Hon Chairperson, Deputy Minister of Social Development, uMama Maria Ntuli, Chairperson of the Select Committee on Social Services, members of the select committee, members of the executive council from various provinces, hon Members of Parliament, distinguished guests - especially Ms Noluthando Gosa, member of the Planning Commission - ladies and gentlemen, as we commemorate World Elder Abuse Awareness Day today, allow me to express my deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who passed away at the Struisbult Care Centre in Springs following a fire earlier this week, and wish those injured a speedy recovery. Events such as this should not occur and I will work with MECs and municipalities so that we improve the safety and conditions of all places of care for older persons and other people in need of care by the state and NGOs.
Today it is a great honour and privilege for me to address this august House of Parliament, the National Council of Provinces. I am fully conscious of and inspired by the historic significance of the timing of this debate on Budget Vote No 19. I rise today, on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the 16 June 1976 uprisings, and stand high on the shoulders of the youth of my time to salute you in the name of all patriotic South Africans, especially those whose sterling contributions and sacrifices have made the current political landscape in our country a reality.
Many of them laid down their lives, while countless others were maimed for life in the active duty and service of their country and people. It is thanks to them, to whom we shall forever be indebted, that we gather here today as legitimate representatives of our people, to consider my department's plans for the year under way in order to respond to the plight of the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised members of our society.
Just four days ago we had dipped our banners, with our flags flying at half mast, as we mourned the passing of one of the mothers of our nation, Mama Albertina Nontsikelelo Sisulu. After 75 years under apartheid and 17 years under democracy, at the age of 92, Mama Sisulu cut links with life and handed the baton to those of us who remain behind to pursue the struggle for social transformation to realise the goal of a better life for all.
Today, 17 years into democracy, many of our communities continue to suffer from the devastation and ravages of apartheid, which manifest themselves in the form of poverty, inequality, unemployment and underdevelopment. The Department of Social Development's mandate, together with the responsibilities of the agencies associated with it, is founded on government's desire to extricate our people from the trappings of poverty and helplessness, to enable them to realise the benefits of the South African promise of a better life for all. As a department we remain committed to this promise and shall spare no effort to ensure that it is realised.
Our efforts in this regard are inspired by our vision of building an inclusive society, based on the principles of human solidarity, in which the happiness of children is the hallmark of our daily experience. The society of which I speak is one based on the full integration of all its members, where those who are at the dawn of life, the children, are cared for and protected; where those who are in the shadow of life, the disabled, are supported to overcome their activity limitations; and where those in the twilight of their lives, the elderly, are still meaningfully engaged in the affairs of their communities.
Given that poverty and inequality remain our biggest challenge, the social assistance programme has proved to be our most effective social policy response. This year government has allocated over R100 billion to the social assistance programme, which provides the poor with the means to meet their most basic needs. Over 15 million South Africans currently benefit from the programme.
Research shows that social grants have a hugely beneficial impact on the lives of those who receive them, as most recently indicated in a research report published by the United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef, and the Financial and Fiscal Commission. The report found that the social assistance programme reduced inequality and, in fact, reduced child poverty even at the height of the economic and financial crisis.
While the majority of beneficiaries use social grants to support their families' basic needs, there is evidence that many are using the grants as a means to seek employment or support informal economic activities. There is evidence that social grants provide more than just a safety net and that they play a catalytic role for poor people to engage in the economy.
With regard to comprehensive social security, the interdepartmental task team on social security reform has made extensive proposals for the introduction of new social insurance benefits and the total overhaul of the institutional framework within which social security is provided in South Africa. The interdepartmental task team has specifically proposed that the policy-making function for social security should be consolidated under one department. The task team has also proposed that a new social insurance fund should be created to render retirement, disability and survivor benefits to all formally employed contributors who will be mandated by government to contribute. These proposals are contained in the consolidated government document which will form the basis for consultation with the public and other stakeholders.
As part of this vision, my department has developed programmes and plans to invest in children. In pursuance of this vision, on 30 May 2011, together with other social sector departments, we launched Child Protection Week under the theme "Working Together to Protect Children". This served as a platform to mobilise the rest of society, including families, to work towards investing in the wellbeing of children. As part of this desire we unveiled an awareness campaign on early childhood development, ECD, in Tweefontein, Mpumalanga on 1 June this year on International Children's Day.
We undertook to exponentially increase the number of registered ECD centres over the next three years. The importance of registration is to enable government to provide subsidies for children from poor families, to provide project funding and to ensure the standardisation of norms and standards. As government we are aware of some of the challenges faced by the ECD sector and commit to working with civil society and other stakeholders to develop lasting solutions. This will include a review of the subsidy formula for poor children to ensure uniformity and equity.
Our vision of a society that enables children, families and communities to realise their fullest potential will be difficult to achieve at the current rate of alcohol and substance abuse in our country.
In this regard we have embarked on a campaign against alcohol and substance abuse and proposed legislative changes aimed at reducing the abuse of alcohol and other substances. This campaign is supported by evidence that illustrates the extent to which alcohol abuse, in particular, contributes to violence against women and other forms of interpersonal violence.
The proposals to reduce the negative impacts of alcohol and substance abuse were tabled and refined at the National Summit on Substance Abuse. The implementation of these proposals is overseen by an interministerial committee on substance abuse.
With respect to treating the victims of alcohol and substance abuse, we plan to establish at least one treatment facility in each province during the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, period. Children need to grow up in a nurturing and secure environment that can ensure their development, protection, survival and participation in family and social life. More than just families and relatives, we need communities at large to care for needy children, especially orphans and vulnerable children. Research indicates that in addition to psychological distress resulting from the death of one or both parents, orphaned children are more vulnerable to poverty, illness and abuse.
They are at higher risk of HIV infection, malnutrition, stigma and isolation. Children orphaned and living in child-headed households have increased, adding to the number of children who are profoundly impacted on by social and economic underdevelopment. Over the next three years we will recruit and train 10 000 child and youth care workers to support children living in child-headed households, using the Isibindi Model.
This, together with the challenge of gender-based violence, among other things, essentially puts undue pressure on social workers, due to the lack of such professionals in our country. In the light of the socioeconomic problems facing South Africa, many households look to social workers to help them out of extreme poverty and vulnerability.
This requires us to increase the capacity of professionals, to help improve their livelihood. Therefore, R244 million has been allocated to support existing students and to provide for new scholarships.
While our social assistance programme remains one of the biggest poverty alleviation measures of government, the safety nets provided by such grants are not an end in themselves. We are working with economic sector departments to leverage social assistance investments so that they can yield job creation benefits.
The Department of Social Development and the SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, will launch a pilot to link able-bodied caregivers of employable age to the labour market during 2011-12. The results of this pilot will be useful to finalise the draft policy framework on linking social assistance to economic opportunities. The pilot will place 1 000 beneficiaries in jobs between July 2011 and June 2012.
At our strategic planning sessions we had discussions with the Department of Trade and Industry, DTI, on a partnership wherein the DTI would look to promote purchasing co-operatives in areas where there are significant concentrations of people accessing social assistance. The aim is to encourage collective purchasing of essential goods and services, thereby reducing costs, and to stimulate the local production of such goods.
The social assistance programme has reduced the experience of hunger. This work will be complemented by other efforts of the Department of Social Development and its partners to tackle the vexing problem of food insecurity. We are working with Food Bank South Africa, which is distributing food to thousands of people on a daily basis. There are plans in place by Food Bank South Africa to move towards stimulating family and small-scale food production which will create jobs while tackling the problem of food insecurity.
Initiatives such as these will serve to complement the work of the Departments of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; and Rural Development and Land Reform. We are working in partnership with these departments and civil society organisations on a road map to reduce food insecurity in South Africa.
The National Development Agency, NDA, is tasked to support the work of civil society in key areas of concern to the mandate of the Department of Social Development and government. The NDA will therefore be an important partner in our efforts to promote early childhood development, through using its grants to strengthen the capacities of ECD service organisations. They will similarly support our efforts to reduce violence against women and children by providing key support to the sector addressing gender-based violence.
The NDA's five-year strategic plan positions it to become the grant-making institution for an engaged civil society in South Africa. The plan sees it raising significant resources from the state, the business sector and international donor communities so that it can support civil society to ensure that South Africa continues to have a vibrant and resilient civil society.
As the co-chair with United Nations Aids, UNAIDS, of the International Advisory Group on HIV and Aids, I was again reminded that without a robust civil society in any area of work that we do, our chances of sustained success will be limited. Given the challenge of building a strong civil society, the R161 million that will be transferred to the NDA is clearly not enough, and the agency will require more resources to deliver on its mandate. We have engaged with the private sector and other stakeholders about the important role that this agency needs to play and we hope that MPs will be equally robust in encouraging other government departments to support the work of the NDA.
In spite of the good progress made with regard to expanding the government's safety net, Sassa still has a mammoth task ahead to enhance its systems and processes for it to respond to the needs of its existing and potential beneficiaries. In the year ahead, our priority is to ensure increased access to social security services by all eligible beneficiaries. Sassa will undertake a robust overhaul of its systems to improve service delivery to its customers.
Ensuring an effective and cost-effective administration remains key to the operation of the agency. The overall administration costs for social assistance are still relatively high. This is largely due to the cost of handling and transporting cash. We are finalising the procurement of new payment providers for grant payments. This payment contract will run for five years. Through this process we will ensure the standardisation of payment processes, reduction of costs and improved validation of identity of grant recipients.
Grant administration systems are still largely operated on a manual basis. This has been a significant contributor to fraud and corruption in the social security system, delays in the turnaround times and poor record management. In this regard I am pleased to announce that for the first time since the establishment of Sassa, we have been allocated financial resources to automate our systems. Let me take advantage of this platform to express good wishes to the new CEO of Sassa, Ms Virginia Petersen, who is now responsible for driving the Sassa machinery. [Applause.]
In conclusion, I wish to express my gratitude and appreciation to Deputy Minister Ntuli, members of the Select Committee on Social Services, MECs for social development, the director-general, the special advisers as well as management and staff of the department and its agencies for their hard work and support. Thank you. [Applause.]