Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to send my deepest condolences to the family of the respected cleric and liberation stalwart, Rev Motlalepula Chabaku. She was one of the few surviving leaders of the resilient group of activists, including Lilian Ngoyi and Helen Joseph, who led an estimated 20 000-strong Women's March in 1956 to the Union Buildings to protest the apartheid-era pass laws. She was the first Speaker of a democratically elected Free State legislature, and a deeply spiritual person who carried an abiding sense of community and compassion for all people, especially women, the poor and the downtrodden. We thank her for dedicating her life to the liberation of our people and acknowledge the role she played in the nation's reconstruction and development. May her soul rest in peace.
Hon Chair, if you allow me, I wish to raise a concern. I have observed that none of the provinces have sent special delegates to come and participate in this budget speech, except for Mpumalanga, and we thank you very much, Mpumalanga, for that. Hon Chair, I also wish to start my speech from the end, by saying that the ANC supports the Budget Vote.
The Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities has identified the following key priorities for this financial year: advocating the promotion and protection of the rights of women, children and people with disabilities; monitoring, evaluating and ensuring the mainstreaming of gender, disability and children's rights; strengthening institutional capacity; and increasing participation in strategic bilateral and multilateral initiatives that contribute towards the empowerment of and equality for women, children and people with disabilities.
Moreover, the department has also identified its roles with regard to researching, monitoring and evaluating, targeting key role-players to influence what they focus on, how they do it and ensuring that all key causal factors affecting women, children and people with disabilities are addressed.
While the budget of the department grew from R143,1 million in the 2011-12 financial year, to R172,2 million in the 2012-13 financial year, this department's budget constitutes a mere 0,01% of the overall national Budget.
As was the case in the last financial year, the women's empowerment and gender equality subprogramme consumed most of the budget, at 55%. Notwithstanding the budgetary allocation, the department is still expected to deliver on the aforementioned objectives with limited resources.
The select committee has conducted numerous oversight visits, not only to oversee the executive, but also to assess and investigate the challenges that face women, children and people with disabilities. Oversight visits were conducted in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. They highlighted various issues that have shed light on poor living conditions and services for people with disabilities. The oversight visits also revealed that whilst South Africa has the Domestic Violence Act, its implementation leaves much to be desired, and women continue to face challenges in terms of accessing services when faced with violence and abuse.
Hon Minister, I wish to bring to your attention that the committee engaged with the Western Cape provincial department of social development on challenges raised during our oversight visits to the Saartjie Baartman and the Thuthuzela Care Centre. To date, the status quo remains the same; nothing has changed. We need your urgent intervention in this regard, and the department needs to be reminded that it is still accountable to the people of the Western Cape.
With these challenges and observations in mind, a budget of R13,5 million has been allocated for children's rights and responsibilities; R15,4 million has been allocated for people with disabilities; and an operating budget of R21 million has been allocated for women's empowerment and gender equality, which amounts are absolutely insufficient.
I wish to congratulate the Minister and the department on filling most of the critical and strategic positions within the directorate. I thank you. [Applause.]