.
There are many problems currently facing the department. Even the portfolio committee agrees that there are these problems facing us. But we strongly believe that we need to give these problems urgent attention if we are to be able to deliver an effective and efficient service to our people.
Some of the concerns are as follows: Firstly, it is a worry for us that the South African means test, to determine who qualifies for social grants, excludes many deserving South African citizens who would otherwise be eligible for such assistance. For example, the old-age pension means test excludes many needy people who have tried to get an old-age pension. Perhaps we need to start debating whether we should be introducing a universal old-age pension for all citizens.
The ongoing manipulation of the grant system by the ruling party for narrow party-political interests, to the exclusion of many of the deserving poor and most vulnerable South Africans, remains an issue. [Interjections.] There is a high incidence of fraud and corruption and noncompliance with the specified procedures. [Interjections.] Some doctors and public servants are plotting with criminal syndicates to defraud the government and deprive the legitimate claimants of their rights. We need to know from the Minister what steps are to be taken to ensure that we do not have a repeat of the situation we faced several years ago, in which 2 058 public servants were found in court to have received social grants fraudulently.
The vacancy rate at the department is unacceptably high, Minister. For the 2007-08 financial year it stood at 23,3%, while at the SA Social Security Agency it was 60%. Sassa's role is to administer and transfer the social security payment to over 13 million poor South Africans who rely on the grants for their survival. The vacancy rate will obviously hinder service delivery. For example, the finance department tasked with detecting grant fraud has a vacancy rate of 49,2%. Although Sassa has exceeded its target of filling 2% of its posts with disabled people, it remains a concern that there are no disabled people between levels 14 and 16.
We need to know what plans the Minister has to attract competent and suitably qualified people who are fit for the job. We must be sure that there is no place for cadre deployment, which will compromise service to our people. [Interjections.]
The DA is concerned about the fact that the expenditure on Social Development has increased sharply, especially on the disability and foster care grants. Such a rate of increase cannot be sustained, particularly in the face of the economic meltdown and plunging tax revenues we are facing. A society in which a large section of the population depends on social welfare cannot be sustained. The DA believes strongly that the creation of productive opportunities and effective skills improvement programmes will reduce dependence on social grants and result in citizens becoming more self-reliant.
Re le mokga wa DA re itlama ho sebetsa mmoho le bohle ba lakaletsang setjhaba sa rona tse molemo. Ka hona re tla sebetsa le bohle ebang ho na le ponaletso. Re etsa boipiletso ka hona ho Letona le kgabane hore re qale mosebetsi ka tsela e nepahetseng hore re tsebe ho hlaola tsohle tse mpe. Re le DA re tla dula re beile maemo leihlo empa re ke ke ra qeaqea ho thoholetsa haele hore ho na le tse ntle ebang di le teng, ebile hape re ke ke ra thola haeba ditaba di le mosenekeng. Ke a leboha. [Mahofi.] (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[We as the DA commit ourselves to working together with all those who have the best interests of the nation at heart. As such, we will work together with anyone only if there is transparency. Therefore, we call on the hon Minister to start off on the right foot so that we can get rid of all bad practices. As the DA we will always be monitoring the situation and we will not hesitate to give praise where it is due, and yet again we will not keep quiet if there is a crisis. Thank you. [Applause.]]