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28 March 2006

Chairperson
Honourable Deputy President
Honourable Minister
Honourable Members
MECs for Social Development
Distinguished guests
Members of the community present here today
Ladies and gentlemen

Budget Vote 18, as highlighted by the Minister, outlines our intention to give effect to government's programme of action and contribute positively to the Age of Hope as mentioned in the President’s state of the nation address. This year as we celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the battles fought by our youth for social and economic inclusion and the 50th Anniversary of the Women’s March, we acknowledge the successes of this department in ensuring equitable access to social development services. Thereby instilling hope to 11 million of the poorest of the poor.

The establishment of South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has refocused attention on the remaining services in the developmental social services basket. The Minister of Finance, in his budget speech stated that the core priority is to strengthen social welfare services. In this regard, the launching of the Integrated Service Delivery Model and the passing of key legislation, such as the Children's and the Older Person's Bills has laid the foundation for the accelerated delivery of quality social services to the poorest and most vulnerable of our people.

Honourable Members, the implementation of the Integrated Service Delivery Model which was launched in 2005, provides the framework for delivering developmental services, whilst defining the roles and responsibilities of all tiers of government, including civil society. This model is crucial to formalising the relationships of the department with community-based organisation (CBOs), faith-based organisations (FBOs) and non-government organisations (NGOs) as implementing partners at community level.

Chairperson, in order to give effect to government's priorities in this “Age of Hope”, this department has a strategic role to play in developing and strengthening relationships with its partners to alleviate poverty and deliver improved quality service to the poorest of the poor.

We acknowledge and thank our many partners, and in particular the NGOs, CBOs and FBOs form a crucial link in the chain of service delivery as the implementing agents.

The service delivery model highlights the role of government as well as that of organs of civil society, including private organisations; community based organisations, faith based organisations, parastatals, etc. It is critical to mention that the model calls for a radical transformation of the way things are currently done.

Ladies and gentlemen, Honourable Members, this shift in focus is reflected in the increased allocation for integrated developmental social welfare services. I would like to point out that although there is an increase in the allocation for the developmental social services delivery; social security still has 99% of the department’s total budget with only one percent for the remainder of services. 22% of this is allocated to developmental social welfare services. This will be applied to strengthen and expand capacity for the development of social development policies, strategies, programmes, as well as norms and standards.

The Social Crime prevention allocation is increased by 23,2% in the current year. This relates to the implementation of the Child Justice Bill, which will improve the functioning of the integrated justice system. To reduce the number of children in prison awaiting trial, the current legislation and regulations will be reviewed. A departmental social crime prevention strategy will be developed and approved. Appropriate programmes and guidelines for children awaiting trail will be developed. Three secure care centres will be established and the minimum standards for diversion programmes will be launched. Six hundred probation officers will be trained.

In terms of Child Care and protection services, we are proud to report that the Children’s Bill (section 75) has been passed by Parliament. The regulations for the Children’s Bill will be developed during this financial year. The other key priorities include the computerised child protection register and the implementation and monitoring of the policy on the prevention of child abuse, neglect and exploitation. Training and early implementation of the National Integrated Early Childhood Development Plan will be facilitated.

With regard to the renewal of the National Drug Master Plan is complete and will go to Cabinet for approval. The new Plan (2005 to 2010) proposes an array of drug control, prevention and treatment initiatives, which will inform new legislation and programmes.

Honourable members, the first term of the first board of the Central Drug Authority has come to and end and I trust you will join me in thanking to the outgoing board for their achievements in the last five years, and particularly in 2004/05. The new members of the board for the Central Drug Authority have been appointed. I am hopeful that the new board will keep the momentum and take up the challenge of achieving a drug free society with the same vigour.

Current legislation governing services on the prevention and treatment of substance abuse and rehabilitation is outdated and will be reviewed during this financial year. The Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse Bill will provide for the transformation of services in the field of substance abuse, for community-based interventions, the development of minimum norms and standards for different levels of service delivery for substance abuse and ensure registration and monitoring of facilities. This Bill will be introduced to parliament by the end of June 2006.

A model for community-based services will be developed including best practice models for children and youth. Our department will also be hosting an international summit on substance abuse to share best practice at national, regional and international level in managing the problem of substance abuse.

With regard to Victim Empowerment, Women and Gender, in line with this year’s commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Women’s march, our department will intensify our efforts to improve services to women through the mainstreaming of gender in all programmes in the department.

In continuing the work on prevention of victimisation and services to women and their children, two shelters will be established and the victim empowerment policy will be launched. Monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the victim empowerment policy will continue. The strategy for the involvement of men and boys in the prevention of violence against women will be finalised.

With regard to Orphans and Vulnerable Children; through the implementation of the department’s expanded public works programme, services and care to orphans and other vulnerable children will be improved. 5000 home based caregivers will be trained. A database for orphans and vulnerable children will be established in each province in this financial year. This will assist in ensuring well functioning structures to deliver services at all levels.

The policy framework for this sector will be finalised and a National Action Plan for orphans and vulnerable children will be developed. The number of child care forums will be increased by 800 over the next two years.

With regard to National Youth Development; as part of the 30th Anniversary Youth celebrations Youth Development will receive prioritisation in this financial year. In addition to the National Youth Service Programme mentioned by the Minister, the Integrated Youth Strategy will be launched in June during Youth month. Guidelines for the training of provincial staff and service providers will be completed by December 2006. A skills programme for protecting vulnerable youth, is being developed and will focus on the homeless and youth living on the streets.

Ladies and gentlemen, with regard to the Social Service Professionals, delivery of developmental social services necessitates the creation of an enabling environment for social service practitioners. To this end, the Social Service Professions Act and the Social Services Act will be reviewed and implemented. All professions in the social welfare sector will be graded appropriately and job descriptions will be benchmarked for child and youth care workers as well as social auxiliary workers. This will be done in collaboration with our partners in the new Social Services Professions Council and the Professional Boards to assist in completing this process.

Training manuals for capacity building on the service delivery model will be developed and 50% of managers and service professionals will be trained in this financial year. Research on the norms and standards for social service provision will be conducted in all provinces with a view to developing norms and standards for approval.

The draft policy framework on disability has been finalised and the guidelines for support services to children with disabilities will be developed during this financial year. The existing policies are not sufficient to address the needs of this vulnerable group. Therefore, the department will conduct research into the needs of people and children with disabilities. To this end an increase of R1 million has been allocated.

Chairperson, the “Age of Hope” is reflected in the passing of the Older Person’s Bill through parliament last week. For Older Persons the implementation of this Act signifies better and more accessible care and services to older persons.

A significant increase of 32% has been allocated for the completion of the draft regulations, the draft South African Plan of Action on Ageing, developing the charter on the rights of older persons and the guidelines for the transformation of old age homes and service centres to promote accessibility and integration.

The country’s most important population challenges include mitigating the demographic impacts of the HIV and Aids epidemic, and to promote youth development and gender equality. The main thrust of our interventions is to strengthen the capacity of the government, especially in the local sphere, to respond to population trends that shape the social environment.

Chairperson, Government wants to build a social security system that is sustainable. As the social sector’s contribution to Accelerated and Shared Growth initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA), we are responding with a programme called Gwebindlala, which aims to provide income support while simultaneously developing the human capital of beneficiaries through skills development and job placement services. Gwebindlala will address vulnerability, social exclusion and hunger or poverty. We cannot support income assistance without other interventions.

Madame Speaker, we attach great importance to the fight against the manifestations and causes of poverty and under-development. This underlines the critical roles that have to be played by all cadres of social development professionals, namely social workers; auxiliary social workers; child and youth care workers; probation officers and community development practitioners.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Social Development
28 August 2006