Aids testing serves a vital function in South Africa.
We deliver the budget vote in the context of our continued resolve to recommit ourselves to working together with civil society to accelerate our programmes and to improve the quality of life of our people in general and those who are vulnerable in particular. It is a commitment we make to ensure that our people, women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities in particular enjoy the greater freedoms and human rights our forebears fought for for over a century under the leadership of the African National Congress. […]
[T]he budget will increase from R2.491-billion in the 2012/13 financial year to R2.957-billion in 2014/15. The increase is allocated for the expansion of the following services: early childhood development, home-based and community based care services, services to children in conflict with the law and the expansion of poverty reduction programmes.
Our attack on poverty, unemployment and inequality seeks to empower people to take themselves out of poverty through various economic exit strategies to prevent dependency on government, while creating adequate social security nets to protect the most vulnerable in our society. We resolved at the ANC’s Polokwane Conference in 2007 that social grants provided by the national government make a difference in the lives of recipients but that “Grants must not create dependency, and thus must be linked to economic activity.” […]
Today we table this budget […] against the backdrop of a growing need and demand for services, and to balance unlimited needs with limited resources. The department will design innovative financial solutions or funding models in order to restore financial viability in the NPO [Non-Profit Organisation] sector and to help the entire social service sector to survive. The current service delivery practice in social development needs to be more responsive to the changed landscape of the targeted groups and communities served by the department in support of the Developmental State Agenda. This approach is in line with one of our priorities that put an emphasis on the provision of developmental services without neglecting the core business of the department, viz, statutory services. […]
Our priorities for this financial year are:
Child care and protection
Early childhood development services.
The Early Childhood Development Programme [ECD] is a major intervention to foster the early development of a child and […] to promote access to quality basic education. […]
[T]he department will continue to champion the provision of the ECD in its partial care sites while prioritising children from previously disadvantaged communities. In line with the minister’s announcement on the equalisation of subsidies at R15 per child per day, in this financial year, the department has increased the subsidy to R13 per child per day with a view to achieving the subsidisation of R15 per child per day in the 2013-14 financial year.
Our commitment to increasing access to partial care ECD services is affirmed by the construction of five partial care facilities […]. Further construction is underway to finalise two more […] facilities[…].
Through the ECD Massification Strategy the department will enhance access to ECD services. The department will increase the number of funded partial care sites to a total of 1 139 throughout the province, which will benefit 78 044 children between the ages of 0 and 5 years.
These will be distributed as follows:
- 274 in Johannesburg Region, benefiting 21 857 children;
- 210 in Ekurhuleni Region, benefiting 14 600 children;
- 210 in Sedibeng Region, benefiting 14 200 children;
- 197 in West Rand Region, benefiting 11 088 children; and
- 248 in Tshwane Region, benefiting 16 299 children (2012/13 APP).
[…] [I]n order to achieve all this, we have allocated R266 601 192 towards ECD programmes.
The transfer and transformation of the schools of industry from the Department of Education to the Department of Social Development is informed by the Children’s Act of 2005, Section 196 (3). The two schools of industry to be transferred are Emmasdal and J.W. Luckhoff in Heidelberg.
Good progress has been made and an agency agreement was entered into between the two departments, which will culminate with the transfer of public servants and budgets by the end of June 2012.
The transfer and transformation of the two schools to child and youth care centres is currently an unfunded mandate. The buildings and infrastructure of these two schools are […] in a state of dilapidation and disrepair. The transformation will therefore be effected gradually as resources are made available.
School uniform and dignity packs
The plight of girl children in schools who cannot afford to buy sanitary towels has been recognised and the department has […] distributed dignity packs[…]. Training has also been offered on how to dispose of sanitary pads in an effort to maintain health standards and contribute to effective drainage management systems.
This project helped to keep many girls in school and to provide an income for one of the cooperatives producing them. […]
Since the launch of the programme in 2011, 70 000 girl children have benefited from the programme and in the 2012/13 financial year the department intends increasing the beneficiation to 150 000 children. […]
The service will be expanded to children with albinism. Their package will comprise a sunscreen and a hat in addition to the usual dignity pack.
To strengthen support to child headed households and other vulnerable children, the province will introduce a social development-led Child & Youth Care Work programme named Isibindi over the next three years. […]
Crime prevention and support
The department’s response to promoting the safety of South Africans is a comprehensive approach that recognises crime as a broader social challenge. As a result its interventions entail a developmental approach to social crime prevention targeted at both the perpetrators and supporting victims of crime. The focus of the activities […] [is] to reduce, deter, and prevent the occurrence of specific crimes by altering the environment in which they occur, changing the conditions that cause them and providing support in the implementation of the Gauteng Provincial Government’s social crime prevention strategy. Over the period under review, awareness sessions intended to deter people from engaging in social crime activities reached 39 768 beneficiaries. […]
The department will focus on inter-sectoral collaboration regarding the fight against social crime in the province. This will be done in partnership with departments within the criminal justice system, relevant non-profit organisations and working closely with men and women in the arts and creative industry as ambassadors for anti-substance abuse and teenage pregnancy.
A plan for expansion of diversion programmes in an effort to ease the provision of assessment, referral and diversion services for children in conflict with the law has been concluded. The programme will continue to emphasise a restorative approach.
Victim (to survivor) empowerment
SAPS currently employs six forensic social workers and the department is committed to support and work closely with the Department of Community Safety in facilitating the provision of forensic social work services. […]
Victim empowerment (VE) services rendered through funded NPOs reached 24 053 beneficiaries. The department also provides funding to 20 shelters for abused women which rendered services to 2 213 women in the previous financial year. Furthermore, the department funded one shelter for abused adult males on the West Rand. The department, in partnership with the Department of Local Government and Housing, Westonaria municipality, the private sector and civil society will launch a new shelter […] for 20 abused women and their children in Simunye. The department also brokered a partnership with Sonke Gender Justice Men’s Network to support and strengthen its efforts. This culminated in the intensification of the men’s dialogues aimed at creating awareness on issues related to gender based violence.
Over the 2011-12 Financial Year a total of 2 499 men and boys participated in these dialogues and have been equipped with the necessary information on violence perpetuated along gender lines.
In partnership with the National Department of Social Development, the department will pursue the following activities:
- Embark on a campaign that seeks to take DSD services to the people and hold dialogues with community members in determining how they too can serve as change agents and catalysts in addressing social ills […]. Procure services that are designed to be preventative and proactive in nature within the Victim Empowerment Programme. Discussions on the matter are currently underway.
- Efforts to work with Sonke Gender Justice Men’s Network and other men’s organisations will be doubled as it is our view that the transformation of gender relations cannot be dealt with in isolation of men and boy children.
- Partner with National Department of Social Development, NPOs in the sector and engage in strategic discussions with international funders on how to fund strategically and expand prevention programmes
The department will continue to implement the girl child programme, social skills programmes for perpetrators and further intensify through funding more of the men and boys programmes. We will also continue to provide support to women with regard to starting small businesses and training for entrepreneurial activities. The department will lead the establishment of a rapid response team with all affected departments and NGOs, and ensure that they are properly resourced for this kind of work.
[…][T]he partnership between the department and UNODC [United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime] has now come to an end. The department will now […] assume responsibility for the Sunnyside One-stop Centre for victims of violence and abuse in the Tshwane Region and sustain the funding of the emerging VE service providers identified through the UNODC partnership. […]
Substance abuse, prevention and rehabilitation
Our efforts to build environments that nurture and facilitate better social cohesion and development are significantly hampered by the scale of alcohol and substance abuse in the province.
The consumption of the dangerous concoction of “Nyaope” in the greater Tshwane area continues to be a problem […].
To mitigate the effects of this harrowing social problem and reduce its prevalence, the department continues to intensify the implementation of existing programmes such as the […] Inter-sectoral Drug Master Plan, and improve awareness and prevention programmes geared towards conscientising people about the dangers of abusing substances. The department established eight new local drug action committees, which coordinate the implementation of the National Drug Master Plan at local level.
These interventions are not only aimed at changing people’s behaviour but could also lead to safer communities, healthier and more productive citizens. In taking these services to communities the department will work with MMCs and local leadership in an effort to localise the drug action committees at ward level. The project will start with the 50 priority wards in the province.
The approval of the Integrated Anti-Substance Abuse Strategy by the Provincial Executive Council demonstrates our commitment to lead a coordinated effort in confronting and tackling substance abuse.
Education, awareness and prevention programmes targeting youth in and out of school considered to be at high risk were implemented. In the 2012-13 financial year the department plans to reach in excess of 90 000 beneficiaries through these programmes. While the Ke Moja drug prevention programme reached 5 595 young people in the 2011-12 FY the department plans to extend the number of beneficiaries of this programme to about 25 000 in the 2012-13 financial year. The approach also included the expansion of home visits, school visits and counselling […].
In order to improve the accessibility and availability of this service, the department will continue to strengthen aftercare programmes in collaboration with local drug action committees to ensure that those who have completed their treatment programmes do not relapse […]. A further 5 305 clients benefited from after care services […].
In partnership with the Department of Health, plans to upgrade a section of Sterkfontein Hospital to serve as an in-patient treatment centre are at an advanced stage. This initiative serves as a measure to improve access to services in the West Rand Region.
This […] programme has therefore been allocated R91,3-million to address these priorities. A great deal of focus in the Anti-Substance Abuse Strategy is on awareness programmes and funding will be allocated sufficiently to that area of work.
Care and support services to older persons
The plight of […] old people remains central to the department’s plans to ensure that their rights are protected and they are not exposed to conditions of abuse and neglect. In this regard, the department will continue to ensure that this […] group is at the epicentre of a caring and developmental state. Developmental programmes beyond residential services are gradually unfolding […] in line with the Older Persons’ Act. These services include service centres and luncheon clubs, home-based care and active-ageing programmes.
In the 2011-12 FY the department completed the construction of two community-based care and support facilities, including day care facilities, for older persons in Duduza and Tsakane. In the 2012-13 FY an additional three home-based[…] are currently under construction. The targeted areas include Sharpeville, Munsieville and Protea, which will be completed in this financial year. […][T]he […] construction of old age homes in Mohlakeng and Tembisa was delayed […]and is scheduled for completion in the 2012-13 FY.
HIV and Aids
The HIV and Aids pandemic continues to have a devastating effect on children and those who provide care for them.
Our interventions, mainly through the Home Community Based Care Programme, involve the provision of psychosocial support services, including counselling, material and nutritional support, and specialised services such as memory work facilitation and succession planning, all targeting individuals, children, families and communities affected by the scourge of HIV and Aids.
In the 2012-13 FY the department will increase funding to 257 HCBC centres to expand their reach in excess of 125 000 orphans and vulnerable children. Services will also include the provision of food parcels to about 42 500 beneficiaries and daily meals to about 118 000 beneficiaries. […]
Services to persons with disabilities
The department has provided access to opportunities for people with disabilities mainly through the provision of funding to NPOs championing disability issues. Among these are 63 protective workshops which provide sheltered employment to a total of 14 884 people with disabilities over the review period. In an effort to provide care and support […] the 40 NPOs funded residential facilities and provided residential services to 1 971 people.
In the 2012/13 financial year the department will fund 65 protective workshops and 40 residential facilities managed by NPOs.
The provision of residential and community based programmes such as accommodation, advocacy, life and skills development and socioeconomic empowerment […] will result in increased access to services and integration […] in mainstream society.
The department will review the unit costs […] of funding for people with disabilities to inform funding in the next financial years and will also assess the funding of caregivers in residential facilities and private homes […]. We will work in partnership with the disability sector to realise this objective.
Youth development
The department has redefined its role in youth development in line with government’s strategic priorities to focus its effort on the following:
- Facilitation of social change programmes as part of youth development through the rollout of youth centres;
- Enhancement of youth employability and linking young people to economic opportunities;
- Facilitation of skills development for youth through NPOs; and
- Capacitating NPOs to better deliver youth development services.
Through its development centres the department provided training […] prioritising the most critical skills areas. These […] include life skills, technical skills and business skills. In the 2012-13 financial year the department plans to reach about 7 500 youth through these programmes.
The MaSupatsela Youth Pioneer programme could not be implemented in the 2011 financial year due to the delay in the finalisation of the curriculum, which had to be reworked by the National Department of Social Development. […]
The MaSupatsela Pioneer Programme is being further reconfigured […] to become a SADC [Southern African Development Community] youth exchange programme among young people in the SADC region, with the aim of fostering greater cooperation of young people through community service and social cohesion. The National Department of Social Development is currently leading the process.
The department will be employing assistant community development practitioners (ACDPs) in the 12/13 financial year who will replace the MaSupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme. […]
In the 2012/3 financial year 195 youth will participate in the internship programme and 150 will be placed in the learnership programme. Furthermore, 25 NPOs will be funded to deliver youth development services and 10 000 youth will participate in youth outreach programmes.
As part of the poverty alleviation programme the department will work in partnership with the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) to identify young people who are recipients of child support grants and link them to economic empowerment opportunities; these will include participation in cooperatives, learnership programmes and bursary schemes […], including facilitating inclusion in DED’s entrepreneurship programmes. The department will liaise with other Gauteng provincial departments to explore inclusion of these young people in the issuing of bursaries if they qualify.
Sustainable livelihoods
The sustainable livelihoods programme will continue to build and support development of the poor and provide them with opportunities to improve their lives. The approach will continue to take into account development decisions that affect groups of people such as women, youth and people with disabilities, prioritising those who are in the SASSA database. Some of the key programmes the department will embark upon are:
Co-operatives
One of the 2012/13 strategic priorities of the department is to train and incubate cooperatives. […] The department will provide training and incubation of cooperatives and thereafter will:
Facilitate procurement of goods and services from cooperatives in line with its core business;
Share the database of established and trained cooperatives with other departments so that they can procure services from these cooperatives.
Furthermore, in the 2012-13 FY the department will empower 464 cooperatives to provide goods and services to the department and other service users. Social cooperatives will continue to be utilised and appointed to manufacture school uniforms and supply shoes. A total of R60-million is set aside for these cooperatives.[…]
War on Poverty (WOP)
We will continue to implement an interdepartmental programme aiming to provide customised services to the poorest households in the prioritised wards, known as the War on Poverty programme. […]
[T]he programme deals with the profiling of households and their referral to a basket of services provided by Gauteng Provincial Government departments and […] local government. In 2012/13 a total of 8 103 households will be profiled for services. Our important milestone in this regard will always be the linkage of women on child support grants to a range of services in order to augment the grants they receive and to help them eventually to become self-sustainable, thereby reducing their dependence on the state.
Zero Hunger
[…]In 2012/13 a total of 101 000 daily meals will be provided to households. […][K]ey activities in 2012/13 will include strengthening current food banks, public-private partnerships and linking food bank recipients to economic empowerment and development programmes such as food gardens and the opening of the fifth food bank in the Johannesburg Region. The department plans to provide about 20 000 households with food parcels […].
Partnership with NPOs
The department acknowledges its responsibilities to NPOs and those they serve […]. Equally, NPOs have an obligation to maintain adequate standards of governance, transparency and accountability and to improve those standards, as well as to respond to provincial priorities and demographics.
There is a wide recognition that NPOs have a significant role to play in the provision of preventative, rehabilitative, early intervention and developmental programmes. In the past financial year the department entered into an agreement and funded in excess of 2 200 NPOs.
Despite their critical role, NPOs continue to experience severe challenges with regard to governance issues, financial management, resources, and confusion over the roles of staff and boards of management. […]
In this financial year the department will introduce guidelines for the establishment of boards of management to strengthen governance in the NPOs. The department will partner with the Independent Development Trust (IDT) and the National Development Agency (NDA) to provide support to NPOs in respect of governance matters, prioritising ECDs and NPOs in the disadvantaged areas.
In order to enhance cooperation and continuous dialogue between the department and NPOs we commit to reviving the social welfare forum […].
The department has allocated R1.287-billion, benefiting almost 2 800 NPOs.
All fora in the five regions representing NGOs will meet quarterly to discuss issues affecting the NPO sector. The department will facilitate the review of the current welfare forum, and consultation sessions with the NPOs will take place twice annually; during the planning and budgeting period, and at beginning of the FY […].
Awareness and advocacy
Of particular concern is the increase in social ills such as substance abuse, violence against women and children, breakdown of family structure and general decay in the moral fibre of society. […]The department has adopted a broad campaign for the protection of vulnerable groups, which will be implemented in 2012/2013 financial year. The campaign will focus on […]:
- Creating a new culture of community activism regarding the protection of vulnerable groups and against alcohol and substances abuse;
- Advocating the eradication of violence against women, children and other vulnerable groups;
- […] Taking hands with all stakeholders, relevant government departments, NPOs, faith based sector, political formations, municipalities, etc, to empower and educate communities […];
- Taking the campaign to […]community meetings, churches, political party branch meetings,
Job creation
The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is an important contribution towards the MDG of halving unemployment by 2014. […] [T]he programme. emphasises broadening of the skills base and increasing beneficiaries’ capacity to earn […] when they exit the programme
Jobs in home and community-based care organisations are created through the EPWP. […] EPWP volunteers […] serve people affected with HIV and AIDS. To date, a total of 3 635 job opportunities have been created within the Home-based Care (HBC) programme. The department plans to invest more in this programme and grow this figure to 6 190 in the coming financial year.
The department will, in the near future, expand the participation of other programmes into EPWP (ECD and older persons), to increase the effort to create jobs in the projects implemented by these programmes.
In the 2012-13 FY 6 190 work opportunities in HBC will be created through EPWP and 7 472 youth will participate in skills development programmes […]. The department will also appoint 84 unemployed financial management graduates to serve as bookkeepers at ECDs to strengthen their financial management systems. The department has provided R5.4-million for 500 work opportunities in the ECD sector. […]
A further 195 youth will complete their internships and 150 will complete their learnerships
Gender, youth and disability mainstreaming
The departmental budget is the most effective and strategic tool to mainstream gender, youth and people with disabilities. […]
The department will continue to monitor systems, facilities and infrastructure to ensure that there is no discrimination against women, youth and people with disabilities. Its strategic plan, programmes and plans will be analysed annually to ensure the promotion, protection and empowerment of the cross-cutting groups in terms of human rights, equity and equality. Prevention programmes aimed at ending gender-based violence will be prioritised and financial resources will be redirected to this course in partnership with the national department.
The department will develop a Disability Action Plan to address the needs of people with disabilities, improving access and the provision of services. It will also monitor and ensure that there is an increased number of people with disabilities in the EPWP, skills development projects and the workplace. […]
The department is currently mainstreaming the inclusion of war veterans in its programmes. […] a process of household profiling will be conducted to assess the eeds in respect of social development services.
The mainstream approach will include amongst other things:
- Psychosocial support services;
- Involvement in cooperatives;
- Provision of access to bursaries, internships and learnerships for their children;
- Referral to food banks where necessary; and
- Bana Pele assessment and referral.
- Institutional capacity to deliver
Social work and related professions are meant to be caring professions. However, […] not all our professionals display an element of care, empathy, speedy, professional and service-friendly interventions. To mitigate this challenge the department will partner with the Council for Social Services Professions in a programme that seeks to restore the dignity and respect of social workers and allied professionals.
The department has established appropriate institutional mechanisms to assess gaps in supervision services and will […] seek to restore the supervision of social work services. This will be done in partnership with academic institutions and the social work veteran fraternity and will be supported by the national department.
Financial management systems have been put in place within the department to ensure that service provider invoices are paid within 30 days of the date of receipt. […]
The filling of critical vacant posts will be prioritised by the department, with greater emphasis on social work services, strengthening of governance of NPOs and expansion of the sustainable livelihood services.
Conclusion
[…] The department has aligned its programmes and budgets to the eight provincial outcomes as government priorities. Continued consultation with the NPO sector will be enhanced for improved planning, budgeting and implementation.
The department will continue to play a critical role in […] providing strategic direction and leadership on policy development including setting minimum service delivery norms and standards, programme design, overseeing the implementation of social welfare legislation and provision of statutory services, monitoring and evaluation of services. This is above the funding responsibility the department has to the NPO sector. […]