Hon Chairperson; hon Deputy Chairperson I greet you, the Executive, Minister, Deputy Ministers, hon members of the NCOP, our social partners; Ladies and Gentlemen; allow me to greet you again this afternoon.
Hon Chairperson, as the Eastern Cape we stand here today to support and affirm the Budget Vote as outlined by the hon Minister Lindiwe Zulu. This budget is in line with the election manifesto of the ANC and carries the aspirations of our people as we were interacting with them in the election campaign.
It is a great honour for me to address this house today on the priorities of the Department of Social Development and its subsequent resourcing. The budget speech has provided a framework and a guide on which aligns our policies, programmes, and our service deliverables towards realising social transformation.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, I am mindful of the fact that I deliver this input during the Mandela Month, which is a constant reminder that we must strive for a caring society for all, particularly the vulnerable members of our society.
This is an opportunity to celebrate Tata Nelson Mandela's life for the whole of July and provides everyone with the opportunity to heed the call to action for people to recognise their individual power and make an imprint and change the world around them.
Hon Chairperson, we support and reaffirm the theme of the budget vote 17 of the department of Social Development which says
"Working together to empower communities for sustainable livelihood".
As the hon Minister, correctly indicated in her budget vote; the work of the department is to provide investment in programmes and services that enable individuals and communities to participate in their own development.
We further recommit ourselves to articulation by the Minister on the role of the department within the context of a developmental state. Hon Deputy Chairperson, our set priorities include, amongst other the following; Early Childhood Development, fighting child abuse, neglect and exploitation Gender based violence, Youth and Women Development, especially those not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) and also deepening comprehensive social assistance.
Honourable chair, these priorities are anchored by the NDP vision which seeks to establish and responsive social protection services. In this regard, we want to ensure that families, as the cornerstone
of a developmental society are given the opportunity and support to be self-reliant and be care for them to develop their children.
It is a fact that learning begins at birth and continues throughout life. Hon Deputy Chairperson, we must, therefore, applaud the allocation of 212 million Rand to the NDA and 518 million Rand of the ECD conditional grants to provinces. This demonstrates our commitment towards early childhood development.
The 6th Administration has through the Minister reiterated that the department would work with greater effort to unleash the economic potential of our young people and rural communities by ensuring that they have access to skills, assets and opportunities.
investments critical for sustainable development, and these
investments are critical in the context of the fourth Industrial revolution. In addition, the 30% procurement policy of government
contracts will continue to be used to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs).
Hon members, in view of the escalating incidences of violence
against women, the department will intensify the implementation of prevention programmes to create awareness and mitigate the impact on the victims and also focus on hate crimes against LGBTQI community.
The partnership with the Department of Education and Health to intensify the Sanitary Dignity Campaign Program to female learners in Grade 4 to grade 12 in Quintile 1 schools is an important intervention that we must all support and sustain.
Here, we have also called upon our social partners to take the sanitary towels campaign to even greater heights, in our endeavour to provide girls with uninterrupted education. Hon Chairperson, we increasing the rigour around performance management to ensure that we achieve better use of our resources and value for money. As you might be aware, we had a serious challenge with the payments of NPOs on time and allegations of corruption within the system.
As we continue to deliver our services in a developmental approach instead of a welfare one, I would like to call on our officials and
the general public to participate in the IDP processes. This process goes a long way in assisting the department in its planning.