2. Guardian's Fund. The Committee is unclear regarding the impact of the budget shortfalls on plans to rollout Guardian's Fund services to identified sites. The rollout was planned for this financial year but the Department indicated that expansion of Guardian's Fund capability to Johannesburg may be postponed. It is unclear as to how far the Department has come in rolling out serives at any of the other previously identified sites. The Committee has previously expressed dismay that there are only six offices at present (in Grahamstown; Pretoria; Kimberley; Pietermaritzburg; Bloemfontein and Cape Town) and these are not located at the largest urban centres. Identified sites for rollout include Master's Offices at Mahikeng; Nelspruit; Thohoyandou; Polokwane; Durban; Port Elizabeth; Bisho; and Mthatha and Magistrate's Courts at Nelspruit; Atteridgeville; Johannesburg; George; Madadeni; Empangeni; Port Shepstone; Butterworth and East London. The Committee views the rollout of Guardian's Fund services as a priority and would not support any reprioritization of funds from this project. At a minimum, the Department should at least explore using existing service points as a document point but is aware that this is not ideal. It requests that the Department report in writing by 30 January on progress to expand Guardian's Fund services, with targets and timeframes. The Department should also be prepared to address the Committee on this at the next quarterly meeting in February- March 2013).