Hon Minister, Chairperson, ladies and gentleman. Minister, on 29 June an eight-month-old baby was sexually assaulted on the Cape Flats. There is little doubt left; that social ills such as substance abuse and domestic abuse are rapidly increasing and our families disintegrating.
Social work graduates signing up on your database, is not a job. They are still sitting at home. Get these social work graduates that your department spent millions on into our communities and give these graduates their hope back and our children their innocence.
Our country's Gross Domestic Product, GDP, is not growing and this is will only increase the number of South Africans in need of social assistance. Spending R184 billion this year means absolutely nothing to the person who has no education, no food, no jobs; and under this ANC government, no future. [Interjections.]
These billions of rand must contribute to a long-term sustainable solution for a better South Africa, not a growing dependency on state welfare.
Single mother, Patricia Davids of Elsies River, was shot and paralysed, confining her to a wheelchair. She lives in a shelter with her 13-year-old daughter. Ms Davids is grateful for the grant, but she says it is simply not enough to cover their basic needs.
Social grants are not meant to be Ms Davids and her daughter's way of life, it's meant to be a means to a better one.
The first 1000 days in a child's life is the most crucial, yet, what is R440 a month supposed to cover, when part of that money must still be used for electricity and food for the rest of the family? In October this amount will increase by R10. Minister, how is R10 an investment in our children? [Interjections.] [Applause.]
The DA's plan is to increase the child grant to an objective measure of what it actual costs to feed a child. That pregnant mothers are pre- registered, so that when that baby arrives they will have the necessities.
SASSA's Rl62 billion spent on grants this financial year is meant to improve the standard of living. But the grant amounts are not enough to get our people out of poverty; merely enough to keep them alive.
Minister, how are you going to eradicate poverty when you can't even get SASSA officials to stop stealing the grant money or Cash Paymaster Services, CPS, and those ANC wives liable for the years of theft?
Social Development and its welfare system is supposed to be a safety net for the vulnerable. Instead, it has become a spider's web, capturing and paralyzing our citizens until they are exhausted with no way of escaping. Thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
Xitsonga: