Hon Chair, firstly, I would like to thank all hon members who participated in this debate, and indeed they made very invaluable contributions.
I would like to start by indicating that we will, obviously, have an interaction in the portfolio committee on other matters that we may not be able to respond to here in detail. We undertake to do that, given the limited time that we have now. But I would just like to try and respond to a few issues raised within the time limits that we have. I want to start by assuring hon members that any criticism levelled against us as a department will be appreciated and welcomed, particularly if it is constructive criticism. That's what we are looking for, because it will actually help us to be on our toes and do our jobs better. Constructive criticism!
There are issues that have been raised specifically about dependency on the grants. I have deliberately painted a picture of South Africa. And, if I may remind colleagues and hon members here: we are sad that this country has a 23% official unemployment rate and a 47% poverty rate. We are only taking care of some 13,2 million people. The percentages alluded to by hon members here are not even close to the 47% figure of poor people in this country. That in its own spells it all out: we haven't reached even the 47% of needy people.
At the same time we are saying in this speech that we are indeed moving to ensure that this department, through the National Development Agency, working with other branches of community development and other departments, focuses on ensuring that our people are given the ability to fish. We are making this as a point in this speech. I think the debates that are taking place here today are in agreement with what we said earlier on. If I was an hon member, I would have said, "Yes, I concur" and sat down. [Applause.]
Regarding the issues that were raised, particularly about young mothers, I don't think we have had adequate time here to spell out exactly what we intend doing about unpacking the number of young mothers and young women who are on the grant system. But, for now, we are saying with confidence that, indeed, we are not able to look away from them. We have to ensure that we assist them in terms of maintaining their children.
I also want to indicate to this august House that this matter of young women who bear children because they want grants is actually not true. This has been determined through very thorough research in this country. We do know, as we sit here, that indeed, in this country we have the lowest registration rate of young children by these young mothers - it is between the ages of zero and two. If we bore children to get them registered for a grant, why would people wait two years? That's the question that we have to ask, and that actually helps us to understand this situation. [Applause.]
The issue that I think we also need to raise is the question of social relief of the distressed. I think there is a big misunderstanding as to what this grant is all about and what we are doing. Many hon members who stood here pointed out that this is actually an election campaign.
Here on the gallery we have partners with us, as I mentioned in my speech, from Tiger Brands and the Gift of the Givers Foundation. About three weeks ago - now, recently after this election - we were with them on the ground to distribute food parcels. There was no election. [Applause.] They were intended for the people who are hungry; the people who need help; the people who are hungry.
I am not sure if hon members are saying that for the people who have not eaten for three or four days, this government must look away and not do something in the meantime to alleviate that challenge that we have. Certainly, we believe this is well-deserved support that people need.
With regard to bursaries, we have indeed advertised for them. There is a process that unfolds throughout the provinces in which people go through sifting. As long as people can actually prove that they are from destitute families, they can apply to any university. We encourage people to apply to be accommodated in the universities of the provinces where they come from. That selection is done very thoroughly and openly. I think we should ask when this is happening so that we can actually be part of the dissemination of that information.
By the way, we have registered a programme of dissemination of information in the department. It is very clear; it is being rolled out and it includes customer care. This is so that we are able to deliver quality services to the people as we should do.
There is a process of war on poverty. We welcome the remarks made by hon members from all quarters that, indeed, we need to really stand up and fight this war on poverty, all of us. This is a programme that is ongoing. Instead of looking at the many criticisms of what we shouldn't be doing, we should be saying: what do we all have to do in terms of playing our part in fighting poverty and making this war on poverty a success for all our people.
There is a matter that had been raised on universalism. We agree with this issue, but we need to be mindful of the competing needs of resources. We have limited resources in this country, as all of us know. We need to juxtapose investments in our people, who are excluded from the mainstream economy, with the need for funds in order to invest in the needy people, particularly in areas of economic growth.
I also want to touch on the issue that has been raised that deals with fraud and corruption - the twin sisters. Actually, I always say twin brothers instead of twin sisters. I have deliberately also gone on at length about these twin brothers to indicate what we are doing in the department. We have appointed a special investigation unit - through the SA Social Security Agency of course, not necessarily directly by the department - to investigate on an ongoing basis every aspect where we think there could be corruption.
That is why we are making this call here today: that all of us must be part and parcel of ensuring that there are whistle-blowers - or we become whistle-blowers - to get this corruption and fraud rooted out. We have begun this process and I have given the number - 2 000 now - of those who are in the Public Service who have not yet been tried to the point of conviction. By the way, those who have admitted to being guilty must also acknowledge and pay.
But I have also said that Sassa is also looking at people outside the Public Service - at, for instance, the SA Revenue Service and the Unemployment Insurance Fund. We are able to detect other people outside the Public Service who are in the private sector that are receiving grants in an improper manner. This department is actually working on the matter of fraud and corruption.
So, we don't have to fear anything and think that we will hide this and that. Of course, there are allegations also about my predecessor. I think that if my predecessor was guilty or was actually implicated in the true sense of the word, this matter would have come up. We are in the process of doing Business Process Re-engineering at Sassa. But that is also intended to be ...