Hon House Chairperson, Deputy President, the committee visited the Eastern Cape from 27 June to 1 July. As the portfolio committee our strategic objective was to monitor the achievement of government priorities for social development.
The objectives of the oversight visit were therefore to assess the following: the extent to which the provincial department of social development aligned its strategic priorities with the national priorities; the extent to which the old-age homes implemented and complied with the Older Persons Act; the performance of National Development Agency-funded projects and projects funded by the Department of Social Development; and, lastly, the performance of the SA Social Security Agency, Sassa with regard to the implementation of the child support grant, the old age grant, the implementation of the integrated community registration outreach programme and conditions at the service areas and paypoints.
The committee found in our interaction with the provincial government that they had implemented the key strategic national priorities, which were welfare services for children, women, people with disabilities, people affected and infected by HIV and Aids, and also, very importantly, family preservation.
The oversight visits to the projects funded by the department showed that these projects had had a positive impact on the lives of the people. Through the use of home community-based care workers the services of the department were able to reach people in the most rural of areas. Furthermore, the projects did not only contribute to the wellbeing of families, but also contributed to the department's response to the government's goal of job creation, especially for the youth and women.
The committee also found that the Isibindi Model of Care for Vulnerable Children and Youth implemented by the National Association of Child and Youth Care Workers provided a good model for the implementation of child and youth care services, which are aimed at child-headed households.
What we found during our visit to several developmental welfare projects was that the migration of skilled workers, especially social workers, between provinces was a challenge. We also found when we interacted with beneficiaries and stakeholders that there was a need for specific court dates to be set aside for the court to review and finalise court orders for the foster care grant.
In terms of home community-based care, the committee found that workers must receive training from the Department of Social Development because the volunteers from the project that we interacted with had not received any training.
In terms of project management - the projects we visited that are funded by the NDA and the department - we felt that there was a major lack of capacity-building in these projects. Also, when it came to financial management, we felt that issues such as filing, capacity-building and space for these NGOs and projects to flourish were quite a challenge
We found the park homes we visited that serve as offices for social services as well as for Sassa in Elliotdale to be inadequate and undignified and the toilets were not working. Although a new building was in progress, we felt that the current situation impacted on the dignity of our people and also on confidentiality when clients came to see social workers or when they came to see Sassa regarding the application for grants.
Between August and now we met with Sassa and they gave us a briefing on the integrated service delivery model. We also received a report about the closure of the filing depot in Mthatha. They had to close it, because it wasn't conducive to work.
Regarding those alternative arrangements and proactive issues, we have already interacted with them on that. We hope that the stringent implementation of the integrated service delivery model in the Eastern Cape will reap the right benefits. Thank you, hon Chairperson.
There was no debate.