BUDGET SPEECH FOR VOTE 13 DELIVERED BY THE MEC FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, MRS NONHLANHLA M. KHOZA, MPL, AT THE KWAZULU- NATAL PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE ON 04 JUNE 2020
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ...... 3 2. TRANSFORMATION OF THE SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES ...... 5 3.1 PROGRAMME 2: SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES ...... 5 3.2 Services to Older Persons (R 189,171 million) ...... 5 3.4 Services to Persons with Disabilities (R 157, 076 million) ...... 6 3.5 HIV and AIDS Programme (R 232, 853 million) ...... 6 3.6 Social Relief of Distress (R 17,794 million) ...... 6 3. PROGRAMME 3: CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (PROGRAMME 3) ...... 7 4.1 Care and Support Services to Families (R 14,186 million) ...... 7 4.2 Child Care and Protection Services (R 486,876 million) ...... 7 4.3 Early Childhood Development and Partial Care (R 708,820 million) ...... 8 4.4 Alternative Care / Child and Youth Care Centres (R 241,037 million) ...... 9 4.5 Community Based Care and Support Services for Children (R 124, 201 million) ...... 9 4. PROGRAME 4: RESTORATIVE SERVICES ...... 9 5.1 Crime Prevention and Support (R 149,217 million ...... 9 5.2 Victim Empowerment Programme (R 89, 005 million) ...... 10 5.3 Substance Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation (R 93,538 million) ...... 10 5. PROGRAMME 5: DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH ...... 11 6.1 Community Mobilization (R 2,390 million)...... 11 6.2 Institutional Capacity Building and Support (R 15,402 million) ...... 11 6.3 Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Livelihoods (R 19,195 million) ...... 12 6.4 Community-Based Research and Planning (R 978 thousand) ...... 12 6.5 Youth Development (R 53,361 million) ...... 12 6.6 Women Development (R 12, 000 million) ...... 13 6.7 Population Policy Promotion (R 4,710 million) ...... 13 6. PROGRAMMES BUDGET ALLOCATION FOR FY 2020/21 ...... 14
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Honourable Madam Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the KZN Legislature Honourable Premier and Honourable Members of the Executive Council Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature Honourable Chairperson of the Social Development Portfolio Committee Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen
INTRODUCTION
I am honoured to have this opportunity to deliver Budget Vote 13 for the Department of Social Development. This budget responds to the needs of the communities we serve. It draws inspiration from the State of the Province Address by Honourable Premier, Mr. Sihle Zikalala who reminded us that: “Social development is a critical pillar in the building of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, and prosperous society.”
In tabling this budget, we are also reminded of the Freedom Charter which was declared 65 years ago, that there shall be security and comfort for all. This is why the theme for this budget is: “Building Our Common Future Where Social Security and Comfort for All Is Guaranteed.”
Honourable Members, this speech is being delivered under very abnormal circumstances.
The coronavirus has plunged even the best economies into turmoil leading to thousands of deaths and massive job losses across the globe. With these job losses comes a myriad of social problems. With the pandemic of this sort we can expect that there will come a shadow pandemic of mental illness, substance abuse, suicides and post-traumatic stress disorders. We all have a responsibility to ensure the protection of the rights of vulnerable individuals, groups, children, older persons and people with disabilities. This responsibility has become even more bigger because of the Coronavirus outbreak.
The pandemic has disrupted many livelihoods of families, communities and the society at large. It is showing us how deep poverty and inequality is in our communities across all races. To this end, the Department responded swiftly to minimise the spread of the virus to the vulnerable groups by suspending activities and operations in the Early Childhood Development Centres, Youth Development Academies and Centres, and suspended visits to Old Age Homes, Facilities for the Disabled, Rehabilitation Centres, Child and Youth Care Centres and Service Centres.
Covid-19 and the subsequent Lockdown led to many households unable to provide for themselves, and in response the Department intensified the provision of Social Relief of Distress through food relief packages and sustained the provision of nutritious food for Community Nutrition and Development Centres beneficiaries.
President Nelson Mandela put it succinctly when he said: “Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”
These words from our departed stalwart enjoins us to create an enabling environment for the provision of a comprehensive, integrated and sustainable social development service.
Honourable members let me remind you that we are a Department which derives its mandate from several pieces of legislation aimed at addressing challenges faced by our communities.
The Department is the hope of the hopeless since the majority of our people remain trapped in abject poverty. We however, do not believe that the fight against poverty should be characterised by handouts and this is why, as directed by the Premier, we are changing our focus from being welfaristic to developmental.
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Honourable members, All of you are aware that in the recent past this Department encountered massive challenges that nearly affected its operations and left the workforce suffering from low morale.
Other challenges our workers face are as follows:
. High levels of hijacking of the department’s vehicles; . Post traumatic experiences by officials; . Limited resources due to budget constrains; . High vacancy rate; and . Workload management.
We responded to this by introducing an interactive and comprehensive wellness programmes because we understand that human resource is the most precious resource for any Department. Without our workforce we will not be able to boast about some of the success we have attained as a Department.
Honourable members, Today, I stand before this august House to give assurance that all the challenges affecting the Department, most of which were extensively covered in the news, are being corrected.
We are putting more energy into dealing with all the challenges and issues that have been raised by our workforce, Standing Committee On Public Accounts (SCOPA), Finance Committee and the Social Development Portfolio Committee. In responding to these challenges we know we will be unpopular to those who benefit from the chaos that was created.
Last year we met with different stakeholders especially Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) who are playing a critical role of reaching our communities and rendering some services on behalf of the Department. These NPOs are important stakeholders and we want to see them continue working meticulously in providing services to our clients - the vulnerable groups.
Having met with the NPOs, and listened to the various concerns such as unhappiness with funding model, inadequate financial support, and some NPOs not receiving funding while some are paid late, we are putting in place various measures which I am going to elaborate on later.
However, we refuse to have the Department being reduced to an automated teller machine (ATM) that only pumps funds that are not accounted for.
Honourable Members, On the 17th of July 2019, we stood before you to deliver a budget where we highlighted plans of the Department as per the programmes. Of deep concern though, are the high numbers of the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Femicide incidents. The incidents of abuse, rape and murder of women, children and older persons indicates that as the society, we are losing our hold on what exactly the moral fabric is and how to stand up for it.
These issues need us all to put aside our politicking but confront it with vigour. The rise of GBV and Femicide shows that some men have lost the sense of ubuntu. As a response, the Department provides services such as psycho-social support to victims and assistance to get healthcare and legal services amongst others. Victims continue to be taken into our shelters whose exact location would never be revealed.
In response, all District Champions launched the campaign of the Provincial Integrated Plan of Action in November 2019 to fight the scourge of women abuse in their respective Districts.
This calls for us as government and all other stakeholders to double our efforts to deal with this scourge which has become a nightmare in our communities.
As this province we employed 183 social workers as we are confronting the scourge of GBV and femicide head on. This team is already in our communities having a dedicated focus on prevention, victim empowerment, and trauma management.
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Madam Speaker, Recently, we launched the Boys Assembly, an initiative to encourage parents to raise the girl and the boy children as equals. It is also ensuring that boys find time to talk with a neutral person about all issues affecting them.
As much as we know that social workers frequently visit our schools to help learners with psychosocial support and behavioural change programmes, we want to further strengthen our partnership with the Department of Education to deal with bullying in schools.
As we all know bullying is a different form of violence, therefore we want children to be alerted at younger age about its dangers. The Department is developing a clear programme to deal with discrimination, and denunciation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBTQI+) communities. They should enjoy equal rights as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic.
TRANSFORMATION OF THE SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES
Honourable Members, the transformation of social welfare services is one of the intended government outcomes of the Sixth Administration.
The transformation of social welfare services seeks to expand affordable, quality and integrated care and support services to older persons, persons with disabilities, people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS, as well Social Relief of Distress to households affected by disasters.
There are several sub-programmes that deal with the transformation of social welfare services which I am going to deal with below:
3.1 PROGRAMME 2: SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES
The budget allocation for this programme in 2019/20 was R798 891 million. For the 2020/21 financial year an allocation R823 900 million has been set aside for this programme. The sub-programmes under Programme 2 have been budgeted as follows:
3.2 Services to Older Persons (R 189,171 million)
As mandated by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the, Older Persons Act 13 of 2006, older persons have an inherent right to life and dignity. They have a right to be free from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
In the past months we experienced horrendous incidents of elder abuse such as rape, murder, and other forms, particularly in the uMgungundlovu District Municipality.
These incidents include: . the killing and alleged rape of a 75- year-old person of Ward 02 of uMsunduzi Municipality in Sweetwater, Okhalweni Area, . the killing of a 73- year- old person of Ward 3 of Impendle, who allegedly passed on after witnessing her grandchildren being raped, . the murder of a 72-year-old person in Umsunduzi Municipality, KwaNxamalala area, Sweetwaters, . the murder of a 77-year-old grandmother in Umsunduzi Municipality, Smero, Bhobhonono area.
To fight the scourge of elder abuse the Department has implemented programmes aimed at raising awareness targeting the community at large, including older persons.
The Department works with the law enforcement agencies in ensuring that criminal cases of elderly abuse are opened and the alleged perpetrators are apprehended.
The Department is also encouraging that where suspected incidents of elderly abuse are noticed such should be reported to the nearest Service Offices and/our call centre which operates 24 hours.
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As the world battles against COVID-19, older persons are more vulnerable to catching the virus and developing complications if they are infected. We have therefore suspended public access to residential facilities and closed down service centres to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. These control measures will be progressively relaxed in line with the applicable lockdown regulations.
On increasing access to community-based care and support services, the focus will be on strengthening home-based care to ensure that frail older persons receive maximum care within a community in which they reside. We will also strengthen our oversight role on residential facilities to ensure compliance with service standards, whilst ensuring the quality of services.
3.4 Services to Persons with Disabilities (R 157, 076 million)
The White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 2015, takes its mandate from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and global instruments that call for action by government, civil society and the private sector to work together to ensure accelerated transformation for persons with disabilities.
There is a general consensus worldwide that disability is not just a public health issue, but also a human rights issue and a developmental imperative. As we move to the lower levels of the lockdown, we will intensify skills development programmes in protective workshops. The aim is to capacitate persons with disabilities to enable them to earn an income with products that they make. This is part of our efforts to balance welfare with development.
The Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Programme that was piloted in UMzinyathi District will be replicated in four districts namely: King Cetshwayo, Umkhanyakude, Zululand and Ilembe Districts.
Ultimately, we want to replicate the CBR Programme in all districts. Furthermore, a disability empowerment mainstreaming approach project will be piloted in iLembe District, which will facilitate the establishment of support groups for parents and caregivers of children with disabilities.
3.5 HIV and AIDS Programme (R 232, 853 million)
Our province has one of the highest cases of HIV infections at 18.23 percent in the country. This poses a huge challenge for our support services as we experience more Coronavirus infections. Our HIV and AIDS programme provides a basket of services which include psycho-social support, educational support, economic strengthening, social assistance, vital documentation, health promotion and provision of treatment adherence support to the individuals and families.
Psycho-social support services to orphans and vulnerable children and youth will also continue, whilst accelerating the implementation of HCBC re-engineering model.
3.6 Social Relief of Distress (R 17,794 million)
The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) is a temporary assistance provided whilst planning long term interventions. As the Department, we are mandated by the Constitution in terms of Section 27(1) (c) to respond to emergency needs identified in communities affected by disasters that are not declared, and any other social condition resulting in undue hardship.
In fulfilling this mandate, we provided Social Relief of Distress to more than 10 300 beneficiaries in 2019/20 financial year. As part of coordinating our efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID 19, we have established the Provincial, District and Local SRD Nerve Centres to coordinate our food relief efforts.
We have also developed a Digital Tracking System to assist in tracking SRD expenditure for the Department. Special focus will be on strengthening collaboration with other government departments, SASSA, NPOs and private sector to ensure the seamless distribution of food to needy families. Further focus will be on efforts towards creating self- reliance and resilience to beneficiaries to wean them from dependency on the state.
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PROGRAMME 3: CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (PROGRAMME 3)
This is the biggest programme in the Department in terms of budget allocation. In the 2019/20 financial year it had a budget allocation R1 543 044 billion, and in the 2020/21 financial year it has been allocated a budget of R1 750 781 billion.
Honourable Members, What follows are budget allocations per sub-programme under this programme.
Honourable Speaker, We remain resolute in our endeavours to ensure that children are free from abuse, neglect and exploitation. We are also committed to promoting and supporting families, many of whom are currently facing a myriad of socio-economic pressures.
4.1 Care and Support Services to Families (R 14,186 million)
In line with the Provincial Social Ills Strategy, we intensified care and support services to families in the uMzinyathi, Harry Gwala, Amajuba, uThukela and uMkhanyakude Districts. We also intensified advocacy campaigns, fatherhood programmes and marriage preparation and enrichment programmes in all districts. Furthermore, we launched the Khumbulekaya outreach programme in the Harry Gwala District in December 2019.
The Department will also monitor compliance with lockdown regulations regarding the movement of children between co-holders of parental responsibilities or caregivers as guided by the Section 1 (1) of the Children’s Act (Act No. 38 of 2005).
Services to families will continue post COVID-19. We will focus on the implementation of parenting skills, family preservation, family reunification, marriage preparation and enrichment programmes.
Advocacy campaigns will continue through the commemoration of the International Day for Families, National Marriage Week, International Men’s Day and Men’s Month.
The Department will also implement the fatherhood programme and Men Care Plus Programme as part of the boys’ development programme. The Department will participate in the implementation of the Social Cohesion and Moral Regeneration Strategy.
4.2 Child Care and Protection Services (R 486,876 million)
As mandated by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and Children’s Act 38 of 2005, our Department has a responsibility to lead child care and protection inter-sectoral endeavours.
In line with this responsibility, we have improved the functionality of the Provincial Inter-Sectoral Child Care and Protection Forum, which monitors the implementation of the KwaZulu-Natal 365 Days Child Protection Plan.
At least 1 069 children received psycho-social support services in line with the Protocol for Management of Child Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (CANE). Following the National Department launch of the Child Protection Week 2020 using the virtual media platforms, we will be having a provincial launch soon.
This year, the Child Protection Week is commemorated under the theme “Let Us All Protect Children, During Covid- 19 and Beyond”.
The focus of 2020 Child Protection Week is on: “Child protection awareness focusing on the promotion and protection of the rights of children within the constraints of the lockdown, creating awareness on the safety nets for children, linking families and communities to available support services for better protection of children”.
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In this financial year, we will coordinate the review of the KwaZulu-Natal 365 Days Child Protection Plan and monitor implementation thereof. We will also strengthen the partnership with Department of Education to ensure clearance of educators in terms of Part B of the National Child Protection Register (CPR) and other relevant stakeholders as well as capacitating them on the Protocol for the Management of Child Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation.
The Department rendered psycho-social support services to 3 025 children in alternative care placement for the matric class of 2019 to ensure best performance in their year-end results.
We attained 63 percent in respect of performance of these children and the 60 Top Achievers in three categories, children in foster care, children in Child and Youth Care Centres and children who were beneficiaries of Child Support Grant.
On the 7th of March 2020, we celebrated the top achievers together with the national Minister Honourable Lindiwe Zulu. Honourable members, this financial year, our special focus will be on developing strategies to ensure effective implementation of the North Gauteng High Court Order Interim Regime issued on 26 November 2019.
We will appoint service providers to conduct physical verification of all children in foster care for purposes of mitigating fraudulent activities on foster care services.
4.3 Early Childhood Development and Partial Care (R 708,820 million)
Our efforts to improve the education system include expanding quality ECD services. We provided access to ECD services to a total of 128 992 children within 3 102 registered ECD centres. We also continued with the implementation of Mobile ECD Programme at KwaMaphumulo and Ndwedwe Local Municipalities within ILembe District.
We will continue rolling-out the implementation of Mobile ECD Programme within UMkhanyakude and Ugu Districts targeting areas without ECD Centres to accelerate access to quality ECD Services.
In 2019, we officially opened Qwabe Masifunde ECD Centre in KwaMaphumulo and Siyamukela ECD Centre in Impendle, which was built in partnership with the National Lotteries Commission.
We will continue to provide subsidies to cater for administrative costs of running ECD centres and payments for the ECD staff during the lockdown. The General Household Survey of 2018 indicates that 24, 9 percent of children between the ages of 0 and 4 are attending ECD facilities in KwaZulu-Natal.
To this end, we will strengthen implementation of the Non-Centre Based ECD Programmes targeting farm communities and deep rural areas where children do not have access to ECD services.
We will fund additional 414 ECD centres through the implementation of the ECD Conditional Grant Subsidy and an additional 12 480 children will be subsidized through this grant.
A total of 35 ECD Centres will benefit from the ECD Grant Infrastructure Support for improvement on compliance to norms and standards for registration as Partial Care Facilities.
Furthermore, we will be launching Vangasali Campaign in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation to ensure that there are no ECD centres that are not registered with the Department.
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4.4 Alternative Care / Child and Youth Care Centres (R 241,037 million)
We have provided residential care programmes and services to 3 300 children in the designated 74 Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs) managed by both state and NPOs in the province. In addition, we have recommended 103 children for adoption and updated the Provincial Adoption Register.
We have continued to monitor children in alternative care placements, including family reunification services and compliance with statutory requirements.
The Department will also strengthen strategies to ensure effective implementation of the NAWONGO High Court Judgement and High Court Order on Children with severe and/or profound behaviour disorders in partnership with Departments of Education and Health.
4.5 Community Based Care and Support Services for Children (R 124, 201 million)
We expanded the Community Based Prevention and Early Intervention (CBPEI) programme, reaching 14 833 Orphaned and Vulnerable Children and Youth (OVCY). We also trained Child and Youth Care Workers in order to expand and improve community based care and support to Orphaned and Vulnerable Children and Youth.
We further established 18 Safe Parks, which are secure spaces for children to go to after school and on the weekends where they can do their homework, play sport and engage in learning activities under the supervision of Child and Youth Care Workers.
The Community Based Prevention and Early Intervention costing model was also developed. In mitigating the effects of the national lockdown on the children living in the streets, we partnered with municipalities in the identification of shelters and the provision of meals as well as intervention programmes.
PROGRAME 4: RESTORATIVE SERVICES
Honourable Members, Restorative Services plays a crucial role in the fight against social ills. Our restorative services programmes are rendered through the implementation of social crime prevention and support programmes, victim empowerment programmes and substance abuse, prevention and rehabilitation programmes.
The Department remains committed to the plight of homeless people in the Province. In response to this, the Department will coordinate the development of the Inter-Sectoral Plan to address the growing number of homeless people. Our focus will be on rehabilitation, re-integration and skills development services to improve the social well- being of homeless people and their ability to be resilient and independent.
In the 2019/20 financial year, this programme had a budget allocation of R 384 845 million, and for the 2020/21 financial year a budget allocation of R 405 025 million has been set aside for this programme. The budget for the sub- programmes under this programme is as follows:
5.1 Crime Prevention and Support (R 149,217 million)
We intensified the implementation of the Integrated Social Crime Prevention Strategy (ISCPS) in targeted hotspot areas of Amajuba, uMzinyathi, uThukela, King Cetshwayo, Zululand and uMkhanyakude Districts.
We also trained various stakeholders on the Child Justice Act, the Approved Reportable Incidences Policy and the Anti-Gang Strategy.
We will prioritise the facilitation of the Integrated Social Crime Prevention strategy in hotspot areas spread across all districts that have the highest crime rates.
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Priority will be on capacity building of staff to improve the quality of service delivery and ensure uniformity and standardisation. Programmes targeting social behaviour change, such as Rhythm of Life, Wake Up Call, Mind The Gap and Reverse Your Thinking, will be strengthened.
The Department will continue to manage four (4) Secure Care Centres across the province accommodating children in conflict with the law as well as the provision of diversion programmes.
5.2 Victim Empowerment Programme (R 89, 005 million)
Honourable members, Various measures have been implemented to fight Gender-Based Violence (GBV) through the intensification of prevention and awareness programmes, ensuring adequate care, support and healing for victims in all districts and the implementation of economic empowerment opportunities for women.
In partnership with other Departments, we developed the multi-disciplinary Provincial Programme of Action Against the Abuse of Women and Children, and we are monitoring its implementation.
The Department appointed 183 Social Workers to strengthen the capacity to deal with GBV. We will strengthen the functioning of the Departmental call centre through capacity building of social workers on call.
As you have noted, this year in March, our Honourable Premier, Mr. Sihle Zikalala launched the Social Workers’ Programme on Gender-Based Violence in Durban.
As we continue to fight the scourge of GBV, White Door Centres of Hope have been increased from 22 to 29. These are localised reception centres that serve as short term facility where victims of violence and crime can access while waiting for professional services.
Three fully functional play therapy rooms were established at temporary safe care facilities in eThekwini Metro, uMgungundlovu and King Cetshwayo Districts, with 26 social workers being trained on play therapy.
In addition, the Department funded two shelters for men in distress in Durban and Pietermaritzburg. As part of responding to the Provincial Multi-Disciplinary Programme of Action on violence against women and children, the Department will sustain the expansion of the GBV Project with focus on psycho-social support services, prevention, education and awareness programmes.
We will also link the GBV victims to economic opportunities in culinary, hair and beauty, and sewing skills. This is part of our efforts to create enabling conditions for income-generation thus reducing reliance on government.
5.3 Substance Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation (R 93,538 million)
Substance abuse continues to ravage our families and communities, particularly the youth. We implemented advocacy and Ke Moja prevention programmes to raise awareness about substance abuse. This included the Anti-Pens Down campaign launched in KwaMashu Fan Park targeting learners.
We also provided treatment services through two state-owned treatment centres, namely Madadeni Rehabilitation Centre and Newlands Park Centre, as well as three NPO managed treatment centres and two half way houses. Capacity Development of officials and stakeholders were conducted on Ke-Moja programme.
The Department commemorated the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26 June 2019, and during the commemoration we also intensified the outreach on substance abuse through media campaigns, radio broadcasts and newspaper articles.
Furthermore, joint liquor operations were held with the Department of Trade and Industry and KZN Liquor Authority in Durban.
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In the 2020/21 financial year, we will ensure that Anti-Substance Abuse Forums are functional at all levels. This will include resuscitating the Provincial Anti-Substance Abuse Forum, supporting districts to strengthen the functionality of the District Anti-Substance Abuse Forums and the Local Anti-Substance Abuse Forums. We will also ensure that substance abuse issues are driven through Operation Sukuma Sakhe (OSS) structures.
In addition, prevention and awareness programmes will be intensified, including the Ke Moja, Grow, Colombo and Time anti-substance abuse programmes, with focus on institutions of higher learning and the Anti-Pens Down Campaign. We will improve treatment services at Madadeni Rehabilitation Centre, Khanyani Rehabilitation Centre and Newlands Park Centre to ensure that more people complete the treatment programmes.
We will also commence with the establishment of two in-patient treatment centres in the Ugu and Ilembe Districts within the Umuziwabantu and Mandeni Local Municipalities.
PROGRAMME 5: DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH
Ladies and gentlemen, the key focus of the Department is to accelerate the transition from social welfare to social development. To succeed in this endeavour, the Development and Research Programme needs to be strengthened in order to address developmental challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
This programme includes Community Mobilization, Community Based Research and Planning, Institutional Capacity Building and Support for NPOs, Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Youth Development, Women Development and Population Policy Promotion.
During the 2019/20 financial year the programme had a budget allocation of R 242 813 million, and for the 2020/21 financial year the budget allocation is R 271 021 million.
6.1 Community Mobilization (R 2,390 million)
A successful community development model is where communities play an active part in their own development.
We have implemented community mobilisation programmes in all districts, using the Community Mobilisation Framework, which provides the basis for regulation and standardisation of community development practice.
It further ensures that systems of co-ordination and implementation of integrated government programmes for communities are realised, with communities participating and taking charge of their own development.
The Department will use the poverty matrix based on household profiling of all District Municipalities to design and implement intervention programmes.
There will be collaboration with other government departments, local government and civil society to broaden the response packages to needs emerging from the analysis of household profiles in line with RASET.
More partnerships will be forged with municipalities in order to develop and implement community-based plans in an integrated manner.
6.2 Institutional Capacity Building and Support (R 15,402 million)
The NPO Sector is one of the key strategic partners of the Department. We have appointed service providers to conduct capacity building of NPOs on interventions such as financial management, project management, resource mobilisation, conflict management, minute writing and holding of meetings, leadership development, committee skills, productivity, health and safety.
We also strengthened NPO help-desks at district level as a mechanism to bring services closer to the people. We facilitated registration of NPOs in line with the NPO Act and 2 143 NPO registration certificates were issued.
We will continue to facilitate the registration and capacity building of NPOs to ensure compliance with the NPO Act, including the implementation of the incubation programme at our Incubation Centre in Illovu. 11 “Growing KwaZulu-Natal Together”
The incubation programme provides a platform for sustainability of organisations over a longer period by ensuring that correct fundamentals, such as knowledge and skills, are in place.
Furthermore, NPO roadshows will be held to promote access to services, such as registration of organisations, submitting compliance reports and resolving any NPO related matters in communities.
The Department will also undertake initiatives, such as the roll-out of the NPO monitoring and evaluation system per typology, as well as piloting the ICT enabled NPO management system.
6.3 Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Livelihoods (R 19,195 million)
Our Department is at the forefront in the fight against poverty and inequality. We provided access to nutritious food to 96 670 beneficiaries, through the centre-based feeding programme.
This included the provision of nutritious food to beneficiaries through Community Nutrition Development Centres (CNDCs), linking them with sustainable initiatives such as EPWP work opportunities and skills development through TVET colleges.
The coronavirus outbreak has created massive poverty and hunger in our communities. Thus the CNDC programme is at the centre of our efforts to deal with hunger and malnutrition. We will include linking CNDC beneficiaries to sustainable initiatives such as EPWP, RASET and vocational skills development.
The exit opportunities for the CNDC beneficiaries will be clearly defined to align with local economic drivers. We will increase the number of CNDCs to address rural, farm and urban poverty to cover all the local municipalities in addressing the skewed distribution of the CNDCs.
Partnerships with other government departments will be forged for the sustainability of the exit programmes for beneficiaries. All these initiatives will be anchored by the organizational restructuring to give more emphasis to developmental programmes to wean beneficiaries from state dependency.
6.4 Community-Based Research and Planning (R 978 thousand)
The profiling of households and communities assists in identifying the needs and opportunities for sustainable socio- economic development. We profiled 598 households, 226 communities, and played a crucial role in the development of community-based plans across all districts. We also developed a poverty index using household profiles, and intervention plans were formulated for profiled households.
We will collaborate with different research institutions to create a knowledge base that will inform the planning and interventions that will drive poverty eradication initiatives in the province. More partnerships will be forged with municipalities in order to develop and implement community-based plans in an integrated manner.
6.5 Youth Development (R 53,361 million)
The Department provided various life and vocational skills to youth in funded NPOs, youth development centres and youth development academies.
The skills development programme saw 400 unemployed young people completing their learnership programmes in Cleaning and Hygiene, Beauty and Care as well as Administration and Management that were enrolled in a Services SETA learnership programme.
The Department will, on an ongoing basis, implement integrated youth development programmes in its Youth Development Centres and Academies, as well as finalise the DSD Youth Development Exit Strategy which entails facilitating opportunities for youth who have completed accredited training through youth academies, youth development centres and learnerships.
Furthermore, the Department will facilitate the construction of the eDumbe Skills Centre and the finalisation of the Ray Nkonyeni Youth Development Academy, which will provide accredited training for youth. 12 “Growing KwaZulu-Natal Together”
Further partnerships with other SETAs and state entities will be established to provide more opportunities for the young people of KwaZulu-Natal.
6.6 Women Development (R 12, 000 million)
Honourable members We piloted an innovative women development project in Harry Gwala District.
During the pilot a lot of lessons were learnt about the programme. The coronavirus outbreak has also provided additional insights into the deep-seated nature of deprivation, unemployment, poverty and inequality among women in the province.
As we roll-out the women development programmes during the 2020/21 financial year, more focus will be on life and vocations skills development, provision of support to start income generating projects, strengthening partnerships with other government departments, municipalities and facilitating links with sustainable markets.
The focus will be on textile, hospitality, fresh produce, toilet paper production and bakeries. Women in informal economy and farming communities will be provided with support, including socio-economic empowerment.
The Department funded four flagship projects focused on vegetable production, bakeries and hospitality in the uMgungundlovu, iLembe, uMkhanyakude and uThukela Districts, to support proactive innovative initiatives and thereby improve the quality of life of women. Furthermore, 200 women dialogues were conducted in four districts to promote self-empowerment and enhancement of leadership capacity within communities.
Special focus will be on the conceptualisation of the girl-child and young women empowerment programmes to address gender inequalities accelerate socio-economic participation and mitigate GBV.
The Department will re-invest in identified flagship projects that were previously funded. To support this initiative, the Department will collaborate with the Independent Development Trust (IDT) for additional expertise and improved productivity.
6.7 Population Policy Promotion (R 4,710 million)
There is no other time more opportune to relook at the development of the population of the province than now. The coronavirus pandemic has brought into sharp focus the different population development needs of the province.
In 2019/20 the Department continued to finalize the two research projects on population policy evaluation and the psychology of the sex offender.
The demographic profiles from all districts were analysed and compiled to inform planning and targeting for the Department.
Capacity building of municipalities and stakeholders on Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and other population indicators was successfully conducted, with special emphasis on the demographic dividend. This will be an ongoing exercise to ensure that population and development issues are incorporated in policy and planning.
In an effort to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus on the population of KwaZulu-Natal, more research projects on:
. the situational analysis of people living in the streets, . the identification of factors leading to elderly abuse, . factors contributing to gender-based violence, . measures to reduce poverty in the province, . situational analysis of young people borne with HIV, and . strategies to improve livelihoods of disabled people, will be undertaken.
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Demographic profiles from all districts will continue to be compiled and analysed to inform planning and targeting for the Department. Capacity building of municipalities and stakeholders on IDPs and other population indicators will be continued to ensure that population and development issues are incorporated in policy and planning.
We will continue to promote the implementation of Population Policy through partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
BUDGET FOR 2020/21
Ladies and gentlemen, a total allocation of R 3 836 327 billion is requested by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development for the 2020/21 financial year.
The amount proposed for allocation is divided into five programmes, which is inclusive of Compensation of Employees; Goods and Services; Transfers and Subsidies and Capital Assets, and is presented below as follows:
PROGRAMMES BUDGET ALLOCATION FOR FY 2020/21 PROGRAMMES MAIN APPROPRIATION 2019/20 2020/21 Programme 1 Administration R 549 550 R585 600
Programme 2 Social Welfare Services R 798 891 R823 900
Programme 3 Children and Families R 1 543 044 R1 750 781
Programme 4 Restorative Services R 384 845 R405 025
Programme 5 Development & Research R 242 813 R271 021
TOTAL R 3 519 143 R3 836 327
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