Amathunzi Ayewukela Pdf

[Torie Crivello]

SocialDevelopment has implemented its mandate through its three key areas of social security, welfare services and integrated development.

In executing the social security task, we increased access to social assistance, further developed policy proposals for a social insurance system and supported efforts to draft improved regulatory proposals of oversight of private pension funds.

The scope of our welfare services grew at an unprecedented rate as we again brought support to children at risk, supported many women in achieving their emancipation from oppressive conditions, brought hope and meaning to youth in despair, empowered many people living with disabilities, sustained vulnerable older persons, and many more.

Our integrated development programmes of community development has removed the impediments for multitudes to engage in sustainable livelihoods; significantly increased access to public works programmes to find the dignity that comes with work, supported people living with HIV and AIDS to enjoy life more fully, and more. It is to these challenges that we will continue to devote our attention, to make progress and bring hope, sparing no measure of effort in executing our mandate. Re bolela se ntle lego tšhoga, gore ditekanyetšo tšeo palamente ye ere abetšego tšona ngwageng wa go feta wa ditšhelete, re e somisitše gabotse.

Re sa tšwela pele go hlokomela badidi, gomme retlo tšwela pele go dira jwalo ka gobane mošomo o sale o montši, le leeto la rena e sale le le telele. Re ikemišeditše, gomme re le holofetša gore reka se nyefiše go tšwela pele go thuša ba dikobo di magetleng.

Many millions of our people eke out a living as they are preoccupied solely with survival. Over 5.2 million South Africans are jobless. For many, when work is available, pay is low and conditions often barely tolerable. Social security such as unemployment insurance, retirement savings, sickness or death of a wage earner remains elusive.

Permanent insecurity is the condition of the poor. Flood, drought or disease affecting people or livestock can destroy livelihoods. These vulnerabilities are exacerbated by the environmental factors such as climate change and global warming.

Persons with disabilities constitute the most vulnerable section of our society as disability is linked to poverty, the elderly face abuse, over and over again, and that by members of their own households. In the midst of such despair the poor turn on themselves in violent ruptures, and social convulsions. Women and children often suffer the brunt of such paroxysms and their ability to make choices is extremely limited. Choices about sexual orientation, resource allocation and reproduction often lead to women being lampooned and lambasted. The youth turn to gangsterism, abuse drugs and other conducts of self destruction in their sense of hopelessness.

Our programme is based on clear objectives and achievable plans. It proposes:

* continued democratisation of our society based on equality, non-racialism and non-sexism

* National unity in diversity which is the source of our strength

* Building on the achievements and the experience since 1994

* An equitable, sustainable, and inclusive growth path that brings decent work and sustainable livelihoods; education; health; safe and secure communities; and rural development

* Targeted programmes for the youth, women, workers, rural masses, and people with disabilities.

We made these commitments, we promised to deliver them, and budget vote 18 contributes to their realisation. These commitments flow from the tenets of the Freedom Charter of the ANC, and they are encoded in the Constitution: whose main drafter is the ANC.

Provision of social grants makes up the largest portion of the budget, approximately 93 per cent (R89.4) in the current financial year. The other major transfers include R5.6 billion to the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to administer the grant system and R87.2 million to the National Development Agency (NDA) to strengthen civil society organisations and support development initiatives in rural areas. A further R226 million goes towards social work scholarships and R43.4 million to Love Life to implement HIV and AIDS prevention programmes.

The first pillar, the social assistance programme already covers just over 14 million South Africans. And true to our Manifesto promise, we have extended the child support grant to all children born on or after 31 December 1993; all those born in the year of our democracy. The extension of the child support grant will be phased-in to cover over 2.1 million eligible children under the age of 18 years by 2011/12.

Leakage in the social assistance programme is an affront: We will uproot fraud, eradicate corruption and will spare no effort to bring to justice those who compromise the integrity of the grants system. We have scrutinised hundreds of thousands of dormant bank accounts of beneficiaries to assess their eligibility. We will make an announcement on the outcome in due course; suffice it to say we will save hundreds of millions of rands.

Chairperson, reviewing the payment system is no easy task. The public demands a system that is transparent and where the costs of providing such a key service are reduced. As government we are obliged to source cost effective and perhaps more developmental means of providing these services.

We regret that so many have waited so long for their appeals to be dealt with, especially those applicants in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape. We will prioritise their plight. We say: Thokolathemba amathunzi ayewukela ukulungisa lesosimo umyango usungule uphiko oluzimele ukubhekana ngqo nalezozicelo zezibonelelo ezazingaphumelelanga. Kuyintokozo ukunazisa ukuthi kunesamba esingangezigidi ezingamakhulu ayisikhombisa nanye

(171 million) sesibekelwe loluphiko ukuze lukwazi ukubhekana nalengqinamba ezwenilonke.

The second pillar of our social security system is Social Insurance.

While social assistance aims to alleviate poverty, the goal of social insurance is to prevent poverty. Regrettably, too many previously employed people in South Africa fall into poverty because: we do not have a mandatory retirement system, millions of workers do not insure against disability and, yet millions more breadwinners, do not save to ensure that their surviving dependents have income in the event of death. Many employed people are also not covered for unemployment insurance and the system for compensation for work related injuries is fragmented. Consequently, millions of former employees become dependent on the social assistance system.

The key social security reforms relate to setting up a mandatory system of social insurance, especially a retirement system, with disability provisions and benefits for surviving dependents in the event of the death of the breadwinner.

The Minister of Finance will provide detail on the reform of the private pension funds. But I dare say, we will take on the big insurance companies and the bureaucracies to bring down the costs of retirement and healthcare savings, to remove the opacity of products, to improve governance of funds, ensure trustees exercise their fiduciary duties, etc.

A business case to reform the institutional arrangements for social security has also been completed. The aim is to integrate social security policy development to ensure coherence, and consolidate service delivery of the various social security benefits to achieve economies of scale and make service provisions seamless.

We view our participation in the International Social Security Association (ISSA) activities as important, particularly as we embark on the process of developing the comprehensive social security system. We will, in the course of the current financial year host the 30th ISSA General Assembly and the World Social Security Forum from 29 November to 4 December 2010. Key amongst others, the conference will discuss issues pertinent to our own social security system such as the extension of social security coverage.

Chairperson, just as these pieces of legislation are the product of a remarkable partnership between government and civil society, the effective implementation thereof will require a continuation of that partnership, at all levels, to achieve the objects of the acts.

The Child Justice Act also came into operation on 1 April this year. This landmark piece of legislation is designed to provide our country with a twin-track child welfare and justice approach which focuses on prevention, early intervention, diversion from crime and rehabilitation of children in conflict with the law. The Deputy Minister will provide more specific details on our state of readiness to implement the new provisions; our interventions to support vulnerable children, people with disabilities and older persons, and on the growing phenomena of substance abuse and human trafficking.

Non profit organisations (NPOs) have a major role to play in identifying, developing and implementing programmes and projects that promote genuine social development. In this respect we have made an additional allocation of R17 million over the MTEF period to strengthen the capacity and efficiency of the NPO registration unit, including the recruitment of additional personnel.

We must channel the energy and enthusiasm of young people in a more constructive manner. To this extent government initiated a number of interventions. One worth mentioning one is the Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme in collaboration with our Cuban counterparts. Collaborating and replicating the Cuban experience we want to make the youth active agents of change in communities. So far we have recruited 2 099 young pioneers and 120 mentors, making significant progress in our youth interventions.

The HIV and AIDS epidemic remains an immense challenge. We will, as we must, double our efforts with respect to tackling its further spread and reduce its socio-economic impact. Guided by the national strategic plan for HIV and AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (2007 to 2011) we will work harder to contribute to the national goal of halving new HIV infections, particularly among young people in vulnerable communities including the farm areas. For this purpose, we have increased the allocation to Love Life to complement ongoing interventions.

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