Question NW909 to the Minister of Social Development
14 April 2023 - NW909
Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Social Development
With regard to her department’s consultation workshop which took place in June 2022, to discuss regulations for the Victim Support Services Bill, (a) what criteria were used to invite the participants, (b) what are the names of the organisations that attended the specified workshop, (c) which provinces were represented and (d) what was the purpose of the consultation workshop?
Reply:
a) The provincial DSD Heads of Departments in all nine provinces were sent invitation letters to participate in the Development of the Victim Support Services Regulations Workshop. Furthermore, as part of the criteria, the Department invited stakeholders from the Justice Crime Prevention Security (JCPS) cluster, the Social Protection Community and Human Development (SPCHD) cluster, and the National Civil Society Organisation operating in the Sector;
b) The DSD is in possession of the names of persons who participated in the consultations on the development of the Draft Victim Support Services (VSS) Regulations however, (i) all the departmental consultation workshops must comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Hence names of persons who were in attendance cannot be shared, (ii) National Organisations that were in attendance from Civil Society were Child Line South Africa, National Shelter Movement and National Institute Community Development and Management (NICDAM). The Government Departments were, National Prosecution Authority (NPA) and the South African Police Services (SAPS).
c) Below are Provincial DSD teams who were in attendance:
- Gauteng
- North West
- Free State
- Eastern Cape
- Western Cape
- Northern Cape
- Mpumalanga
The Free State and Limpopo Province could not attend or even connect virtually. (Most of the provinces joined the session virtually via the zoom platform).
d) The purpose of consultation workshop was the development of the Draft VSS Regulations. This is an ongoing process pending the finalization of the VSS Bill. The Draft VSS Regulations document is in place for further consultations and the second round of the consultation workshops will extend to Provincial CSOs and Local CSOs in the next financial year, 2023/24.