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11 Jun 2012

Child Protection Month is well underway and the Department of Social Development is committed to reaching and strengthening vulnerable families across the province.

We recognise that government alone cannot deliver all the services and as such we work with our non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners to expand our reach. Since the start of the financial year (1 April 2012), we have already released R47 million in funding to NGOs who particularly work with children and families. As we conclude our agreements with the NGOs, more funding will be released to enable them to render much needed services.

My department renders social welfare services across a broad spectrum, but the Children and Families programme takes the lion's share, accounting for 60% of all transfer payments to NGOs. This is a clear indication of how seriously we view the need to build strong families that are able to survive the growing pressures associated with poverty, unemployment and other social challenges.

We still see far too many cases of parents not knowing the whereabouts of their children. The responsibility for keeping our children safe rests firstly with us as parents. I am appealing to parents and guardians to take this responsibility very seriously. Parenting workshops are being offered regularly in communities across the province and we have had wonderful feedback from some of the people who have benefitted from these programmes.

Our efforts to protect the children of this province will go beyond Child Protection Month. We will continue to extend services to vulnerable communities and will continue to support our NGO partners in the wonderful work they do as we endeavour to make the lives of our children, better together.

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Issued by: Western Cape Social Development
11 Jun 2012

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