Chairperson and hon members, since the inauguration of this administration, I have travelled with a team of Ministers and senior officials to two provinces to witness progress made since the launch of the War on Poverty campaign in 2008. Communities that we have visited are located in Jacobsdal in the Free State and Lubala village in the Eastern Cape.
During these visits, officials from national, provincial and local government departments take note of issues raised by communities and compile reports. These reports are then processed by the relevant government departments using established systems such as the National Integrated Social Information System, Nisis, of the Department of Social Development.
It is on the basis of these reporting mechanisms that verification of household needs and services rendered is conducted. This is also used for referral and follow-up purposes. Individual reports are not presented to Cabinet. Instead, consolidated reports are prepared for Cabinet twice a year. Institutionally, the national task team, consisting of provincial war rooms and representatives from implementing departments, is a forum tasked with the responsibility of processing reports and following up on service delivery issues raised by communities. The same reporting and follow-up mechanism is replicated at provincial and local levels.
In addition to these institutional mechanisms, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and senior officials share their experiences through the Antipoverty Interministerial Committee, which is co-ordinated by the Presidency. Here, consideration is also given to prioritising urgent matters raised by communities.
Our overall assessment is that the War on Poverty campaign mechanism has helped to highlight the value of clustering services and delivering them as a package to poor communities, who often miss out due to a lack of information or the distance between the community and the point of service. Thank you.