Question NW501 to the Minister of Social Development
28 March 2023 - NW501
van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Social Development
(1)What options has she explored in order to channel more funding into subsidies for non-profit organisations that are providing essential services, in particular to vulnerable and at-risk children; (2) whether she has found that it will be possible to reallocate funding when there has been underspending on provincial budgets of the departments of social development; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details in this regard?
Reply:
1. The Department is mandated through various legislative and policy frameworks to deliver services in line with set strategic priorities in partnership with NPOs where the capacity of the state is inadequate to provide such essential services to vulnerable and at-risk children.
This mandate is guided by section 38 (1) (j) and (k) of the Public Finance Management Act (Act No. 1 of 1999 as amended by Act 29 of 1999).
Funding for children constitutes 33% of the total budget of R5.804 billion of the NPO transfer budget in comparison to other programmes. In relation to more funding into subsidies for non-profit organisations (NPOs); it is important to note that given the current fiscus constraints, there is limited room to manoeuvre to channel more funding as there are no additional allocations.
However, the Department is cognisant that until such time that the services can be fully funded according to cost and levels of demand, the Department has to explore other ways towards progressive realization of the needs of most-vulnerable.
To that effect, the Department is developing a Prioritization Framework which is proposing the ranking of services according to their level of priority. The ranking will assist to guide the provinces as and when there is additional funding available - to allocate such funding accordingly as per the Prioritised List of Services.
Secondly, the Department is currently developing a guideline that will assist the provinces to motivate for budget submissions as and when such a call is made by the National or Provincial Treasuries. On that basis, there are engagements with Treasuries to ascertain their expectations and to gage the kind of information that is required in preparing a comprehensive and well-documented Budget Submission. This guideline will be a toolkit for reference when such opportunities arise for a call for submissions, that the provinces are fully aware of the nature of information to submit.
2. The PFMA Section 43(1)(4) allows for departments to shift savings from their operational budget to transfer payments subject to National Treasury approval.