Question NW1796 to the Minister of Social Development

Reply:

a) Amounts unspent for the 2021/22 financial year

(i) National Department of Social Development.

The underspending relates to the social assistance grants (Old ages and Child Support Grants) for which less than expected beneficiaries have applied and being paid during the financial year.

The table below illustrates the preliminary underspending per programme:

Programme	Final Approp R’000	Prelim Exp Mar 2022 R’000	Prelim Deviation R’000
Administration	474 797	472 269	2 528
Social Assistance	224 542 226	222 717 897	1 824 329
Social Security Policy and Admin	8 072 401	8 052 807	19 594
Welfare Services Policy Development and Implementation Support	1 516 316	1 505 208	11 108
Social Policy and Integrated Service Delivery	366 378	360 751	5 627
Grand Total	234 972 118	233 108 932	1 863 186

b) The above under-spending had no impact on Social Welfare Services, all organisations approved for funding were allocated funds accordingly

(ii) Provincial Departments of Social Development.

• Eastern Cape

(a) See the link: https://pmg.org.za/files/1/Eastern_Cape.pdf

b) The impact of underspending on Social welfare Services affected the following:

• Service Centres- the maximum number of beneficiaries were kept at 20 for all the centres.
• Services to Persons with Disabilities- The funding for Sakhingomso in OR Tambo and CBR in Joe Gqabi will was not funded.
• Social Relief of distress- less number of students will benefited from the uniform purchased from this funding.
• Reduction of awareness programmes on prevention of GBV and Femicide (both physical and through media).
• Reduced monitoring of services and programmes.
• Reduced funding to NPOs affecting the number of caregivers and the increment in line with Ministerial Determination.
• Reduced admin funds for funded posts in NPOs.
• Reduced number of Everyday Heroes Ambassadors.
• Funds for prevention programmes were affected in funded NPOs as only stipend will be afforded.
• No expansion of services to underfunded or hot spot areas.
• No funds for capacity building of caregivers

• Free State

a) The Final adjusted budget for the 2021/22 financial year amounted to R1 533 739 000 of which R1 507 969 682.66 was spent. An unspent balance of R25 769 317.34 remained.

The under expenditure realised within the department was mostly due to the ECD Conditional Grant allocated within Programme 3. Remaining funds in respect of the maintenance portion as well as the ECD Stimulus Relief Fund were requested for rollover.

• Gauteng

(a)

Gauteng Department of Social Development underspent the allocated budget for the 2021/22 financial year by R122,991 million.

The table below illustrates areas of underspending per standard item for the Gauteng Department of Social Development.

Economic classification	Final Approp R’000	Expenditure R’000	Variance R’000	% Spent
Compensation of employees	2 050 901	2 028 216	22 685	99%
Goods and services	1 162 709	1 129 995	32 714	97%
Provincial and local governments	2 362	2 362	-	100%
Departmental agencies & accounts	1 969	1 969	-	100%
Non-profit institutions (npi)	2 783 547	2 717 156	66 391	98%
Households (hh)	13 311	13 311	-	100%
Buildings & other fix struct	94 281	93 080	1 201	99%
Machinery and equipment	38 836	38 836	-	100%
Payments for financial asset	641	641	-	100%
Grand total	6 148 557	6 025 566	122 991	98%

• Compensation of Employee - 99%

Additional funds received in the 2021/22 adjustment budget period to appoint Social Workers on a four-month contract was not spent in full.

• Goods and Services - 97%

The underspending in this category is mainly on dignity packs due to late finalisation of specifications. In addition, the allocation received for the maintenance of ECD centres was not spent in full as some of the facilities identified for renovation were found to be closed and no longer in operation.

• Non-Profit -Institutions - 98%

The allocated budget for ECD Employment Stimulus Relief Fund was not spent in full due to rejections caused by unverified bank accounts, ECD Centres registered as Companies, Partnerships, and other forms of businesses other than Non-Profit Organisations.

• Building & Other Fixed Structure - 99%

The infrastructure budget was underspent by 1% due to delays in completion of some projects.

The Gauteng Department of Social Department applied for the roll-over of unspent funds for ECD Employment Stimulus Relief Fund amounting to R 63,049. This amount will be used to fund commitments not paid by the 2021/22 financial year. The balance of R59,942 million not spent will be surrendered to the Provincial Revenue Funds after the audit process is finalised.

b) The welfare programme affected by the underspending is the delivery of dignity packs as the target for the 2021/22 financial year was not achieved by the end of the financial year.

-KwaZulu Natal

a) A total of R82, 255 million was unspent in the financial year 2022/2023 in respect of Early Child Development (ECD) grant.

(ii) An amount of R78,781 million is in respect of the Presidential Stimulus Package.

An amount of R1, 340 million is in respect of ECD subsidy expansion. The cause for not spending the funds is that the ECD centres who had been identified for funding were found to be non-functional. Other ECD centres were found to have previously mismanagement funds and as a result funding was stopped.

An amount of R2, 134 million is the balance of the rollover amount in respect of ECD maintenance funds that were repurposed for procurement of PPPE`s for unfunded ECDs

b) The equitable share allocation was overspent by R26 105 million.

• Limpopo

a) The department surrendered R74,255,121 to National Treasury for 2021/22 financial year as detailed below:

-Mpumalanga

a) Unspent funds for the period ended 31 March 2022 amount to R53.068 million.

The underspending largely relates to conditional grant funding of Early Childhood Development (ECD) stimulus package which is attributed to payment rejections due to challenges of bank account of beneficiary ECD centres.

Application to request roll-over of unspent funds has been submitted to the Provincial Treasury to fund these commitments in 2022/23 financial year

(b) The under spending did not affect budget availability on any welfare programmes.

• Northern Cape

(a)

• Compensation – R 12,213 million

The saving in the compensation budget is due to vacant positions. The Department applied for a roll-over of R4,6 million for the appointment of Social Work leaners. Furthermore, the Department advertised vacant Social Workers and Community Development Workers positions in April 2022.

• Goods and Services – R 8,978 million

The savings under goods and services was due to late implementation of some of the programmes due to Covid-19. As a result, the Department has accruals of R6,191 million. The Department will engage Provincial Treasury for possible roll-over to cover the accruals in the new financial year.

• Transfers and Subsidies – R 12,765 million

The savings was primarily due to a decrease in the number of children at the children’s homes and reduction in the number of compliant ECDs.

• Capital Expenditure – R R8,877 million

The Department applied for a roll-over of R6,9 million for the completion of infrastructure projects. Due to Covid-19, the delivery of computer equipment was delayed resulting in a saving.

• Conditional Grant

ECD Administration allocation – R 1,414 million

The Department had a saving due to two vacant positions of a project manager and an administrative clerk.

• Transfers and Subsidies – R 10 460

The saving is made up of the under-spending on the Presidential Stimulus package and ECD subsidies.

b) The above under-spending had no impact on Social Welfare Services, all organisations approved for funding were allocated funds accordingly.

-North West

(a)(i) The NW DSD returned R142,1 million

(ii) The breakdown is as follows

Programme	Budget	Expenditure at 31 March 2022	Available Budget
Administration	221 189 000	216 498 784	4 690 216
Social Welfare Services	563 466 000	540 037 020	23 428 980
Children and Families	541 538 000	464 876 952	76 661 049
Restorative Services	311 266 000	285 745 503	25 520 497
Development and Research	190 138 000	178 242 933	11 895 067
Grand Total	1 827 597 000	1 685 401 191	142 195 809

b) The underspending affected the programs negatively due to accruals relating to goods and services to be paid in the current financial year, over and above the budget reduction implemented during the 2021 MTEF period

• Western Cape

a) The Western Cape DSD have spent R2,705 billion of the R2,726 billion adjusted budget that translates to 99.25% spent. This means an amount of R20.388 million was unspent.

The underspending relates to the following:

• • Procurement of specialized vehicles for the transport of children with intellectual disabilities (R6.290 million).

In terms of the procurement of the vehicles, the delivery of the vehicles did not take place by 31 March 2022. It is expected that the adapted vehicles will be delivered by GMT (Government Motor Transport) within the 2022/23 financial year.

• • Sanitary Dignity Project (R1.549 million).

The reason for the underspending in 2021/22 was due to the service provider informing the Department on 9th March 2022 that the delivery scheduled for March 2022 could not be completed due to the impact of load shedding and the non-availability of packaging. On 31 March 2022 the Department approved a 60-day extension ending 31st May 2022 for the delivery of the outstanding stock.

• • ECD National Conditional Grant and Partial Care (R10.306 million)

The department realised a saving of R10.306 million on the ECD CG. The reason for the unspent funds were that no new unregistered ECD centres applied for funding and thus no applications were received.

• • ECD Equitable Share (R2.243 million)

The department realised a saving on R2.243 million on the ECD Equitable Share. The reason for the unspent funds were due to fewer than anticipated unregistered ECD centres applied for funding and thus no applications were received.