Sihlalo, nam mandizeke emzekweni ngokudlulisa uvelwano kubantu abatshe kwiziko lokugcina abantu abakhubazekileyo nabadala. Sithi "akuhlanga lungehlanga", iintsapho zabo mazilale ngenxeba. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Ms D Z RANTHO: Chair, let me also offer my condolences in respect of the people who were burnt at the old age and disabled centre. We offer our deepest sympathy; may their families accept what has happened as fate.]
Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, Bathabile Dlamini, hon Deputy Minister, Maria Ntuli, hon members, MECs, comrades and distinguished guests, I rise to express the ANC's support for the Social Development Budget Vote. We say this because the Department of Social Development is at the core of our commitment to building a caring government that responds to the needs of our people.
This Budget Vote is an expression of the ANC government's commitment to move decisively in ensuring that all our people have a better life and that those whose lives suffered immense neglect under apartheid also get a chance to enjoy the opportunities and benefits of freedom in our country.
Though the 2009 recession brought significant setbacks in economic performance and employment, the 2010 development indicators issued by The Presidency show steady improvements over the past decade in most of the 10 categories measured. There is, for example, mixed progress in the alleviation of poverty and inequality. Real income and poverty headcount indicators show an improvement in the living standards of the poor, explained in part by rising social grant transfers. The percentage of the population below the poverty line of R283 per month per person fell from 38% in 2000 to 22% in 2008. Inequality between black and white South Africans has narrowed, but overall inequality remains high and may have widened.
In the face of persistent high unemployment and difficult economic conditions, the social security system continues to play a crucial role, providing income support for retrenched workers and helping to alleviate poverty. Social security promotes inclusion by ensuring that people who are unable to work, either permanently or temporarily, remain active in their communities. It is part of the social wage, which includes access to housing, transport, sanitation, health services and basic infrastructure.
In addition to its traditional role of providing citizens with a safety net, social security must also work hand in hand with policies to create jobs and raise the standards of employment, especially in rural areas. To this extent, we need to examine more closely the role that the department plays in the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme. We must educate our people on how to acquire information on poverty alleviation projects and programmes.
President Jacob Zuma announced in his 2011 state of the nation address that government's Position Paper on Social Security Reform is expected to be released this year for discussion. Issues to be dealt with include the funding and nature of the National Social Security Fund, how the private sector occupational and retirement funds will fit into the entire system, and the possible regulatory structures.
To provide timely assistance for those in need and to fulfil the longer- term objectives, South Africa's social security institutions need to become more efficient, ensure the effective use of funds and provide better service. As part of the broader reforms under way, the consolidation over time of administrative arrangements for social security is proposed. The aim is to ensure that workers' contributions are not consumed by separate bureaucracies or drained by operational inefficiencies. Establishing co- ordinated policy-making across these entities will help to make their programmes more effective.
The Department of Social Development's expenditure increased from R67,2 billion in 2007-08, to R95,9 billion in 2010-11, mainly as a result of an increase in the National Social Assistance Programme's transfers, which is approximately 93,2% of the department's budget in 2010-11. The transfers increased due to lowering the qualifying age for men to access the old age grant and extending the child support grant to all children under the age of 15 years.
Over the medium term, expenditure is expected to increase to R122 billion, mainly due to the extension of the child support grant to all children under 18. The department has a total establishment of 696 posts, all of which are funded. The administration programme has 339 employees, which constitutes 48% of the total establishment of the department.
At 93% the National Social Assistance Programme has taken up the largest portion of the department's budget. It will expand the social assistance safety net by phasing in, over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, period, the extension of the child support grant to eligible children under the age of 18 years, and moving towards aligning the income threshold of the old age grant to the tax payment threshold through implementing an adjustment to the means test for the old age and disability grants in 2011- 12, hon De Villiers.
Over the MTEF period, expenditure is projected to increase to R114 billion in 2013-14. The increase is mainly due to the lowering of the qualifying age for the old age grant for men from 65 to 60 and to extending the qualifying age for the child support grant to 18 for children born after 31 December 1993.
The social security policy and administration programme's spending focus over the MTEF period will be on eradicating the appeals backlogs and ensuring that all pre-litigation appeal matters are processed and effectively responded to in order to avoid adverse court orders and litigation costs. Other key expenditure items in this programme include the social grants administration and social fraud investigation functions performed by the SA Social Security Agency.
The spending over the MTEF period in the welfare services policy development and implementation support programme will focus on increasing the supply of social workers to meet the demand for welfare services by providing full scholarships to social work students. The Eastern Cape has already guided us. The allocation for social work scholarships remains the largest expenditure item in this programme. At 54%, expenditure is projected to increase to R503,8 million over the MTEF period.
There are now almost 15 million people receiving social grants in South Africa, which is more than a quarter of the population and over six times the number of grant beneficiaries in 1998. Social assistance will contribute R97,6 billion to household income in 2011-12, representing a substantial and enduring programme of poverty alleviation.
Although income support makes a tangible difference to households with little or no income, along with in-kind transfers, fee waivers, subsidies and other benefits that form part of the social wage, South Africans rightly want a faster pace of development and social progress. Though much has been done since 1994 to extend public services and dismantle barriers from the past, there is widespread frustration that poverty persists, inequality remains high, and transformation is sluggish. The ANC supports this Budget Vote. [Applause.]