Hansard: NCOP: Unrevised hansard
House: National Council of Provinces
Date of Meeting: 14 Jun 2022
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
TUESDAY, 14 JUNE 2022
Watch: Plenary
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
____
The Council met at 14:01.
The CHAIRPESON OF THE NCOP: The Chairperson took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
ANNOUNCEMENT
The CHAIRPESON OF THE NCOP: Hon delegates, before we proceed, I would like to remind you that the virtual siting constitutes a meeting of the NCOP, that the place of the sitting is deemed to be Cape Town where the seat of the NCOP is. Delegates in the virtual sitting enjoy the same powers and privileges that apply in a sitting of the NCOP. For the purpose of a quorum all delegates who are logged on to the virtual platform shall be considered present. Delegates must switch on their videos if they want to speak and ensure that the microphones on their gadgets are muted and must always
remain muted. Interpretation facilities are active. Permanent delegates, members of the executive, special delegates and Salga representatives are requested to ensure that the interpretation facilities on their gadgets are properly activated to facilitate access to interpretation services. Any delegate who wishes to speak must use the raise your hand function or icon, any delegate who wishes to raise a point of order should in accordance with rule 69 (3) indicate in terms of which rule he or she is rising on. I have also been informed that there will be no Notices of Motions or Motions without Notice. We will then proceed but as we do so, allow me to take this opportunity to welcome the Minister and Deputy Minister of Basic Education, the Minister and Deputy Minister of Social Development, MECs, all permanent and special delegates to the House.
Hon delegates, we will now proceed to the First Order.
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES - PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE’S RIGHTS ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN AFRICA, IN TERMS OF SEC 231(2) OF THE CONSTITUTION, 1996, DATED 22 MARCH 2022
Ms M N GILLION: Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip, House Chairpersons hon members and people of South Africa, I greet you warmly from the cold and raining Cape Town. Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person, from birth to death. The South African Constitution provides us with the Bill of Rights, which is a cornerstone of democracy in this country. The Bill of Rights applies to all law, and binds the legislature, the executive, the judiciary and all organs of state. Section 231(2) of the Constitution requires that the national executive obtain consent in the form of an approval by resolution in Parliament before endorsing and ratifying an international treaty.
Today I am bringing to the House the protocol to the African Charter on human and people’s rights on the rights of persons with disabilities in Africa. The purpose of this protocol is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human and people’s rights by all persons with disabilities, and to ensure respect for their inherent dignity.
Over the years, South Africa has made steady progress towards the realisation of the rights of persons with disabilities, including through the updating of the National Disability Policy with the White Paper on the rights of persons with disability, which put an emphasis on embedding disability
inclusion within government-wide regulatory, planning, resourcing, programming, and reporting systems. Indeed, there have been tremendous improvements in the situation of human rights in South Africa, the entrenchment of disability in Chapter 2 of the Constitution, and the adoption of the comprehensive White Paper on the rights of persons with disabilities. However, there is much that can still be done. The protocol outlines obligations regarding non-
discrimination. Every person with a disability shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognised and guaranteed in this protocol without distinction of any kind on any ground including, race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or any status.
The protocol deals with fundamental rights of persons with disabilities such as equal rights before the law, equal enjoyment of human rights, and state parties to take measures to ensure the right to equality. In addition, it outlines general State obligations for the interpretation and
application of the Protocol. The Protocol recognises and allows for a number of rights. These include, but are not limited to: the right to life; the right to liberty and security; the right to the respect of his/her inherent dignity and to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, slavery, forced labour or unlawful punishment; the right to access to justice; the right to live in the community with choices on an equal basis with others; the right to work; the right to an to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, access to safe drinking water, housing, sanitation and clothing, to the continuous improvement of living conditions and to social protection; the right to self-representation; the right to freedom of expression and opinion including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through all forms of communication of their choice; the right to education; and the right to health. It is then on this backdrop that the committee tables the report to you. Members are encouraged to read the full protocol to the African Charter on human and people’s rights on the rights of persons with disabilities in Africa document, which consists of 44 articles. Having considered the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa, the Select Committee on Health and Social services adopted it on 22 March 2022. The Committee recommends that the Council approve the protocol, in terms of Section 231(2) of the South African Constitution. This is undoubtedly an important protocol, and one that is in line with the Constitution. I thank you Chairperson.
Debate concluded.
Question put: That the Report be adopted.
IN FAVOUR: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West and Western
Cape.
Report accordingly adopted in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF JOINT COMMITTEE ON ETHICS AND MEMBERS’ INTERESTS - 2021 REGISTER OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS– LATE DISCLOSURES: CONTRAVENTION OF THE CODE OF ETHICAL CONDUCT AND DISCLOSURE OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS.
Mr M I RAYI: Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, Deputy Chairperson, House Chairperson, Chief Whip, Minister of Basic Education, Minister of Social Development, Deputy Ministers of Basic Education and Social Development, MECs, Special Delegates and Permanent Delegates, good afternoon. I will table the report on behalf of the Chairperson. Hon members, item 9.2.1 read with item 9.2.3 of the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members’ Interests prescribes that Members of Parliament must disclose their registrable interests annually at a time determined by the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests. Item 9.2.2 also states that if a member has no registrable interests, a nil return must be submitted. The due date for the 2021 disclosure of Members’ Interests was 30 November 2021. Item 10.1.1.1 of the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members’ Interests provides as follows:
A member breaches the Code if the Member contravenes or fails to comply with the requirements of the provisions for disclosing interests. Of the 454 Members who are required to submit their disclosures, four members failed and or neglected to submit their disclosures by the due date. The committee convened on 7 March 2022, 11 April 2022 and 9 May 2022 to discuss the late disclosures. Four members were identified as submitting their
2021 disclosures late. The Members are as follow: Hon Brenda Mathevula, MP (NCOP), hon Mkhuleko Hlengwa, MP (NA), hon Ponani Makhubele, MP (NA) and hon Elphas Buthelezi, MP (NA).
The Joint Committee recommends to the House to impose a penalty in terms of item 10.7.7.1 (i) of the Code, which provides as follows:
The Committee must recommend the imposition of one or more of the following penalties where a Member breached clauses 10.1.1.1 of this Code: (i)A reprimand in the House;”
Therefore, hon Chairperson, it is recommended that member Brenda Mathevula be reprimanded in the House. Thank you very much hon Chairperson.
Question put.
Voting per province:
Report accordingly adopted in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
APPROPRIATION BILL
(Policy Debate)
Vote No 16 - Basic Education:
The MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Hon House Chairperson, let me acknowledge my colleagues who are on the platform, the Ministers and Deputy Ministers on the platform, also acknowledge the hon members on the platform, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I really want to start off in the budget debate by honouring the class of 1976 during this youth month, and all our youth formations who confronted the apartheid regime, which was
later declared by the United Nations a crime against humanity. We want to table this budget in their honour, as people who are our future and our national assets. On behalf of the entire sector, we also really want to wish you again for giving us this opportunity because we want to acknowledge that making progress in basic education requires a continual focus on our long-term targets, while also targeting on urgencies. As we all know, the urgency of epic proportions in the form of Covid-19 pandemic did consume our time, energies, efforts and financial resources since 2020.
According to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dr António Guterres, the pandemic represents a worldwide generational catastrophe, as children fall behind in their learning and experience general trauma and disruptions. One of the main traumas that our children suffered is the loss of their parents, their caregivers and also their teachers. Chair, I can reveal that through our persal tracking, just by December 2021, we had lost almost 3 300 teachers which is one percent of our workforce. We continue to say to them and their families: May their soul rest in peace. Chairperson and hon members, we in the basic education sector must also want to start off thanking our partners who carried us through all this difficult period and ensured that we are supported, assisted and guided. We want to thank our teacher unions, our national parents’ associations, the civic society that came to the fore, the public and the private sector that also ensured that we are really supported during this very difficult time. The sector has worked hard at minimising the detrimental effects of the pandemic while accepting that the damage that has been done is so deep and will not be fixed quickly without any efforts.
Hon Chairperson and hon members, allow me to highlight the following in relation to Budget Vote No 16 of Basic Education: Firstly, our overall budget stands at R29,6 billion which is an increase of R4,9 billion; secondly, our overall allocations of conditional grants are R23 billion which is an increase of 10%; thirdly, we also wish to acknowledge the new grant of the early childhood development, ECD, function, that came with a shift from Social Development, which is called the Early Childhood Development Grant, which stands at R1,2 billion; thirdly, the overall allocation earmarked for transfer payments to different provinces on different programmes stands at R2,9 billion; and lastly, we also want to acknowledge that with the fun shift, we have been given additional money for Ntataise, Umhambo Foundation and the SA Congress of ECD, which stands at R4,03 million for 2022-23 Hon members, the sector has successfully implemented what we call a mass employment initiative through the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative. As a sector, we contributed immensely, and just by the end of last year, we have given almost 596 young people job opportunities. Again, we want to report that all the different provinces for the 2022-23 MTEF period have been allocated R292,3 billion.
So, I will then go to provincial specific allocations. The Eastern Cape has been allocated R38,6 billion, which is an increase of 10%. The Free State has been allocated R17,3 billion, which is an increase of 12%. Gauteng has been allocated R59,7 billion, which is an increase of 12%. KwaZulu-Natal has been allocated R57,5 billion, which is an increase of 8%. Limpopo has been allocated R36,4 billion, which is an increase of 12%. Mpumalanga has been allocated R24,3 billion, which is an increase of nine percent. The Northern Cape has been allocated R7,7 billion, which is an increase of eight percent. The North West has been allocated R20,3 billion, which is an increase of 13%. The Western Cape has been allocated R28 billion, which is an increase of 14%. Therefore, the overall budget allocation for basic education sector combined stands at R319,3 billion, which is an increase of 11% jointly. We really want to appreciate the support that we received from the National Treasury, but also the support we have been receiving from the ANC-led government, to ensure that we continue to put education as priority number one for this government.
Hon Chairperson and hon members, we want to remind this House
and the nation at large of our six priorities as a sector,
which continue to guide us. We wish to remind this House that
our Action Plan to 2024: Towards the Realisation of Schooling
2030, gives expression to our Constitution, the National
Development Plan as well as continental commitments.
Chairperson and hon members, I had also requested our
researchers to help us analyze the impact of Covid-19 on our
schooling, so that our recovery programme is informed and
guided by information, facts and research. So, according to
according to Prof Martin Gustafssohn by the end of 2021, the
average Grade 4 learner, could read as well as a Grade 3
learner. So, which means we have gone back a year back. Hence,
in the recovery, we have to make sure that we compensate for
what we have lost in the last two years, but still continue to
do the work that we have done.
So, we have been working with different partners in the sector
to make sure that indeed our recovery programme is informed
and guided, but it also allows our children to proceed with
their future without being disadvantaged. A key question is:
What effects the pandemic had on the dropping out schools? It
is another factor that has been bothering people.
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Chair, again, we did make a research. We can confirm that
indeed the initial reports show that there were 500 000
learners we lost out. As researchers, there is now an
agreement that it is not correct. What would have happened -
and understandably so – parents, especially in your Grade R,
delayed in 2021, delayed in sending children to school because
of fear of the pandemic, which then reduced the number of
expected children in the sector. However, we are working hard
to continue to trace if indeed we have lost kids and what will
happen to those kids.
Hon Chairperson, if you will remember again, I did inform this
House that we are proceeding with what we call the General
Education Certificate in Grade 9. This General Education
Certificate is being piloted in 268 schools nationally. In
2023, we will expand it to all our districts. Again, we have
also committed ourselves to ensuring that as a sector we
improve the curriculum outputs that we have, but also the
choices in the curriculum. Hence we have been talking about
your three streams curriculum.
Chair, before my time expires I want to quickly focus on the
fact that, for the first time, we will be reporting on the
work that we have been doing around ECD. We are working hard,
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in partnership with Social Development, to make sure that the
following areas are being to. I want to start off by thanking
my colleague, Minister Zulu, and her team, for really making
sure that the transfer of ECD to Basic Education was smooth
and had less difficulties.
So, we will be focusing on the curriculum delivery for
children from birth to five-year olds, and also ECD programme
for all our children - training our educators, co-ordinating
the sector and developing a flexible provisioning framework
for ECD.
We have already conducted key studies in the sector, which we
call, Thrive By Five. It provides very useful information, as
to say: What are the things that we require and need to do as
a sector in partnership with other government departments, to
make sure that our children indeed do thrive by five? We are
very cognizant, as a sector, that if they do not thrive by
five, they will not be able to thrive by 10. When we expect to
read with meaning, it starts by making sure that they thrive
by five. So, again we are working hard with our sectors.
We also conducted what we call a survey in the ECD sector, to
really understand the size and shape of the sector. So, we are
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finished with the survey, which gave results that we have more
than 41 000 ECD programmes. That gives us a sense of what the
landscape is and what are the things that we are supposed to
do.
I must confirm that the Department of Basic Education’s
exposition has just given us the necessary information for
ramping up the ECD and its relocation to the Department of
Basic Education, taking into account the resolution of the 7th
Basic Education Lekgotla, which was held on 26 January 2022,
under the theme: Equipping Learners with Knowledge and Skills
for a Changing World in the Context of Covid-19.
I want to encourage our hon members and the public to visit
our sector and also familiarise themselves with what these
resolutions were. These resolutions were arrived at or taken
by us as a sector, but by all the different researchers,
provinces and different people active in the sector.
Hon members, I also want to report that the second priority
that we have, as I earlier indicated, is to make sure that we
diversify our skills provision, so that we do not only provide
an academic curriculum, which I think we all agree that South
Africans are concerned about. We are implementing a curriculum
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with skills and competencies for a changing world in the
public schools, particularly the three streams curriculum
model and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The entrepreneurship is part of our curriculum and
specialisation in different areas, that are linked to what the
economy and what our country needs. We have also been working
with teams of highly skilled professionals, to look at the
decolonisation of our curriculum, amongst others.
Last year, I did report on coding and robotics curriculum for
Grade 3 to 7 that learners had. The Curriculum and Assessment
Policy Statement, Caps, for occupational subjects for Grades 8
to 9, has been developed and has been submitted to Umalusi for
appraisal and quality assurance. I can report that this
appraisal and quality assurance process is ongoing, including
appraisals for public comments.
Chair, I had also reported that we have introduced new FET-
level subjects, like marine science. We can now report that
the first cohorts of these subjects will be writing this year.
We are continuing to expand the establishment of focal schools
to cater for leaners with special talents and aptitudes across
the center.
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In addition, we have also detailed progress that we gave last
year on increasing 35 additional vocational and orientated
subjects. They have been gazzeted for public comments and the
Gazzete was followed on, in 2021, by the submission of these
subjects to Umalusi for appraisal and quality assurance.
Public comments have been received and their infusion to the
Caps, together with development, is taking place.
Chair, during 2021, a cost at business plan was released by
the European Union, EU. We are working with Treasury to make
sure that we can fund the new changes that we are making. I
can see the Chairperson is restless. Let me just conclude.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no! You are still left
with about seven minutes.
The MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Alright. I am sorry,
Chairperson. I also want to report that, as I said last time,
we have also increased the number of languages that we are
offering in the sector. We have added additional languages in
our list of subjects that we have, such as your Khoi, Nama,
sign language, as well as African sign languages, as new
additional languages.
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For instance, had it not been the disruptions of Covid-19,
again the introduction of Kiswahili in our schools would have
started, but we are pursuing with the process. I will be
visiting Tanzania in the month of July to make sure that we
can finalise the plans of getting Tanzania to assist us. Kenya
is also very keen to assist us with the introduction and the
support of Kiswahili in our schools.
Hon Chairperson, given the demographics of our country, more
than 80% of our children continue to learn content subjects in
a language other than their mother tongue. I think we are the
only continent in the world which is teaching content subjects
to their children in the language which is not their home
language. All children in the world learn content subjects in
the language which belong to their homes.
So, we must begin a serious debate on mother tongue teaching
and learning. Currently, learners learn all subjects in their
mother tongue until Grade 3. Then switch to English or
Afrikaans as a language of learning. If not doing so, we will
continue to contribute greatly to underachievement. We must
have a policy shift in that area.
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We are very happy that the Eastern Cape, for the past 12
years, has piloted mother tongue teaching from Grade 4 to
Grade 12. The results are encouraging. It is showing that
learners who are taught in their mother tongue and assessed in
their mother tongue perform better in your gateway subjects.
More interesting is that even though we think that if taught
content subject in English, you can speak better English, they
perform better in English if they were taught in their mother
tongue. So, other provinces are on the way and we will
continue to report on the progress of mother tongue
instruction.
However, we really believe that if our children have to read
with meaning by the age of 10, they have to read in their
mother tongue like every other child who reads in their mother
tongue by the age of 10. So, we expect them to read with
meaning in the language they do not understand to start with.
In conclusion, the class of 2021 has already demonstrated that
with dedication, focus and resilience the sky is really not
the limit. The number of quality and quantitative passes in
2021 has been encouraging, but also for us is a confirmation
of a stable system which is in on the rise. The growth we
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continue to observe in the regional and international
assessment studies throughout.
Again, it is one area we really like to talk about, because
South Africans always decry the fact that we are the lowest
and the worst system in international standards, when we are
in some instances the only third world country who enters
those assessments. The last time, it was ourselves and Morocco
only that entered those assessments. So, even though we are 42
countries, if we become number 42 or number 40, we are the
worst in the world when we compare ourselves with the first
world countries. I think is a distortion.
We will continue to attend and participate in these
international assessments because it gives us the benchmark
against the best systems in the world. We do not go to these
assessments with the hope that we will bit Russia overnight,
or think that we will bit Finland overnight, or we will be
number three from Finland. We go there to say what it is that
they are doing, which we have to be learning from, in order
for us to be the best system. Not to be either number five out
of 42 countries.
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So, we must agree that the economic term binding constraints
refer to those constraints and really if we could provide the
largest response in economic growth. This is a useful way to
think about education reforms at the present juncture because
there is evidence that any country like your Malaysia, which
was able to shape itself out of poverty, is a country that
invested all in education.
That is why as I say, we appreciate the opportunity to engage
with yourselves, but also appreciate the fact that a number of
South Africans do take education serious, especially the
private sector, as they put their resources to the sector,
which is what we experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. For
that, we are very grateful!
As we continue to build for the future, we must recommit to
building a solid foundation for quality and efficient basic
education system, from ECD to foundation and intermediate
phases, throughout the system. And, as I also said earlier,
there is no way our children can thrive by 10 if they do not
thrive by five. They cannot thrive by 15, when they are in
their senior phase, if they did not thrive by 10. The same
they will not thrive beyond 18, if they did not thrive by
five.
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That is why for us that it is very important to make sure that
South Africans, especially parents and communities, put the
shoulder to wheel and make sure that we give our all to basic
education.
Chair, finally, I wish to thank our international partners,
our sister department who have been extremely supportive and
the state institutions, business and civic organisations for
their professionalism and a variety of roles they have played
in the sector. I wish to single out SA Council for Educators,
Sace, Umalusi, National Education Collaboration Trust, Nect,
our teacher unions, the National Association of School
Governing Bodies, NASGB, the principal’s associations -also
have been extremely helpful, the national organisations
responsible for learners with special needs as well as
independent schools, have been helpful.
We want to thank you, Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson, the
Whippery and all members of this august House for really
supporting and guiding us all the time during reporting and
monitoring meetings. We also do not want to fail to
acknowledge the MECs in the Council of Education Ministers who
also bring lots of innovation, energy, lots of great
improvement and dedication to the sector.
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However, I also want to thank my colleague, Dr Mhaule, the
director-general of the department, and also the officials
from the department. Hon Chairperson, thank you very much for
the honour to come and present this Budget Vote to yourselves.
Mr M E NCHABELENG: Chairperson, Deputy Chair Mme Lucas
management and leadership of the NCOP, permanent delegates and
MECs present in this meeting in particular my MEC from Limpopo
Mme Boshielo, good afternoon. I am opening this debate under
the theme: Improving our education system through
strengthening early childhood development and strengthening
legislation. Chairperson, please, bear with me I have
incessant flu so I may cough for sometimes. Please, bear with
me.
We debate this critical Budget Vote during a month we
commemorate the struggles of the youth and the revolutionising
effect has played in the transformation of our society. The
struggle against apartheid was propelled by the youth during
the darkest period. It is the youth of 1976 which broke the
camel of heightening resistance. Our responsibility today as
the ANC is to create a better future for the youth and the
children who will be our youth of tomorrow. We dare not fail
the current generation in building a solid foundation to
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address the injustices of the past and to create equal
opportunities as affirmed by the Freedom Charter.
The year 2022 for the education sector, represents a critical
shift that can result in a significant improvement in our
national education outcomes. Early childhood development is a
critical phase of a child’s cognitive development which has
long-term implications for the growth of the children.
Evidence from research has shown that the first five years of
life are the fastest period of human growth and development as
90% of a person’s brain development occurs by the age of five.
Investing in the early years helps to break the cycle of
poverty, address inequality and boost productivity. Child
stunting is another factor that impacts the growth of children
and different children have relative socialemotional
functioning which requires resources for the early childhood
development system to respond to the need of all children.
With the high levels of unemployment, widening inequality and
poverty, children are negatively impacted by these
socioeconomic conditions. The rights of children are enshrined
in our Constitution and the state should at all times provide
social services which enable the best interest of children to
be served.
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Our children are vulnerable and the recent pandemic has
resulted in a decline of enrolled children attending ECDs.
This requires the department to heighten its engagement with
communities to call on parents and caregivers to ensure
children are in early learning programmes. With the
development and growth of the ECD sector, we should begin to
legislate compulsory ECD for all children as this is a right a
child should have to optimise their development.
The ECD migration from the Department of Social Development to
the Department of Basic Education is a significant shift that
enables the department to envision a future of the ECD
landscape and develop systems to strengthen the learning
outcomes to improve opportunities for all South Africans,
blacks in general and Africans in particular.
The current state of affairs of the ECD sector requires an
increase in financial allocation for the ECD if we are to
realise the policy imperative of migrating ECD to Basic
Education. Our current ECD landscape reflects the level of
spatial inequality in our country and the concentration of
ECDs in urban areas at 59% whiles rural areas have a 41% share
of the early learning. The most concerning factor is the
skewed distribution of early learning programmes per 1000
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children in many provinces and the concentration of early
learning programmes is in urban and city locations.
We congratulate the Department of Social Development and the
Department of Basic Education for succeeding in ensuring the
migration succeeds on 1 April 2022 - it was not April fool -
realising a key medium-term strategic framework objective of
the sixth administration and a state of the nation address
commitment by the President. This will usher in a new
trajectory that will see our basic education sector improve
learning outcomes in the medium to long-term. Our vision as
the ANC is premised on creating a sustainable future towards
an egalitarian society.
Hon members, this budget provides for the early childhood
development grant which supports ECDs with R1,1 billion or ECD
subsidies to provide for and increase the number of children
accessing subsidised ECD services. This budget allocation is
not sufficient in addressing the systemic challenges affecting
ECDs, but it will go a long way in expanding access. We have
called on the government to increase its budget allocation for
ECDs as they require significant resources which will
contribute to improving learning outcomes in our basic
education system and this will offset certain costs in the
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future as the upcoming crop will have enhanced learning
outcomes.
One of the critical areas which require strengthening by the
department is integrating all early learning programmes into
one system with effective information sharing systems to
ensure adequate support from the department.
Inclusive education is another area that requires the
department to strengthen support through increasing allocation
for inclusive education. Despite the lack of adequate
resources, the need for inclusive education is relatively a
minority of the department’s expenditure. This means that the
department can close the gap and build a strong component of
inclusive education in the education sector. This is possible
if such needs are optimally prioritised as lack can be
addressed in the short-term protecting the most vulnerable.
Hon members, the National Assembly is currently processing the
Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill that seeks to enhance the
organisational efficiency to improve school governance,
leadership and accountability, transforming education services
and protecting vulnerable groups to ensure learner wellbeing
and access to learning. The Bill seeks to respond to
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deteriorating learner school performance, challenges regarding
learner access to quality basic education, as some schools
deny learners admission, malicious abuse of the school
governing body authority to stifle transformation, challenges
regarding organisational efficiency and school governance and
uncertainty about home education legislation. The Bill, when
concluded, will enhance the instruments of the department to
strengthen the education system.
One of the key issues in the Bill is to address dropout rates
by ensuring that parents or guardians are held accountable for
denying a child access to education and improving learning
outcomes. The Bill seeks to amend section 3(1) of the SA
Schools Act, Sasa, to provide that school attendance is
compulsory from Grade-R and no longer only from Grade-1 and to
increase the penalty provision in section 3(6) of the SA
Schools Act from six months to 12 months. In the case where
the parent of a learner, without just cause, fails to ensure
that a learner, who is subject to compulsory attendance,
attends school, or where any other person, without just cause,
prevents such a learner from attending school.
This is an important clause that signifies the importance of
guardians and all South Africans to be enablers of teaching
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and learning through supporting learners, teachers and schools
broadly rather than being barriers. The President has called
for extended responsibility of learners being in schooling to
teachers, principals and school governing bodies, SGBs, to
track all learners who fall in the cracks if not closely
monitored.
The role of different stakeholder and governance structures is
important to harness the functionality of the school. But one
of the critical issues in the sector is instances where school
governing bodies are used for negative things such as corrupt
appointments and misuse of funds and in other instances, the
challenge is the lack of capacity of the SGB.
Through this budget, we urge the department to continue
strengthening its relationship with the various stakeholders
in the sector. The department should continue to empower
school governing bodies to be functional and to have the
capacity to provide the required leadership support for our
schools. Our communities should also support our schools and
take reasonable measures to ensure that our schools are free
from alcohol use and drugs that have crippled some of our
schools as we know.
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We need to preserve our schools as spaces of teaching and
learning to harness the best qualities, values and principles
as enshrined in our Constitution. We must raise our concerns
about the emerging incidences of racism in our schools and
discrimination and incidents of sexual harassment in some of
our schools. The Basic Education Laws Amendment, Bela, Bill is
a transformative Bill that will also seek to address systemic
discrimination by some schools which use spatial location to
preserve spatial advantages to privilege a few. This is
another form that racism takes in this country when it comes
to education.
We call on the department to hasten its efforts of increasing
African languages in our schools and the development of mother
tongue education using our African languages. Without a
concerted effort of introducing mother tongue teaching and
learning in our schools, we run a risk of institutionalising
colonialism. It is therefore imperative that we advance the
decolonisation of our education system through developing
African knowledge systems and our own native knowledge in our
curriculum
Education as a critical source of social reproduction should
be orientated to address our local challenges and advance the
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national imperatives as espoused in the Freedom Charter and
the Constitution.
The ANC supports this Budget Vote on Basic Education because
it lays a foundation for realising an equitable and prosperous
society. We call on all South Africans to participate in the
life of our schools in order to harness and protect these
social spaces which are a weapon of advancing transformation.
I thank you, Chairperson. “Baie dankie” [Thanks a lot].
Mr F GADE (Eastern Cape): Hon Chairperson, good afternoon to
you, good afternoon to the Minister, the Deputy Minister, all
of the Ministers, that have been invited into this important
session, hon members of the House, fellow Members of Executive
Council, MEC’s across provinces, invited guests of the House,
media and also stakeholders in the sector.
Allow me to hon Chairperson, to just give a reflection on the
score card which has preoccupied the sector in the provincial
space, precisely because of the command and also the outline,
that the Minister has outlined to us as a provincial
leadership. On how to conduct the business of the basic
education in the province.
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In our own efforts hon Chairperson and the members, to
consolidate and compliment the broader agenda of the
Department of Basic Education, the Eastern Cape has chosen
collaborate with of the Department of Basic Education in
ensuring that we fulfil some the strategic tasks which are of
utmost best in reshaping and redirecting both the content and
form of the basic education in the country.
We are preoccupied hon Chair, with the research which has been
commissioned been commissioned by the Department of Basic
Education, DBE, in ensuring that we conduct at the level of
the 3rd Quarter, focusing on school monitoring survey that
targets grade six and grade 12. We have been given 230
schools, which have been sampled throughout the province,
specifically focusing on 110 schools with grade eight and 120
schools with grade 12.
We are taking this research quite very serious, hon Chair and
hon members. Precisely because of the following strategic key
tasks that will make sure or arm us in responding to some of
the termetical areas which in our view has been a thorn in
flesh of the basic education in the province.
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One of the areas is the impact of the COVID-19 in the schools,
in the province. Scientifically, what are the lesson we have
learned out of that particular period or epoch and how should
we then respond as part of an ongoing thorough process of
learning acquiring skills through education in the country in
general and in the province in particular hon, Chair.
The second aspect Chair, which that research is focusing is
on, is on the decolonisation of the curriculum. Which the
Minister has actually outlined in the presentation today. What
is the meaning of being an African in an internationalised
kind of a society? And how should we then in terms of the
pedagogy in education define ourselves in the content and
context of education in the continent broadly and also as a
nation in particular. So that research is also focusing on
that.
And the last aspect on that research will be the school
management. That is critical because remember hon Chair, our
sector focuses mostly on how the institutions of learning are
being run. And if you master the art and skill of ensuring
that the institutions of learning are managed properly and
there is a bit of cognisance in understanding the theatre of
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struggle at that particular level. In terms of acquiring skill
and knowledge at that particular level.
It becomes quiet important and significant for us at this
particular level of leadership to have more attention – what
is actually happening in the institutions of learning, hence I
am saying this particular research commissioned by DBE is
going to able to unlock some of the bottlenecks that needed to
be dealt with and resolved within a short space of time.
It is also imperative Chair, to report that without us being
able to deal with the issue of the learner retention strategy,
is gonna be a problem. And we needed to be able to focus more
on tracing and tracking of the learners, as the Minister has
actually alluded into it. And we have already developed
systems that can assist you in ensuring that you don’t have
any defocus on that particular area.
I can cite just one or two areas of focus which will need a
bit of strengthening hon Chair and members. We do have South
African School Administration and Management System, SA-SAMS,
which will all understand. We do have Data Driven Districts,
DDD, which also give a comprehensive analysis of data system
that the basic education is also using in terms of ensuring
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that the verification and the data we use is quiet very
comprehensive.
Through, SA-SAMS, hon Chair, it’s gonna be imperative also
that the information that is deposited into the DDD system
also provides a detailed, aggregated information and view of
learner enrolment and attendance of learners per school. This
is one area that also will be giving you a reflection. Whether
the learners themselves beyond the scope of just attending.
Whether what is happening is of significance. Because,
teachers can come to school, that does not equate learning and
teaching and learners can come to a school but that does not
equate to teaching and learning. And, therefore you need a
system that is able to give you a reflection and analysis that
is going to give you what is actually pertinent in the
province and how should we therefore respond on some of the
structural, systemic and pandemic areas of focus that needed
to be dealt with, within the sector.
Hence, I am therefore saying hon Chair, the issue of the
learner, drop-outs must be taken quite very seriously.
Precisely because it is imperative, so that we able to trace
the learners from grade R to grade 12 and be able to say if
there were 2 million for an example in grade R, what then
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happened when they arrived in grade 12 at a particular time
and age.
How should we respond to that Chair? We have agreed as a
province on a zero learner drop out campaign which will
include 116 schools in three districts namely, as a pilot, for
an example Buffalo City, Amathole East and Amathole West. We
are identifying those three districts precisely because of the
information that is before us. Because, some of the areas of
focus needed a deed of meticulation in terms of ensuring that
the system responds to areas where you have got more problems.
And, be able to have a campaign that is going to give you a
feedback that you require.
In the context of ensuring that this campaign that I am
talking about – the achievements that are going to be looked
upon in terms of the schools that have been identified
already, hon Chair. We would be looking on areas of drop out
system. Would be looking at the level of return strategy of
the schools. Would be looking at the level of referrals to the
stakeholders. Would be looking at level of whether the uniform
itself it’s a not a bearer to education access in the
province.
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If you have observed us in the province, in the recent past
three weeks. We have been focusing hon Chair, Minister, Deputy
Minister and fellow MEC’s on trying to make a thorough study,
whether the uniforms themselves can’t be part of an ongoing
thorough discussion in the national space in ensuring that we
have got a better stable environment of teaching and learning
in the country in general.
And, again Chair, as a province we also wanted to zoom into
the issue of the placement of learners. For the term I have
been an MEC hon Chair – as I’m closing the discussion, we have
observed that we do have a crisis in the admissions,
especially between October up until March. And the learner
placement therefore becomes critical, [Interjection.] hence we
are bringing the issue of the placement committees, so that we
identify areas like Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela area, OR
Tambo which have been a nerve in the admissions of the
learners for the past three academic year, Chair.
So, otherwise we welcome the budget vote of the Minister and
we support it fully. And we are looking forward in working
with the Minister and this House Chair, in ensuring that we
resolve some of the unresolved issues in the country and in
the province in general. Thanks, hon Chair.
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Ms D C CHRISTIANS: Hon Chairpersons, members and hon Minister,
recently during a select committee meeting the Minister of
Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande, reported to us
that 94% of learners who start Grade 1 did not reach or enter
the higher education system, it seems our young people are set
up for failure from entry to exit level. If our youth are
doomed through a dysfunctional education system, our country
is doomed.
Research has reportedly found that four out of ten learners
who start school, do not finish school. These statistics were
before the pandemic and has reportedly somewhat increased over
the past two-years. Additionally, a reported 50% drop out by
the time they complete matric and no retention mechanisms in
place. There are also currently more than R3,3 million youth
not in education or training.
There are a number of reasons that the basic education system
remains dysfunctional. Approximately 160 000 learners in seven
provinces did not return to public schools as reported by the
Minister at the beginning of this year. At that stage, the
Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga figures were not available yet and
these non-returning figures could be much higher than
projected.
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Research also indicated that Grades 7,10 and 11, were amongst
the highest non-returning students. It was eluded that some of
these learners may have been placed in different schools or
perhaps Technical and Vocational Education and Training, TVET,
institutions, but to date, we have no effective or reliable
tracking system to indicate this. So, Minister, what has
happened to these learners, are they roaming the streets, not
in education and not in employment?
Quality education remains the gateway to eradicating poverty
and unemployment, and the youth in this country are becoming
desperate. We recently heard about a young man who took his
life on a social media platform citing the desperation of
unemployment as his reason for this tragedy. We therefore
cannot separate the inequalities that our education system
faces from the injustices of our broader socioeconomic and
political environment.
The department’s report also reflects that during 2020, 70% of
teaching and learning was lost in historically disadvantaged
schools. This begs the question whether these learners will
ever catch up as these very same disadvantaged schools just do
not have the mechanisms or capabilities to do so.
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Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on many lives and
it is for this precise reason that we should have a government
who is functioning optimally to be a buffer for its people
during times of crises. The Department of Basic Education has
not been that buffer and has been unable to shield its
learners, teachers and staff during this time as we have
instead seen the deterioration of many schools.
Currently, there are more than 1 500 unqualified teachers and
more than 24 000 teacher vacancies in the country. These
despite millions of rands allocated to the Funza Lusaka
bursary through National Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS. These
teachers are battling placement and many do not fit the
current need in schools which is placement for mathematics and
science teachers. Developing quality educators that meet the
demands on the ground is crucial to providing quality
education to learners and the Fundza Lushaka Bursary should be
revised to meet the need of the schools in our country.
Hon Chairperson, the recent tragedy of the heavy rain and
floods in the country saw 630 schools in KwaZulu-Natal and the
Eastern Cape damaged. An amount of R442 million has been
allocated for repairs of infrastructure. But this is bogged
down with red tape and delays and we have, to date, not had
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any feedback with regards to progress of repair work in the
schools. Additionally, R1,6 billion has been cut by Cabinet
from the infrastructure budget over the medium term affecting
current infrastructure issues at schools in areas where mud
structures, asbestos buildings and pit toilets remain a risk
to learners and staff.
Despite the department’ Sanitation Appropriate for Education
initiative programme, they have reported very low spending
which still sees 900 inappropriate structures and 1 526 pit
toilets at schools across the country. Under Programme 4 -
Planning, Information and Assessment, expenditure was lower
than projected by R330,5 million or mainly under payments for
capital assets in the School Infrastructure Backlogs Grant
where only R138,3 million was spent against the projected
spending of R511 million for the quarter. No wonder we are not
winning this battle as delaying school infrastructure backlogs
year after year.
According to the department’s norms and standards, it was
stated that by 2016, no school in the country would have
inadequate water and sanitation facilities, or inadequate
libraries, and that asbestos schools would be a thing of the
past. However, throughout the country, hundreds of schools
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still battle with the same issues. The department has set its
sanitation infrastructure targets at 450 per year, which is
definitely not on target. How can quality education take place
when learners and staff are forced to work in such inhumane
conditions?
Under Programme 2 - Curriculum Policy, Support and Monitoring,
it was also revealed spending on learners with profound
intellectual disabilities conditional grant was much lower
than projected R40,7 million, and these transfers were
withheld to provinces due to non-compliance with the reporting
requirements of the conditional grant framework. When will
action be taken against provinces who continue to withhold on
reporting incline?
Hon Minister, the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education,
Science and Innovation during its oversight visit to the
Northern Cape earlier this year, observed that there were
schools in Sutherland that did not have Department of
Education appointed mathematics and science teachers. Both the
primary and the high schools, Roggeveld Primary School and
Sutherland High School are assisted by the Southern African
Large Telescope, SALT, which funded the employment of
mathematics teachers. The National Research Foundation and the
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South African Astronomical Observatory, also assisted with the
refurbishment of the science laboratory classes at Roggeveld
Primary School.
However, it is concerning that there is a potential that these
schools may phase out the teaching of mathematics and science
if there is no intervention to appoint permanent teachers as
the intervention by SALT may not be sustainable. Equally, this
may in the future disadvantage the learners coming from this
very same community as they will not be able to take up
careers in this astronomy-related field.
Hon Chairperson, recently also in the Northern Cape, in the
Namaqualand District we learnt of a donation of R500 000 to
Loeriesfontein Primary School to upgrade the church hall to
allegedly be used as additional classrooms. This donation was
allegedly made by Transnet and accepted by the principal. The
DA in the Northern has submitted many questions in this
regard. Has there been an investigation? Has an Memorandum of
Understanding, MoU, been signed? Is the department aware of
the needs at the school that has caused this fraudulent
activity?
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Additionally, in Kimberley, the Homevale High School remains
dilapidated and a threat to learners and staff. When the
principal and the school governing body, SGB, tried to report
it and insist on the Northern Cape department dealing with the
infrastructure problems, the acting principal was dismissed
and only reinstated after I intervened because the dismissal
was unlawful.
The DA in the Northern Cape also recently called for an urgent
intervention into a learner transport issue in topline, which
has sparked a learner-initiated protest and this prevented
matriculants from writing their midyear exams. The situation
is believed to have resulted from non-payment of the
contracted transporter. How could this have happened? Given
the likelihood of school-related tensions spilling over into
surrounding communities, we are also calling for urgent
attention to be given to Kakamas High School, which was placed
under administration, as announced just yesterday. The school
does not even have printing paper to print examination papers.
We are perturbed by the slow response and lack of urgency from
the education stakeholders in the Northern Cape on all these
matters, and ask for the department’s intervention. We must
eradicate the lingering threat of asbestos contamination, fix
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structural problems at schools, and provide safe learner
transport. We also need to address socio-economic constraints
that contribute to the high drop-out rate and the high rate of
teenage pregnancies in the country.
The Department of Education needs to take the responsibility
of providing quality education to our children by providing
them with the necessary opportunities to develop their core
skills of reading, writing and mathematics. We need
infrastructure that is conducive to learning and not where
children fear for their lives. Time is running out, Minister.
More than 50% of our youth are unemployed, learners are
dropping out of school and roaming the streets. The future for
the youth in this country looks gloomy, critical and effective
action is required. I thank you.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION (Dr M R Mhaule):
Greetings to you, Chairperson, greetings to the Minister of
Basic Education, Ms Angie Motshekga, greetings to members, the
chairperson of the select committee and all members, MEC for
Education, MEC Gade, hon delegates, leadership in the basic
education sector and ladies and gentlemen, I greet you all.
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As you are all aware, June is dedicated as the Youth Month in
South Africa. This year marks its 37th anniversary and the
theme for this year is, “Promoting sustainable livelihood and
resilience of young people for a better tomorrow.” In response
to the goal set for the Department of Basic Education, His
Excellency the President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, said that every
child should learn to read with meaning by the age of 10.
The Minister of Basic Education, Ms Angie Motshekga, in her
Budget Vote speech, at the start of this administration,
outlined as her first among 11 priorities, said the
improvement of the foundational skills of literacy and
numeracy, especially reading with meaning, the department has
put measures in place to improve, in particular, reading
outcomes and the general reading outcomes for every 10-year-
old, to be able to read with understanding across all the
subjects. This was prioritised at the Basic Education Lekgotla
in January this year where a commission was dedicated to the
foundation for learning.
Working in partnerships such as the National Education
Collaboration Trust and other organisations, the department
has implemented a number of programmes to support teaching and
learning in relation to reading. These programmes upskill
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department officials, school leaders and teachers to better
support and implement the effective teaching of reading with a
special focus on comprehension and reading for meaning to
address the reading lag in 10-year-olds in South Africa. One
of such programmes is the Education, Training and Development
Practices Sector Education and Training Authority-funded
Primary School Reading Improvement Programme, PSRIP, which
aims to strengthen the capacity of foundation and intermediate
phase teachers to teach learners how to read more effectively.
The PSRIP has been implemented since 2017 and is a national-
scale programme that has been adopted by the department as a
sector reading programme. To date, it has upskilled more than
42 000 primary school teachers and their School Management
Teams, SMTs, across more than 9 000 schools. We are aware that
reading improvement requires multisectoral support. It is for
this reason that we are championing the Read to Lead Campaign
to mobilise support and resources from across sectors. All the
provinces’ provisional education departments have launched the
campaign and all literacy days are celebrated by the provinces
with the support of the Department of Basic Education.
In support of the President's Reading Circle, the department
and the National Reading Coalition have extended the efforts
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to mobilise South Africans of all ages through the virtual
reading club sessions. Through the Presidential Youth
Employment Intervention, the department recruited and placed
across all provinces more than 41 000 reading champions who
have been instrumental in supporting teachers by ensuring that
a culture of reading prevails. The successful implementation
of this project has been achieved through building a
collaborative partnership with 10 key NGO partners who were
contracted by the National Education Collaboration Trust.
In pursuit of quality education, service delivery and
particular improved learning outcomes, the department has
developed an induction programme for all new teachers who
joined the profession. The New Teacher Induction, NTI
programme is a product of the collaborative effort of various
partners in the sector, including the provinces’ departments
of education, higher education, the SA Council of Educators
and the VVOB through induction and mentoring support. New
teachers in the basic education sector are supported so that
they integrate and quickly adapt to the new school, are
effective in their practice and teaching and are motivated to
stay in the profession.
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The NTI programme comprises two parts. Number one, the teacher
orientation part is a short information-sharing process that
takes one week to a month. Number two, the New Teacher
Induction and mentoring part are anchored on the SA Council of
Educators’ professional teaching standards. The New Teaching
Induction programme has been field-tested in three districts
of three provinces, that is in Kenneth Kaunda in the North
West, iLembe district in KwaZulu-Natal and Thabo Mofutsanyane
in the Free State. The implementation of the field test was
monitored and evaluated and the draft report that provides
findings and recommendations has been produced.
In response to COVID-19 challenges, online New Teacher
Induction programmes have been produced. The number of
bursaries allocated for the Medium-Term Strategic Framework
has been fluctuating due to the reduction of the budget for
the Funza Lushaka Bursary. According to the 2022-23 financial
year, the Initial Teacher Education Bursary milestone is
11 800 bursaries with a budget of R1,3 billion. The Initial
Teacher Education Bursary intends to give bursaries in line
with the sector’s priority subject areas, including the Three
Stream Model and requirements for the implementation of
inclusive education.
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As the Department of Basic Education, we support and adhere
our programmes to the District Development Model. The District
Development Model seeks to improve service delivery through
integrated planning, budgeting, and implementation under one
roof through the development of one plan, and that is the plan
that, as a department, we are following. As a national sector
department, we have in this financial year 2022-23 prioritised
the following catalytic projects and programmes that will
enhance the lives of the citizens within the district and
metro municipalities; The implementation of the Accelerated
School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative, Asidi, targeting
the building of 13 new schools, as well as the replacement of
inappropriate structures; The implementation of the new School
Nutrition Programme to provide a nutritious meal to needy
children in public schools across Quintile one to three. This
we will do by working in collaboration with stakeholders at a
level to grow the local economy as well as to enhance local
economic development, and the Sanitation Appropriate for
Education to provide clean running water to 50 schools through
the Asidi programme and restore the dignity of school
communities through proper sanitation facilities in 450
schools.
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The department's health promotion aims to create a healthy
school environment by promoting the general health and
wellbeing of learners and educators by addressing key health
and social barriers to learning to promote effective teaching
and learning. Educators and support staff that are infected
and affected by HIV and Aids are also supported through this
programme to guide the sector response and efforts to combat
the spread of HIV, STIs and TB. The department developed and
distributed a policy pack comprising the Department of Basic
Education’s National Policy on HIV, STIs and TB for Learners.
The department, together with the Department of Health,
continues to implement the Integrated School Health Programme.
In December 2021, the department gazetted a Department of
Basic Education Policy on the Prevention and Management of
Learner Pregnancy in Schools. The policy seeks to reduce
learner pregnancy in schools and guide schools on the
management of pregnancy whilst protecting the rights of
pregnant learners in schools. Over 19 000 copies of the policy
have been printed and distributed to all the nine provinces
for further distribution to schools. Policy advocacy will be
held with provinces together with consultation on the policy
implementation plan.
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The period 2020-21 presented a great challenge as most of the
sport and enrichment programmes were suspended and cancelled
due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The restrictions on group
gatherings made it impossible for the extracurricular
programmes to be organised at the national level as they are
mass-based programmes. The Department of Basic Education is
pleased to announce the extra curriculum activities have
resumed since the COVID-19 alert levels were lowered with
strict adherence to the COVID-19 regulations. Let me take this
opportunity, Chair, to thank you for affording me the
opportunity, to thank the chairperson of the select committee
and members for their unwavering support and guidance to the
department.
I want to thank our Minister, Ms Angelina Motshekga for her
sterling leadership of the department, the director-general,
who is leading the administration par excellence as far as I
am concerned. I want to thank our MECs in all the nine
provinces and HODs and all the administrative staff of the
Department of Education in South Africa. I thank you, Chair.
Ms S A LUTHULI: Thank you, Chairperson. The EFF rejects the
proposed budget on Basic Education. The South African basic
education system is characterised by poor infrastructure,
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overcrowded classrooms and poor educational outcomes, with the
poor receiving the far end of the stick. The tragedy of our
basic education lies in the fact that year in and year out, we
stand here to lament about the same failures, and the
department does absolutely nothing to address these failures.
In fact, this department continues to miss its own targets of
improving learning facilities and our education system
continues to be characterised by inequalities which have
remained ignored. This department is lagging far behind in
developing infrastructure for schools as laid out in their own
norms and standards for school infrastructure.
We, therefore, reject the budget of the department which year
in and year out is responsible for the poor allocation of
funds of rural schools. As a result, many rural schools are
poor and disadvantaged, lacking basic infrastructure for
sanitation, water, transport, electricity and information and
technology. Schools in KwaZulu-Natal and in the Eastern Cape,
still face infrastructure challenges. They struggle with
basics such as desks, chairs, classroom shortages and well as
inadequate toilet facilities. In Idutywa, there still exists
schools which are made from mud structures such as Jongilanga
Senior Secondary School which stand forgotten. In KwaZulu-
Natal, children still walk more than an hour each way to get
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to their schools. Hundreds of children still have to cross
dangerous rivers to get to schools.
This despite the fact that this department is required to
ensure that transport is provided to Grade R to 12 pupils who
live more than 3 kilometres from the nearest school. More than
500 schools were damaged in KwaZulu-Natal due to floods but
till today, there exists no indication from the department of
their immediate plan to assist the schools that were affected.
Rural schools make up a significant proportion of South
African schools and schools districts, yet their needs are
ignored and not taken into account. Thousands of children
across all provinces are taught by unqualified teachers, while
the department drags its feet in paying assistant teachers who
have been keeping the lights on our education system. There
exists a shortage of teachers across the country, especially
those who teach mathematics and science, yet the department is
not doing anything to fill vacant posts.
Minister, why is it that a child’s experience of education in
South Africa still depends on where they are born or how
wealthy they are? Since the coronavirus 2019, Covid-19,
outbreak more than two years ago, the pandemic has increased
inequalities as this department has failed at efforts to roll-
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out virtual learning for students across the country through
television and radio programmes which were poorly co-ordinated
and publicised and inaccessible to the poorest households who
own neither a television nor radio. Online learning,
therefore, remains but a distant dream in South Africa for
most students as a majority of schools in South Africa are
insufficiently prepared and resourced for online teaching.
Well-resourced schools were able to adapt to teaching and
learning through online platforms relatively easy as students
from these schools were more likely to be from more affluent
families and have access to technology such as smartphones,
tablets and personal computers connected to the internet.
Minister, the implementation of the right to basic education
as set out in section 29 of our Constitution is not subject to
resource availability. It is a right which has to be directly
and immediately implemented. Infrastructure at government
schools, therefore, needs to be improved to ensure that both
learners and teachers have access to basic digital technology
and internet connectivity. The department needs to facilitate
internet access at all educational institutions which would be
a step in the right direction. Education needs to be delivered
in a manner which accommodates the needs and circumstances of
every learner in society equally.
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And finally, Chairperson, perhaps it is time to revise the
legislative framework that gives provinces too much power in
the administration of schools. We need a national standard
that all provinces must adhere to. Therefore, Chairperson, for
those reasons, we reject this budget. I thank you.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you very much, hon
Luthuli. We are supposed to be addressed by hon Ntsube, but
I’m told that there’s a bit of a problem, not unless hon
Ntsube is there now. There being a problem, we will proceed to
hon D F Kaizer-Philander. Hon Philander.
Ms A D MALEKA: Sorry, Chairperson. It’s hon Maleka here. Can
you allow me to stand on behalf of hon Ntsube?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Okay. Please proceed. You
are allowed, hon Maleka.
Ms A D MALEKA: Thank you, Chairperson. Greetings to the House
Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson, the Chief Whip, the
Ministers, Deputy Ministers, special and permanent delegates.
Chairperson, the youth our country is a reflection to the
future of our nation, and it is true that the future is indeed
the future of tomorrow. The generation of 1976 have bestowed
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upon us fruits of political freedom, but as the current
generation our struggle is for economic freedom. We want our
education system to respond to this generational mission for
the total liberation of the marginalised.
Education is a key priority of the ANC government to empower
the people for self-liberation from the shackles of bondage.
Learning is a continuous process for any human life. We learn
as infants, in our childhood, we learn in our teenage age and
we also learn as adults and so do those in old age. As humans,
we all have the capacity to learn. The only difference is the
relativity of our ability to learn. This, therefore, means
that our education system as a nation must be able to respond
to the educational needs of all South Africans in order for
them to free and realise their potential and to create equal
opportunities.
Different cultures have reproduced their knowledge through
various artistic means and in their traditional and cultural
practices. We learn from our parents, and we also learn from
those we interact with in our surroundings, we also learn from
observation and teachings. Education is a systemic way of
learning which is crafted to respond to different social,
economic, and political imperatives. Formal education has been
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a practice in Africa and Timbuktu in Mali, is one amongst many
notable evidence of formal learning in the continent.
Colonialisation did not only impose its education system, but
also destroyed African knowledge development systems in the
continent. Colonialisation has used education as a weapon to
entrench the objectives of its imperial interests. Quality
education was preserved for the white minority in South
Africa, whiles the African and black majority received bantu
education and lack of access to various educational
disciplines. Though education was systemically used to advance
the oppression of blacks, education also served as a tool of
liberation.
Literacy has also enabled the oppressed to assimilate
different knowledge which has aided the struggle against
colonialism, and the ability to disseminate information under
repressive condition of apartheid. Today education continues
to respond to different social, economic, and political
imperatives. The critical question we need to ask ourselves
is, whether our education liberates? We should ask whether our
education system is producing the learning outcomes which are
embedded in the values and socioeconomic imperatives, which
will realise the aspirations of a national democratic society.
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Our education system should empower all South Africans to
realise their socioeconomic rights and other human rights. The
ANC government has placed education as an apex priority in
order to deploy adequate resources in the education system to
transform it in order to accord all South Africans the
opportunity to access quality education despite their gender,
class, ethnicity, race or with different abilities. The ANC
government has ensured the expansion of access to education
including inclusive education for people with disabilities.
In 2010, government expenditure on education was at 6,1% of
the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, which has been on the
increase with a total expenditure, as a total of GDP was 6,8%
in 2020. This reflects the continuous increase in allocation
on education by the ANC government. In order to create a
conducive environment for learning to occur for learners, it
requires a societal effort and it is not only limited to the
role of government, if we are to improve the teaching and
learning environment to help our learners to realise outcomes
which represent their potential.
Hon members, it is important to note interconnectedness of the
influence of education and learning broadly in society. This
places the emphasis of what the child learns at home, at the
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streets, at the playfield, and at schools, playing a role in
shaping a child cognitive development. It is for this reason
that the primacy of a societal response to improving learning
and educational outcomes becomes imperative. A learner who
does not have support on learning, someone to help them with
homework, a guardian to ensure a learner has all the support
and encouragement to focuses on their education, cannot
perform like a student who has such support.
Hon House Chairperson, the global capitalist system has led to
rapid continuous transformation of production into different
revolutions. As we speak about the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, the fifth revolution is already in motion. This,
hon members, signifies the ever-changing nature of the content
and the form of educating as condition and developments
occurs. It is therefore important, that our education system
adapts its curriculum to include emerging disciplines in
technology and innovation. This will be important to place the
current generation of learners in our schools, and make sure
that they are in a better position to participate in the
digital and technological transformation.
Hon Minister, our focus on science and mathematics should be
strengthened. Science and mathematics are important subjects
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to advance the socioeconomic objectives of the country as they
contribute to productive sectors of the economy and human
capital, with strong analytical and technical skills which are
important. The rising public incidents of racism, continue to
raise their ugly head in our society and also in some of our
schools. Sexism and gender-based violence and femicide, are
becoming a normal occurrence in many households and
communities, our society is largely patriarchal.
Our education curriculum is largely orientated to teach these
values. We need to also promote local literature as part of
our curriculum to advance the social capital of our local
literature. Hon Minster, all these dimension are some of the
critical policy areas which we should enhance and adapt and
adequately provide financial allocation to support the
programmes. The outcomes of our education system are visible
for everyone, as in every community and most of the families
there is a child who has acquired a higher education
qualification, and many children of the poor are able to
perform at the same levels as their counterparts with all
facilities.
As the ANC, we have called for the strengthening of systems of
the SA Council of Educators, SACE, to act decisively on
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teachers who are found to be involved in sexual harassment
cases. The teaching profession is not only a noble profession,
but a seed planting profession which has built the base of our
nations human capability. We must enhance the professionalism
in the sector. The ANC supports this budget, as the vote will
advance the transformation of children and the youth of this
country who deserve the best facilities and quality education
in order to address poverty and inequality.
Many South Africans have seen how education can transform our
society and livelihoods. Education can break the cycle of
poverty. We support the vote. As Parliament, we will work with
provinces and the ministry, in ensuring that the department
delivers its objectives. I thank you, Chairperson.
Ms W F KAIZER-PHILANDER (Western Cape): Honourable
Chairperson, 2022 represents the first time in two years that
learners in the Western Cape, as well as the rest of the
country, were able to return to school for full-time learning.
This signals the beginning of recovery and, albeit later than
we had hoped, the end of the rotational school schedule to
prevent the further loss of valuable contact time.
Chairperson, in the Western Cape alone ...
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The CHAIRPESON OF THE NCOP: Thank you very much, hon
Philander, just a minute. I now hand over the chairing to hon
Ngwenya. Please proceed.
Ms W F KAIZER-PHILANDER: Thank you very much, Chairperson, in
the Western Cape alone we witnessed the impact that COVID had
on the education system. For example, according to an
education expert from Stellenbosch University, Nic Spaull, the
average Grade 3 child in June 2021 knows around the same
knowledge as the average Grade 2 child of 2019.
Even though there has been progress with the interventions to
bring learners up to speed with the curriculum, one has to
ask, what is the national government doing to improve the
current situation and provide the Western Cape with the
resources it needs to continue to provide quality education to
learners?
On paper there are normal increases in the allocations which
the Western Cape has received this year. All of the grants,
with the exception of the Early Childhood Development, ECD,
and Life Skills Education grants, have been increased for this
year. However, these increases are below that of inflation and
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will result in our province having less money in real terms to
pay for the goods and services we need to deliver on.
Hon House Chairperson, quality education for every learner
everywhere has and will be the most important vision for any
government, and in the Western Cape we share this view. This
vision is brought to light even within the constrained fiscal
environment. The Western Cape Department of Education, WCED,
and the thousands of teachers, principals and administrators
make it possible for every child to have access to quality
learning opportunities in a functional and enabling
environment that assists them in acquiring the knowledge,
competencies and skills to succeed. This happens by using
values-based education to succeed in a changing world.
The most recent example of this is that of Pinelands North
Primary School and West End Primary School. These two schools
are currently on the top ten shortlist for the category
Overcoming Adversity in the World’s Best School Prizes, in
which they are currently competing against schools in
Australia, Malaysia, India, Uganda, Brazil, Jamaica, Kenya and
Nigeria. Soon, the top 3 schools will be announced where the
winning school will win $50 000. But, Honourable Chairperson,
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this is just but a taste of what the Western Cape is busy
doing.
As a province, we have increased our budget allocation for
education to over R28 billion, which is an increase of more
than 8% — an increase above inflation if I may point out. The
most notable component is the once-off Education
Infrastructure Grant incentive allocation of R105 million
received for the 2022-23 financial year. As such,
infrastructure development allocations to public ordinary
schools and special needs schools have increased by 50,67% and
73,1% respectively.
Since the 2016-17 financial year, this department has built 72
new, replacement and mobile schools. A number of 41 of these
schools were replacement schools, so as to address the backlog
in the replacement of old structures built in the apartheid
era. Ten schools were completed in 2021 and the department
currently anticipates six new schools for completion this
year, in Bothasig, Fisantekraal, Nomzamo, Klapmuts — one high
school and one primary school — and Silversands.
The reality is that between 18 000 and 20 000 extra learners
join Western Cape schools every year, and have done so every
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year for the past five years. If the department only had to
rely on new schools then the province would have to build,
furnish and staff 18 to 20 new schools every single year — and
that is before we even start to deal with the backlog from
persistent underfunding, as well as the National Norms and
Standards for Infrastructure Regulations, which compel us to
build in a certain way and certain facilities. Given the
number of learners moving to the Western Cape province, in
addition to the 129 mobile classrooms delivered in the
previous financial year, 173 more are in the process of being
delivered, a total of 28 replacement school projects had been
listed over the next three years, another 97 vacant classrooms
have been identified and repairs will continue to accommodate
more than 4 600 learners, and a further 11 learner transport
routes, serving more than 6 000 learners, were approved for
January this year.
The budget the province gets, which is more than 90% funded by
national government, cannot accommodate this rate. In fact, I
hear that now after National Treasury already changed the
Provincial Equitable Share formula criteria for Health which
will mean in the future we are getting less money in the
Western Cape for Health, the National Treasury is also now
revising the criteria in the formula for Education. Further,
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the current formula makes no provision for special needs
students. To put this into context, there were 20 325 learners
in the Western Cape last year. The cost on schools to make
provision for these learners is higher than ordinary public
schools, but the province is left on its own to absorb the
funding in this regard. It must be emphasised, that whilst
their respective school governing bodies can individually
charge school fees, should they choose to, all 74 special
schools in the Western Cape are regarded as no-fee schools in
terms of funding.
This year the WCED has completed the transfer of the ECD
centres from the Department of Social Development to the
Department of Education and R1,2 billion has been shifted in
order to ensure the ECD programme does so successfully. The
department aims to infuse educational content and
methodologies over the next two years into this sector.
Despite the decrease in the allocation of the Early Childhood
Development Grant, as received from the national government,
this Department aims to do everything in its power to ensure a
smooth transition of this programme. The grant will be split
between two programmes dealing with subsidies and maintenance
respectively.
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As you can see, the Western Cape is pioneering and doing
everything in its power to ensure that the vision of quality
education for every learner everywhere has substance and is a
reality. We hope that moving forward the national government
will work with us to further this reality even more. I thank
you, House Chairperson.
Ms P BOSHIELO (Limpopo): Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, Ntate
Amos Masondo, hon Minister of Basic Education, Mme Angie
Motshekga, hon Minister of Social Development, Mme Lindiwe
Zulu, hon Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Dr Regina
Mhaule, hon Chairperson of the Select Committee, Mr Aleck
Nchabeleng, hon members from Limpopo and other provinces, and
in the NCOP, ladies and gentlemen, comrades and compatriots,
thobela, rea lotsha. [I greet you.]
It is my singular honour and privilege to be participating in
this debate of the Department of Basic Education Budget Vote as
presented by our Minister of Basic Education. We welcome the
Budget Vote as ably delivered by the Minister and we want to
indicate upfront that we fully agree with you that making
progress in the basic education sector, requires a continual
focus on our long-term targets, while taking into account the
urgencies whenever they arise. One such urgency came in the form
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of the COVID-9 pandemic, which was truly unexpected and
unprecedented. It changed operations in the sector in as far as
curriculum delivery is concerned and the time we have lost
remains unrecovered. The losses to COVID-19 in terms of
personnel are still a traumatic experience to families and to
us as a sector. The resources that were required, financial and
otherwise remain immense.
Hon Chairperson, I am happy to announce that under the leadership
of the Minister of Basic Education and the Minister of Social
Development as Limpopo we were able to transfer Early Childhood
Development, ECD, functions smoothly before 1 April in the last
financial year. Working together with the MEC for Social
Development, Mme Nkakareng Rakgoale and her team. They assisted
us in making sure that the transfer was very smooth. We are
still working together as a team and in terms of our budget, we
have also put aside some money to be able to put infrastructure
in our ECD, about R50 million to do that.
Indeed, Minister, our overriding priority, as basic education,
is to deliver quality basic education and we have endeavoured
to do so to our learners in Limpopo. Our learners come first in
all that we seek to do and we cannot afford to be distracted
from the job at hand notwithstanding the challenges that we face
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from time to time. We worked hard at the height of the pandemic
and continuing to do so fully aware that it will take some time
for our learners to catch up in their learning due to COVID-19.
We are also continuing to work very hard with social partners
in the province from teacher unions, governance associations,
civil society, private sector and our communities to deliver the
very best education, under the current circumstances.
The Limpopo Provincial Executive Council under the leadership
of our premier, Stanley Chupu Mathabatha, convened a Provincial
Education Indaba, which was attended by various stakeholders.
The Indaba adopted an intervention plan and stakeholders signed
a pledge to support the department in the implementation of the
intervention plan premised on six pillars. To enhance quality
of instructional leadership, optimize teacher utilisation,
maximize delivery of strengthened support systems, maximize
provision of learner support services, strengthen assessment
practices and enhance efficiency of blended delivery modes.
Hon Chairperson, the COVID-9 pandemic has compelled us to
accelerate our efforts towards embracing the Fourth Industrial
Revolution. In the last financial year, we announced a two-
pronged approach to be followed in rolling out the e-Learning
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strategy. The first approach was successfully implemented
through the launching of the Smart Classrooms in 106 Maths,
Science and Technology, MST, schools with the software that is
intended to revolutionise teaching and learning in the province.
Yes, the 2,9% national increase from last year’s allocation for
MST, as announced by our Minister will surely add to what we
must continue to do in this critical area.
An analysis of the Grade 12 results in these schools indicate
that the performance of learners has increased by 5% in these
gateway subjects. The second approach is the provisioning of
tablets to learners and laptops to teachers in selected schools
in the province. To this end, 24 600 tablets for learners and
3 173 laptops for teachers in Grade 1 and 8 have since been
procured and delivered.
In this financial year, a total amount of R312,7 million has
been allocated for this programme and as more funding becomes
available, the department will accelerate the provisioning of
tablets and laptops to schools, prioritising Quintile 1 to 3
schools.
These schools are also having the dignity of girl learners
restored as the department is delivering sanitary towels to
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indigent girl children. In the previous financial year,
R34 million was allocated for this programme and in this
financial year an amount of R35 million has been allocated and
so far over 195 000 girl learners are getting a supply of packs
of sanitary pads, enabling them to attend school every day
without fail.
In line with what President Cyril Ramaphosa indicated in His
2019 state of the nation address when he said, and I quote:
Our greatest challenge is to create jobs for the unemployed
of today, while preparing workers for the jobs of tomorrow.
Our young people need to be given a real head start in the
world of work
Informed by this injunction, we are in a process of resourcing
and bringing back the glory days of our eight agricultural
schools in the province. We are working in collaboration with
the national Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural
Development and the province and also nationally to identify
critical areas that will improve implementation of these
agricultural programmes in our schools. The main aim is to train
young farmers who will venture in the field of agriculture as
one of the key economic pillars of the province.
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The department has also identified mining as one of the major
economic activity sustaining livelihoods. The Minister of Higher
Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande and the
premier of our province, Ntate Chupu Mathabtha have launched the
Sekhukhune Skills Development Centre at Acquaville Section in
Groblersdaal Town in the Sekhukhune District. The construction
of this centre, which includes a mining academy has commenced.
The three mining focus high schools that the department plans
to construct in Sekhukhune, Mogalakwena and Mopani will be
feeders to this centre. This will assist our learners in
acquiring the relevant skills required by mining in the
province.
Safe and adequate infrastructure remains a challenge in our
province due to budgetary constraints. In spite of all these
challenges, we were able to complete nine schools in our province
and will also be building more than six schools in this financial
year.
The provincial government had allocated the department
R200 million in these financial year in order to repair 50 storm-
damaged schools. This will go a long way in ensuring that we
provide safe learning and teaching environment in our schools.
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Hon Chairperson, we are also faced with serious challenges in
our schools. Learners are becoming very violent and there is
increase in bullying among them. Some learners even insult and
assault our educators. We are also observing the increase in
substance and alcohol abuse at our schools and we have partners
with our parents, teachers, the SA Police, SAPS, Departments of
Health and Social Development in order to deal with these
matters.
Teenage pregnancies remain also one of the challenging factor.
In the financial year of 01 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, in
Limpopo 22 000 teenagers became pregnant. Three thousand
terminated and 19 000 gave birth. What is most worrying is, that
the pregnant learners ages ranges from 10 to 15-years, which
constitute statutory rape. As a sector, we will work with key
stakeholders to ensure that those people who have impregnated
these learners are brought to book.
The other phenomenon which we are observing in our province, is
the increase in the rape of girl learners as young as in Grade 1
and 2. This is very serious issue and affect the mental stability
of learners. We also noticed the increase in suicide by our
learners because of the COVID-19 pandemic also suffer some
mental illnesses. Some cannot cope with also bullying and
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assault. This is very painful and psychosocial support is
provided to the affected schools, learners and educators.
Also, some communities still disturb learning and teaching times
when they have challenges in their areas in terms of water or
roads. Schools are the first targets and in some cases,
communities will blockade roads to schools and close school
gates and demand that learners not attend school until their
demands are resolved. There are also disturbances in schools in
terms of appointment of principals, where communities will
refuse the appointment of other priciplas and say they want the
child of the soil. [Bare ba nyaka ngwana wamobu.] Especially
women principals.
[Interjections.]
We are trying as hard as we can to deal with the matter.
Some communities continue to burn our schools when they are
supposed to be merged due to low enrolment. Instead of letting
learners to attend the merged school, they resort to burning the
old schools and refuse their children to attend the new school.
Mostly is because they do not want learners to go to another
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school because as Chiefs they do not want the other one to go
to the other Chief’s area.
So, they then invite the media and put the poor learners in the
burned building to give impression that as government, we are
ignoring them and not taking them into consideration. The recent
tragedy at school that was in the media, parents in the area
burned the school demanding a new one be build and not merged.
They were told that their school will be built in the 2022-23
financial year. Six mobile classes were provided to them. They
burned three mobile classes, insisting that they want a new
school.
We are appealing to communities to safeguard our schools and not
vandalise and burn them, but also let the learners be at school
so that they can be able to receive education that they deserve.
We support this Budget Vote by the Minister of Basic Education
It will go a long way in improving education in our country and
in our province. Thank you very much, House Chairperson.
Mr M A P DE BRUYN: Hon Chair, I welcome the fact that the
Minister acknowledges the importance of developing the skills
needed in South Africa from a young age. But unfortunately,
acknowledging the problem and increasing the budget doesn’t
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solve the problems that basic education is facing. Realistic
steps are needed to be taken. Unlike the proposed Basic
Education Laws Amendment, Bela Bill that seeks to terminate
the functionality and inputs of school governing boards and
communities, and placing it in the hands of the head of
department of basic education.
So, giving this department sole power to determine language
and admission policies in schools, will be catastrophic
because it will be abused for political gain and not for the
purpose of empowering our youth. Hon Chair, we have learned
from the past that politicizing basic education is not in the
best interest of learners. But then again we have learnt in
the past that this ANC government puts itself above everyone
and anything.
The youth of south Africa doesn’t need politics, they need
descent schools and infrastructure. They need quality
education in a safe environment. They need a curriculum and
standards that will empower them to uplift themselves in the
future. But instead of addressing those needs, this department
rather focuses on politics.
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Hon Chair, last year when I addressed the importance of mother
tongue education and how it will contribute to the empowerment
of all learners, the hon Minister responded by saying that I
was racist. This year however, she herself is preaching the
importance of mother tongue education, and said that the issue
must urgently be debated. I fully agree with her in this
regard as the FF Plus has requested this debate on countless
occasions in the past. So Chair through you, I would like to
ask the hon Minister if she now also sees herself as a racist?
Hon Chair, the SA Institute of Race Relations has determined
that state schools are haltering the development of learners
especially black learners. That it is not as a result of a
lack of money, but as a result of corruption, cadre deployment
and unrealistic policies.
If we look at the shortages of schools and classrooms, as well
as the number of asbestos school buildings that still hasn’t
been replaced, and the thousands of schools that still makes
use of pit toilets, one can’t help but wonder what happened to
the hundreds of billions of rand that was budgeted for new
infrastructure over the last three decades. Most of those
funds ended up in the pockets of the politically connected and
the tenderpreneurs, and this whilst the youth are the ones
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that’s being left behind. That is to blame on the current ANC
government and not on the past.
Hon Chair, it is clear that this department is failing in its
mandate to provide access to basic education for all. It is
also clear that, this department is putting political agendas
before the needs of our youth. Therefore, we as opposition and
the country as a whole, has no faith that this department will
utilize this budget in the best interests of our youth that is
desperate need of quality education. Thank you
Mr N M HADEBE: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, it is widely
known that the COVID-19 pandemic exacted a heavy toll on the
basic education sector in South Africa. We lost educators,
support staff and learners during the past two years, all the
while trying to ensure a continuation of successful graduates.
Under these circumstances, any nation would find it difficult
to ensure that their output of quality education is met,
albeit not impossible.
The impacts of COVID-19 also affected the business of
teaching, especially in under resourced schools, and
communities where educators and learners did not have access
to online tools to continue teaching, and learning. This
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opened fresh wounds for the now parents who had inferior
education, under the apartheid government through inaccessible
schooling.
The report reflects these realities, and the massive
inequalities that prevail in this sector, informing us that, I
quote:
In historically disadvantaged schools, around 70% of a
year’s worth of learning was lost in 2020.
How are young people who have only had access to 30% of the
schoolwork supposed to progress, and be expected to write and
pass – the same exams as their more advantaged counterparts?
As the IFP, we agree with the priorities listed in the report,
as approved by the Council of Education Ministers, but we are
concerned about the realisation of these goals. For example,
they call for, immediate implementation of a curriculum with
skills and competencies for a changing world in all public
schools, listing the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
How can we expect our local, rural and township communities to
adopt these goals with an already disadvantaged background?
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This department must prioritise taking the Fourth Industrial
Revolution to rural areas, in collaboration with the
Government Communication and Information System, GCIS and
communications.
Whilst we are all acutely aware of the challenges that this
department has in bringing the Fourth Industrial Revolution to
rural areas, we must be appraised of a sound plan that can
meet these challenges with an allocated budget. Moreover,
there must be sufficient consultation with universities, TVETs
and Construction Education and Training Authority, Ceta for a
greater focus on literacy and content that will be taught
using these tools.
Hon Chairperson, the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal have
added additional stress to the mandate of this national
department and its provincial departments. This department is
such an important component of state capacity building and
development.
All stakeholders, including the IFP must not allow this
department to fall into a state of irreparable decline. We
have a duty to our communities to ensure that all children do
not go hungry, can attend safe and conducive learning
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environments. We must attend to all forms of bullying with
urgency and ensure that fellow students respect the learning
environment. Hon Chair, the IFP supports this budget. I thank
you.
Mr M R BARA: Thank you, hon House Chair. Hon Chairperson; hon
members; hon Minister and Deputy Minister, education has a
vital role in empowering women, safeguarding children from
exploitation and hazardous labour and sexual exploitation,
promoting human rights and democracy, and protecting the
environment that people find themselves in. Education is
recognised as one of the best financial investments that the
state can make.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa clearly
states that every child has the right to education and safety.
In a country like South Africa where gender-based violence is
a growing pandemic, we need education as a cornerstone of
empowerment against such a trend. The government’s continued
reprioritisation of funding for basic education flies in the
face of the nature of a constitutionally protected right. The
right to basic education, enshrined in section 9(1) of the
Constitution is an immediately realisable right, is not
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subject to internal qualifiers such as the state’s available
resources or progressive realisation.
Minister, your department has a responsibility to recognise
the importance of that right by availing resources to provide
a fair and secured education system to all the children in
this country. Before the pandemic, at least four out of 10
children in South Africa did not finish school. Each young
person that drops out of school adds to the deepening of
intergenerational poverty, unemployment and inequality
currently affecting 3,3 million youth not in education,
employment and skills training. This is specific reference to
learner dropouts which remains a huge challenge in our
country. We therefore need to find ways and means to address
this problem, which is what hon Gade from the Eastern Cape
alluded to. It will be great to see how the Eastern Cape works
that one out.
The recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and North
West posed an infrastructural challenge in the schooling
system with 630 schools damaged costing the department R442
million to fix. This is on top of the R203 million in damage
caused by the July unrest in KwaZulu-Natal. Yet, R1,6 billion
has been cut from the infrastructure budget by Cabinet over
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the medium-term which has already affected the existing
infrastructural backlog of dealing with mud, dilapidated
asbestos and pit toilets in schools.
This is occurring in a context where classes in many schools
are already overcrowded. Teacher retention is also a major
problem in South Africa and has only been amplified by the
COVID-19 pandemic. More teachers are leaving the profession
than are joining and it is expected that this will worsen due
to an anticipated retirement wave of teachers which is likely
to peak in 2030 and end in 2040.
There has been no schooling at Sediba sa Thuto Primary School
in Mamelodi East, Tshwane, for 3 weeks because the parents
have shut down the school due to overcrowding in classrooms.
There are 74 learners per classroom and the environment is not
conducive to productive learning and teaching. It is
unacceptable as learners are denied the dignity of learning in
an adequate environment. We call upon the department to follow
up on this matter urgently.
In the aftermath of the two years of substantial lost learning
time due to school closures and rotational timetables caused
by COVID-19 pandemic as well as the exacerbation of the
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sanitation and infrastructure crisis at many schools, the
government needs to take deliberate steps to prioritise basic
education to ensure that all learners are safe and will be
provided with their constitutional right, the right to
education.
The early childhood development sector is not forgotten aspect
of basic education in this country, grossly underfunded and
under supported by government with attendance at early
childhood development centres below 50% even before the COVID-
19 pandemic. Quality early childhood development is vital to
support children’s development and serves as the foundation
for future learning in schools. Lack of opportunities and
interventions or poor quality interventions during early
childhood can significantly disadvantage young children and
diminish their potential for success.
Despite the government’s rhetoric regarding the need for
universal access to early childhood development programmes,
growth in funding is only 1,7% on average, which in real terms
means funding is expected to decrease by 2,8% until 2024-25.
As with basic education, investment in early childhood
development yields high returns and saves government money in
the long term. This means that cutting funding in this crucial
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sector to save money and repay debt is counterproductive at
its best.
The lack of access to early childhood development programmes
negatively affects children’s rights, such as the right to
equality and education. Granting children access to early
childhood development programmes broadens their chances for
success and wealth compared with children who do not. In
conclusion, House Chairperson, Minister, we urge you to
prioritise giving the children a complete package for a good
starting in life. The children are the future, teach them well
and secure their future. I thank you, Chairperson.
Ms N NDONGENI: Thank you Chair, I am sorry about that. Good
afternoon, Chair, Minister, Deputy Minister on the platform,
special delegates and permanent delegates, ladies and
gentlemen, to create a better life for all, the ANC believes
that building an ethical and capable developmental state will
propel such realisation. A developmental state should have the
capacity to plan, implement and innovate. The capacity of the
state is also enhanced by the human capacity development of
the nation.
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Basic education plays a critical foundational base in the
cognitive development of our children. It is through education
that we can create equal opportunities for all South Africans.
The legacy of colonialism is evident in the spatial
distribution of opportunities and development. The fact that a
learner in a rural school is more likely to be in a school
with a lack of critical facilities, such as sporting
facilities, libraries, halls, and laboratories to name a few,
while schools in urban areas have more facilities. The
pandemic has resulted in learning losses that vary due to
inequality. Learners with no access to digital platforms and
support were left behind. Basic services are also uneven in
our system.
The District Development Model, DDM, needs to be leveraged for
coherent planning by the different departments to ensure that
our schools have access to water, sanitation, and health
services. Municipal services and developments need to ensure
that our schools are located in correct areas spatially and
police ensure safety in school location in communities with a
high prevalence of violence.
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This Budget Vote makes an important intervention in order to
close the infrastructure gap through the infrastructure grant
fund. Funds from the school infrastructure backlogs grant are
intended to provide schools with water and sanitation, and to
replace schools constructed with inappropriate materials such
as mud. Over the medium-term, R6,7 billion is allocated to the
grant to build 30 new schools, provide water to 50 schools,
and provide safe sanitation to 450 schools. These projects are
set to be completed by the end of 2022-23, after which the
school infrastructure backlogs grant will be incorporated into
the education infrastructure grant.
Through the increase in schooling facilities, we will be able
to address the learner-teacher ratio problem in our system to
meet the norms and standards in the best interest of the
learner. We welcome the efforts of the department in this
regard. In our oversight visits and constituency visits, we
see the improvements been undertaken despite the backlog.
This focus shows the progress been undertaken by the
department. The President in his Sona announced the
introduction of a special purpose vehicle to expedite the
eradication of improper facilities and the building of new
schools. This is a welcomed intervention as part of the
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Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan and infrastructure
focus which includes social infrastructure. We welcome the
efforts of the department on ensuring schools focus on
curriculum recovery as this poses a significant impact on
learners.
Food security in our country remains a challenge. According to
a report released by Statistics SA, Measuring Food Security in
South Africa: Applying the Food Insecurity Experience Scale,
almost 23,6% of South Africans in 2020 were affected by
moderate to severe food insecurity, while almost 14,9%
experienced severe food insecurity.
What opposition parties will not tell South Africans is that
this Budget Vote supports the national school nutrition
programme, a targeted 9 million learners each year over the
medium-term will be provided with a meal on school days. The
programme is funded by the national school nutrition programme
grant, which is allocated R26,7 billion over the medium-term
in the Educational Enrichment Services programme. Provinces
are also required to ensure that meals are provided on school
days when learners are not at school because of COVID?19
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restrictions. This contributes to addressing child stunting
which has a lifelong impact.
We welcome the pilot being undertaken in the Eastern Cape on
the use of the mother tongue?based bilingual education strategy
for Mathematics, Natural Science, and Technology. We need to
build on those gains and expand this initiative nationally.
The Budget Vote allocated over R420 million for the Maths,
Science and Technology Grant.
We call upon other provinces to adopt this approach as part of
phasing in our African languages for mainstream teaching and
learning.
Quality Learning and Teaching Campaigns which mobilise
stakeholders to play a role in promoting a culture of teaching
and learning in schools is an important area the department
should develop plans to address. The department should
strengthen the functioning of Quality Learning and Teaching
Campaigns particularly in communities with numerous
challenges. With a co-operative relationship in the sector,
risks of instability will begin to emerge.
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Hon Minister, the social media videos and images of learners
smoking and drinking alcohol are a critical area of concern
that requires a concerted effort from society and not just the
department. The call for moral regeneration have not become
more relevant in today’s reality of alcohol and drug abuse,
learner attack on teachers, and their disrespect, our creative
sectors are also critical influencers who at times perpetuate
these culture which does not reflect the values of Ubuntu and
respect.
Hon Minister, we need to focus on strengthening school
leadership. Principals are important in developing school
cultures that promote the values of the Constitution and
inclusive culture, hence the principal is a critical shaper of
the outcomes of a school, due to the leadership provided to
create an appropriate environment of teaching and learning.
We need to also focus on strengthening School Governing
Bodies, SGBs, as in other isolated instances they become a
cause of the collapse of stability in schools. The social
contract with the people should also be anchored on the social
duty which is incumbent on those who hold different leadership
positions in our SGBs and broadly public institutions.
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Those who reject this Vote have no interest in our people at
heart. You cannot reject a Vote which is an instrument of
transforming our society and liberating the oppressed and
poor.
The fiscal position of the country requires that the
department should spend its allocated funds in a prudent
manner without traces of corrupt practices and providing
quality workmanship. Accountability and consequence management
should be the response to identified areas of concern and acts
of financial misconduct.
The ANC remains committed in the fight against corruption. The
overall performance of the department will be considered in
the fourth quarter report or the annual report to assess
whether the department delivered on all of its targets.
The ANC supports this Budget Vote to create equal
opportunities for all South Africans. The legacy of the
democratic government of the ANC is the realisation of a
social wage to address the injustices of the past. Our legacy
will be strengthening the education system so that a child of
an informal worker and a domestic worker is today an
archaeologist, a doctor, a chartered accountant, an engineer,
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and many professions which the democratic breakthrough has
enabled, creating equal opportunities. The ANC supports Budget
Vote 16. Thank you, Chair.
The MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Thank you very much,
Chairperson, let me also thank the different members who
participated in the debate and we can say, we sincerely take
their advice and council seriously and will always make sure
that any advice that we get we do actually filter it or
include it in the work that we do.
Chair, just for the record. You know when I started joining
Parliament, I was looking forward to engaging with the
Opposition, thinking that as people with the different
perspective will enrich this perspective, but now almost more
than 15 years into the process, I am very discouraged. The
Opposition...
IsiZulu:
...kufana nokuthi udlala nabo ...
English:
... find a mistake, finder, finder, ...
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... nothing substantive, nothing helpful. They know it all and
Mr finder, finder and unfortunately, for us from the governing
party don’t have find a mistake games -sport a difference. I
don’t think we will and it’s unfortunate that we find
ourselves in that. As a ruling party, we will continue to work
very hard including the Western Cape to make sure that we will
build a holistic, comprehensive education that is
developmental which will take our country forward.
IsiZulu
Ngakho thina sizawuqhuba, thina abo ...
English:
... finder-finder. Also, it is unfortunate that people keep on
saying the research says. You don’t know which research, by
who? You must mention the researcher if you already mean or
you really mean something about the research, but if it is a
research just to throw words around and throw weight - it
becomes unfortunate.
Chair, I did mention in my speech that we have made public
information on research enrollments and I will be releasing
the report soon. In fact, participation rates in schooling
rose during the pandemic. So, according to our recently
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released enrollment data, there has been substantial growth in
enrollment in our schools beginning before the pandemic in
2019. This growth did not slow down during the pandemic. It
actual fact, it increased by half a million between 2019 and
2021. We will make that information available.
The other fact which I want to respond to, Chair, I want to
confirm that indeed social class, unfortunately determines
where we stay, with whom we stay and where we live. As the
governing party, that’s why we’ve put together a full
comprehensive package to protect our children who come from
previously disadvantaged areas.
Hon member Ndongeni did mention that we provide food and
uniform. It’s not accidental, it’s deliberate and conscious in
a way of protecting the previously disadvantaged leaners
because we know that it has an impact. But what is also
pleasing to us, Chair, is that in the past few years, we’ve
seen the narrowing of the gap between kids who come from
privileged schools and kids who don’t come from highly
privileges communities. We are getting distinctions; we are
getting lots of good quality passes even from those schools
and that is very encouraging.
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Chair, it’s always a pleasure unfortunately to listen to the
ANC people. I don’t know it’s because it’s an organisation
with principles. There’s always content. I really have to
thank, hon member Malika because again you could hear that
these are the people who come from an organisation that is
driven by principles.
IsiZulu:
Hhayi, nje ukukhuluma ...
English
...and criticize and rubbish everything that people are doing.
I must say that the member from Western Cape, I really want to
thank her for her contribution. It’s quite clear she talks
about something that she knows, but unfortunately as she
closes she says, she hopes we’ll work with the DA. We are a
very principled country. Kids in the Western Cape belong to
us, as a nation, and all of us as adults. So, there is no way
we will prejudice them and say because we are national we will
not work with Western Cape. Ask all your MECs, we’ve always
worked very well because we respect everybody.
I think the other thing I really do not want to comment about
that we should not bring apartheid in schools, as if apartheid
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did not bring Bantu education. Even to talk about that in the
June month, I think it’s very unfortunate, where indeed an
apartheid landed us up where we are. We are not complaining,
we are committed to do what we have to do, to make sure that
indeed we can protect our children.
It is this governing party that brought the Bill of Rights to
protect people against racism, against sexism and also bring a
democratic government. Now to have to say - are you racist or
not. I wouldn’t be, otherwise I would not be a member of the
ANC. It’s unfortunate, but again as I say Chair, it is our
responsibility to make sure that we work with everybody.
Indeed, it is our responsibility Chair; to make sure that our
children’s future is protected, it’s not even in our interest
alone, it’s the interest of the country, it’s in the interest
of the nation that we have we have to do the things that we
have to do. I hope one day when the Opposition becomes more
patriotic should when we talk about the future of our
children, stop bringing us stories which are not relevant and
then they all scream about find a mistake and look for black
sports everywhere - that’s not going to be helpful Baba Bara,
to really go and look where you can find a mistake and make it
your speaking points.
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We are speaking about the budget; we are speaking about the
content. Address yourself to content and let’s work together
to build this country. I agree with hon member Ndongeni,
social decadence in our country has become a big problem and
it can only be solved by us as a nation. Questions of drugs,
questions of criminality, your teenage pregnancy all those
social problems are our problems as a nation so that we should
not be pointing at one part to say, hey say what ...
IsiZulu:
Awuthi ngibonge ke Sihlalo, ngibonge kakhulu nethuba ...
English:
...no I really want to say Chair, ... [Inaudible.] it’s been
very helpful and we take their comments very seriously and we
will factor them in the work that we do.
IsiZulu:
Ngiyabonga Sihlalo.
The HOUSE CHAIRPEROSN (Ms W Ngwenya): Thank you very much,
mama. I wish to thank the Minister, Deputy Minister, MECs and
all delegates who participated in the debate. Hon members, I
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would like now to call hon Nyambi, House Chairperson, to
continue with the Fourth Order of the day.
Debate on Budget Vote 16 concluded.
APPROPRIATION BILL
(Policy debate)
Vote No 19 - Social Development:
The MINISTER OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: ... MECs for Social
Development are present today, and the following - I am
informed are in the House today, hon Lusithi, hon Qabathe, hon
Rakgoale, hon Moiloa and of course we welcome the hon
Fernandez – I haven’t seen her for a very long time - you are
very welcomed hon Fernandez, distinguished guests ...
IsiZulu:
... ngiyanamukela nonke, ngiyanibingelela nonke emakhaya noma
nikuphi lapho nilalele khona.
English:
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I convey the apology of our Deputy Minister, the hon
Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu who is attending the 15th Session of
the Conference of State Parties to the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that is
taking place from today until 16 June in New York. Thank you
for the opportunity to present the 2022-23 Budget Vote 19 of
the Department of Social Development to the National Council
of Provinces, our NCOP. At the absolute minimum, the diverse
constituencies that entrusted us to carry out the
responsibilities of being public representatives and Members
of Parliament expect nothing less from all of us than behaving
and conducting ourselves in a manner that protects the
public’s collective interest as well as growing confidence and
levels of trust between Parliament and the public. I know that
the hon members are asking themselves the reason why I am
saying so – refer back to my last speech in the National
Assembly when I was giving a response for the President’s
budget.
This public demands from each one of us to be the embodiment
of respectability, integrity, ethical conduct, and accountable
and credible democratic governance. The NCOP helps to bring
the provincial nuances to Parliament’s role. These
expectations are particularly true in view of the need to
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attend to the needs of the custodians of the spring of vigour,
enthusiastic aspirations and South Africa’s future essence -
that is the youth. This year - as you are all aware, now in
June, we are celebrating the gallant fighters of 1976. Theirs,
and that is the youth of today, is the same untiring longing
that, dating back to as recent as June 1976, gave birth to the
democracy that we live in today. And that, we must never
forget.
Likewise, as public representatives we are best advised to
sharpen our investments in youth targeting socioeconomic
interventions. Faced with the novel disasters and shocks, the
slowing global economic growth, domestic stagflation, COVID-
19, the July 2021 unrests and the climate change induced
floods in the North West, KwaZulu-Natal ...
IsiZulu:
... ngicishe ngathi KwaZulu, uNatali akasuke kodwa Nkosi yami.
English:
... and Eastern Cape provinces challenges, we continue to
witness South Africans coming together to form defences that
protect and improve our collective lives and livelihoods.
Working together with our provincial departments of Social
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Development, the department is leading the formation of
purposeful and community-targeted people-public-private-civic-
academic-multilateral partnerships and social compacts that
are attending to the wellbeing of South Africans during
natural, economic and social disasters and shocks. I urge us
all to strengthen these partnerships and social compacts in
action into the future. While disasters and shocks may be
uncontrollable, our responses to these phenomena should
demonstrate people-focused planning.
In this regard, I have directed the department to develop a
disaster preparedness and response plan through which our
capacity to reliably deliver timely humanitarian relief and
assistance will be strengthened. Among others, this plan
should be informed by the weather services data as well as
geospatial data as proxies for human movement in affected
communities.
May I, Chairperson and hon members, at this point in time also
emphasise that the Department of Social Development cannot do
this work alone. The department, in focussing on issues of
disaster has to work in a co-ordinated manner with all other
provinces. I stand here today and outside in Cape Town is a
disaster. It is cold; it is freezing and it is raining. So,
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you can imagine what is happening to those people who are not
as privileged as some of us are. We go back to normal homes
from here, they don’t. These elements define the backdrop
against which the 2022-23 Budget Vote of the Department of
Social Development is being presented to you.
Working together with provincial government departments, our
52 districts and metropolitan municipalities, nonprofit
organisations in the social development sector and community
members, this budget is the pursuit of socioeconomic
reconstruction and recovery, people-responsive co-operative
governance towards inclusive economic growth and a common
prosperity. It is not supposed to be for a few but common
prosperity needs to be seen to be working towards our people.
It therefore stands to reason that this 2022-23 budget should
embody the implementation of qualitatively improved and
accessible Social Development programmes that are reflective
of the aspirations of the different constituencies and
communities in our nine provinces, of which you represent.
While these programmes are targeted at the betterment of the
state of our people and the communities that they live in and
represent, it is the intentional and collective implementation
of the range of Social Development programmes that will
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translate into the realisation of meaningful society-wide
impact.
Informed by the state of the nation address and our economic
priorities, throughout this financial year, the Department of
Social Development will intentionally intensify its
contributions towards interventions that purposefully address
the constant challenges of poverty, inequality and
unemployment through the following. One, pursuing the twin
policies of social protection on the one hand, and programmes
that are intended at creating economic participation
opportunities on the other. Doing so will ensure that while
the necessary support is extended to members of society who
are able to participate in the economy, no one is left behind
and unsupported by virtue of their inability to compete in the
market systems. Two, attending to priority concerns such as
tackling gangsterism – and we are in the Western Cape,
fighting substance abuse and supporting families and
communities who are affected by disasters, shocks and
emergencies in our communities.
Three, expanding our support for food and nutrition provision
interventions and partnerships in pursuit of ending the pain
of hunger, especially among children while undoing the adverse
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long-term effects of malnutrition on human development and
economic productivity. Four, continuing to implement and
strengthen the socioeconomic value of the COVID-19 Social
Relief of Distress grant among those who receive it, and
thereby affording these beneficiaries a dignified life. Five,
easing programme co-ordination, budgeting and implementation
within the social development sector across the three spheres
of government through the Cabinet-adopted District Development
Model. Seven, stabilising and strengthening governance and
implementation capacity throughout the Social Development
portfolio with the view to ensure that our programmes are the
embodiment of protecting the dignity of our people.
I therefore go to the issue of the budget itself, Vote No 19
of the Social Development constitutes 13,1% of government’s
overall estimated budget of R1 957 trillion. I repeat,
R1 957 trillion. Our budget allocation for the 2022-23
financial year is a total of R257 billion, of which
R248 billion is allocated as cash transfers to more than 18
million social grants beneficiaries every month. These include
the old age, child support, care dependency, grant-in-aid and
foster care grants. This investment constitutes 99,6% of the
department’s total budget allocation in every community
throughout our country. And I believe that we can still
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increase that when we look at the other budgets like the SA
Social Security Agency, Sassa – and of course NDA is a
stepchild so far. We need to do something better for NDA.
Now I am going to talk about provincial allocations. The
reason why I talk about the provincial allocations breakdown
is simply because we are speaking particularly to the NCOP. It
is important for members of the NCOP to understand and
appreciate that the money that I have just spoken about, we
don’t keep it in the Department of Social Development at
national, but we send it right down to where it belongs - and
that is in the provinces. Eight comma four billion goes to the
Eastern Cape, R3,5 billion goes to the Free State,
R16,5 billion goes to Gauteng, R9,7 billion goes to Kwazulu,
R4,7 billion goes to Mpumalanga, R5,4 billion goes to Limpopo,
R2,8 billion goes to Northern Cape, R4,9 billion is for North
West and R6,9 billion goes to Western Cape.
Now I come to our entities. One of our entities is Sassa – it
is popularly known as Sassa, and the CEO of Sassa is sitting
right here. The journalist will have to answer for the R350 –
I will give it to the CEO. [Laughter.] An amount of
R7 499 billion is allocated towards Sassa’s operations and
grant payment fees. Part of improving Sassa’s operational
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efficiency is to ensure that 95% of all face-to-face grant
applications are processed within five days, while the target
for new online applications is 10 days. In the previous
financial year, we piloted the queue management system in
local Sassa offices. Our plan is to incrementally roll out
this system nationally in the coming years so that you don’t
see me in ... [Inaudible.] ... anymore.
Added to this is an amount of R44 billion for the extension of
the special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress, SRD, grant,
the grant will be distributed to 10,5 million eligible persons
monthly until the end of March 2023. Yesterday Sassa began to
make the first payments after working tirelessly with our
partners - the banks. While 321 819 people were paid
yesterday, more than 700 000 beneficiaries will be paid by the
end of this week. We truly do understand the pain and
hardships that our people are going through, and it is our
intention to ensure that each of the 10,5 million eligible
beneficiaries are in receipt of their payment. The payments we
are processing over the next few weeks include the payment of
appeals dating back to August 2021. These payment backlogs
will be cleared and paid.
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Regarding the National Development Agency, NDA, during this
financial year, the National Development Agency receives a
transfer of R219 million to its budget as a contribution
towards the fulfilment of its mandate, which includes grant
funding and capacity building for civil society organisations.
An amount of R15 million has been set aside for this purpose.
A dynamic civil society is a fundamental building block for
the emergence of resilient communities and a vibrant
democratic society. Even if others don’t believe so, we do.
In addition, while practicalising the Cabinet-adopted District
Development Model, the NDA will pilot the new business model
by targeting its implementation in one district per province.
Some of the targeted districts include - to name a few, O R
Tambo in the Eastern Cape province, Ngaka Modiri Molema in
North West province, Lejweleputswa in the Free State,
Waterberg in Limpopo and Amajuba in KwaZulu.
I am pleased also to announce to this honourable House that we
are at the final stages of appointing the board of the NDA
that will serve for the next three years according to the
provisions of the National Development Agency Act.
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With Social Development is the SA Council for Social Service
Professions, it’s a statutory body, established in terms of
section 2 of the Social Service Professions Act. The mandate
of the council is to regulate, professionalise the social
service profession and conduct investigations into allegations
of professional or ethical misconduct in order to protect the
public. The council is funded mainly by annual and
registration fees it receives from registered social service
professionals. We have allocated R7,016 million to augment the
council’s budget over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework.
Coming to the department itself, as the mother, the father,
the uncle and the aunt of everyone else, the department’s
specific allocation is R944 million, and the priorities that
this will be directed towards are the following ... Can I
please have my phone to look at the department’s programmes.
Thank you Chairperson, I wanted to just get to the department
before I get to those areas which we will be focussing on
because I think it is important for everyone to understand
where does all the R944 million go to.
Given this budget, the department utilise it to provide social
protection and social investments as stipulated in chapters 9
and 10 of the Constitution and chapter 11 of the National
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Development Plan, as well as Priority 1 and Priority 4 of the
Medium-Term Strategic Framework, MTSF. As a national
department, our core business relates to the development of
policy and legislation, to monitor its implementation in all
provinces, to ensure capacity development and compliance of
the same. These policies and legislations ensure that we
provide care and support, mainly for the poor and vulnerable
individuals of society. These includes care and protection of
children. We have just come out of the Child Protection Week.
It also includes care and support, and promotion of the rights
of the older persons, food security, development of
individuals so that they attain their sustainable livelihoods,
alleviating social ills such as substance abuse, violence
against women and children and matters pertaining to teenage
pregnancies, amongst others.
I am hoping that this issue of teenage pregnancy is something
that you yourselves can also focus on because what nation can
allow a situation where 10-year-old get pregnant. Who makes a
10-year-old pregnant. No 10-year-old makes a 10-year-old
pregnant. It is adults; it is predators; it is people who are
abusive, who think it is okay to make a 10-year-old, a 12-
year-old, a 14-year-old pregnant.
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Having now spoken to the department’s programme, it is for
this reason that I now face the issues which are of major
importance to us, that is gender-based violence and femicide.
South Africans, we are indeed a very violent society. The
recent quarterly crime statistics data shows that the first
three months of this year were especially brutal for our
country’s women and children in that the recorded number of
murders, attempted murders and assault of women increased by
double digits. The likelihood is that for every reported case
of gender-based violence, an unknown number of gender-based
violence incidents go unreported because their families decide
that they are not going to report it, and they are going to be
talking to each other. Some families even say ...
IsiZulu:
... siyobhadala imbuzi. Siyokhipha imbuzi ...
English:
... for such a crime. It must not happen. The fact that an
estimated one in six South African women is being abused while
others are brutally killed by their male partners cannot and
should not be tolerated by our society. In partnership with
all of society, we oppose this destructive culture of
patriarchy and gender inequalities because these undermine our
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developmental efforts and inclusive economic growth. Our
communities are still reeling at the horror and brutal
killings of Hillary Gardee, Bontle Mashiyane, Tshegofatso
Pule, Namhla Mtwa, the numbers go on and on - and too many
others whose names I may not mention necessarily today but we
live in these communities and we know them. Our resolve to
join efforts in people-public-private-civic-academic-
multilateral partnerships against this evil and menacing
brutality should be strengthened.
Guided by Pillar 4 of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-
Based Violence and Femicide, we will intensify the
implementation of awareness and advocacy programmes with
specific attention to areas that the Minister of Police has
declared gender-based violence. In this regard, our
programmatic interventions include the deployment of gender-
based violence and femicide ambassadors in hotspot areas such
as Lusikisiki, Inanda and Delft. These initiatives are being
complemented by the expansion of shelters for survivors of
gender-based violence. And again, hon members, we will not do
this work alone. We believe that working together we can be
able to do better.
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I also want to juts quickly speak to the extended child
support grant. We are turning the corner in our quest to find
a comprehensive legal solution to the foster care challenges
which have been plaguing the sector for many years. In this
regard, I am pleased to announce that an amount of
R687 million in 2023-24, and R871 million in 2024-25 has been
allocated for the implementation of the long-awaited extended
child support grant otherwise known as the top-up child
support grant for orphans who are in the care of relatives.
Funds will be reprioritised within the current allocation of
R248 billion for social grants expenditure to provide for the
top up.
To date, Sassa has received over 1 000 applications from
eligible caregivers. Once approved through the effortless
process that we have put in place, unlike the lengthy foster
care system that was applicable before, the eligible
caregivers will receive an amount of R720 per child per month.
This financial year alone, the grant is expected to benefit
over 191 000 relatives or caregivers.
Still on matters related to children, I am pleased to inform
this House that we have transferred the function of early
childhood development to the Department of Basic Education,
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and I am sure that Minister Angie Motshekga must have also
referred to that in her presentation. The hon Minister Angie
and I have agreed that the Department of Social Development
will continue supporting the transition process to ensure that
there is seamless provision of services. In line with the
principle of funds follows function, the total amount that
will be transferred to the Department of Basic Education for
the 2022-23 financial year is R4,5 billion.
IsiZulu:
Laba abathanda ukukhulumela safuthi siyababonisa ukuthi le
mali iya la kufuneka iye khona. Mabathule kancane.
English:
One of the issues that concerns us is the twin challenges of
illicit drug use and gangsterism. The combined impact of these
challenges on individuals, families and neighbours is profound
and the need for urgent, collective and consistent action
could not be clearer. The task of tackling this national
emergency cannot be undertaken by any one department alone. A
collective effort is required, which is why we have set up the
Central Drug Authority to lead national efforts to implement
the National Drug Master Plan 2019-2024.
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Equally, we will ensure that those affected get the help that
they need through the public treatment centres. Our policy
stance is clear that addiction is a chronic condition and that
when someone has been drawn into drug dependency, they should
be supported to recover. [Time expired.]
IsiZulu:
Ngiyabonga kakhulu, Sihlalo. Ezinye nje sengizozisho,
ngikhulumile ngokukhulelwa kwezingane, ukukhulelwa kwentsha.
Employment self-service professionals nayo leyo isiphathe
nezinhlangano ezingekho ngaphansi kwahulumeni. Okokugcina,
sengivala nje niyazi nonke ukuthi sinalo uhlelo lomthetho
[legislative programme.]
Ngicela ukubonga uMnyango wami, izinhlangano nabo bonke abantu
engisebenza nabo engigijima nabo. Ngiphinde ngibonge nomndeni
wami ...
English:
... to support me throughout this period. My family has been
supportive. I have abused them in one way or the other because
I am hardly ever there. But they know that I am doing the work
for the people. I thank you, Chairperson.
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Ms M N GILLION: Thank you, Deputy Chairperson. Greetings to
the Chairperson of the NCOP, the Chief Whips, House
Chairpersons, MECs present, the Minister and the Deputy
Minister who are present within this debate and also to all
delegates.
Hon Chairperson, section 27 of our constitution enshrines
everyone’s right to sufficient food, water, and social security
and that the democratic government must take all reasonable
legislative measures for the realisation of that right.
Therefore, the department of Social Development is mandated to
ensure protection against vulnerability by creating an enabling
environment for the provision of a comprehensive, integrated and
sustainable social development service.
Hon Chair, South Africa is not a welfare state, but our
government has to put measures in place to ensure that the
welfare of the poor in our country is protected.
The lived experiences of many South Africans in particular
Africans, women and children dictate that our government put in
place measures such as the social assistance, social security,
and welfare services in the form of social grants, food relief
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packages etcetera to address their immediate needs to address
poverty alleviation and food insecurity.
Hon Chairperson, we welcome the commitment to the implementation
of a National Food and Nutrition Security Plan. It is high time
that we encourage our people to be involved in individual homes,
and community school garden projects for both poverty
alleviation and for sustainable livelihoods.
Our ANC government is committed in creating an ethical and
capable developmental state which should drive the socio-
economic development of our society. As the ANC, we welcome the
initiative by the Minister and her department to professionalise
the sector through the enactment of the Social Service
Professionals Bill that would be debated in this house sometime
during the course of this year.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, we are concerned with the little budget
allocated to the National Development Agency, NDA, which has a
huge responsibility of eradicating poverty and its causes. The
NDA does this through its partnerships with civil society
organisations, by funding, the training and mentoring of
community based organisations for self-sustainability whilst
eradicating poverty in their communities.
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We further welcome the commitment made that the NDA will create
more than 3 000 job opportunities during this financial year.
These commitments are in line with the objectives of the
government as outlined in the President’s state of the nation
address in the beginning of this year.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, programme 5 of the Department of Social
Development is about the implementation of Social Policy and
Integrated Services Delivery. The ANC appreciates the commitment
made under this programme as presented in the Annual Performance
Plan, APP, of the department.
Amongst the issues that the department is going to implement
is to ensure that they process within two months at least 98%
of non-profit organisation, NPO, applications that the
department would have received. Further, the APP commits in
reviewing non-profit organisations, NPOs, annual reports
within two months of their receipt. This has been one of the
challenges encountered by new NPOs. These actions will ensure
that new non-profit organisations will not have to wait long
for their approval but also through a fast-tracked review of
their annual reports they would be able to apply on time for
funding.
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Hon Deputy Chair, we wish to further welcome the commitment made
by the Department of Social Development with regards to job
creation. President Ramaphosa had called on all government
departments to priorities job creation, and the department will
contribute in that objective by creating more than 176 474
Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, work opportunities
through its Social Sector EPWP Programmes. Furthermore, the
department will contribute in skills development through
training about 600 young people throughout the country in
various skills.
The measures to fight gender-based violence and femicide: Hon
Chairperson, the hard lockdown in the initial stage of the Covid-
19 pandemic in the country, did not only expose the levels of
inequality, poverty, and unemployment, but also it exposed the
veracity of the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide
in our communities. During that time, homes became an abusive
environment for women and children. According to the South
African Police Service, it reported that during the first week
of the lockdown, they received more than 2 300 phone calls
reporting GBVF incidence in their homes.
We welcome the Minister’s commitment in the eradication of the
scourge of GBVF in our communities. The Department of Social
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Development has put in place measures and programmes to
implement the National Strategic Plan on gender-based violence
and femicide. Amongst the programmes that the Minister put in
place was the training and deployment of GBVF ambassadors that
would work closely with local community organisations that are
already in the sector.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, President Ramaphosa during his state of
the nation address encouraged the need for social compact, the
Department of Social Development through its various
partnerships with civil society organisations in addressing GBVF
is a demonstration of what can be achieved through social
compacting.
Hon Deputy Chair, the impact of the pandemic on the livelihoods
of millions of South Africans have been extreme. While in some
ways communities are acclimatising themselves to the new normal
the effects of the pandemic on the global economy are quite
significant and linger on. Millions of jobs have been lost, and
many families and individuals displaced by Covid-19. South
Africa, being a country that battles the scourge of
unemployment, inequality ad poverty has been further plunged
into vulnerability by the pandemic. The implementation of the
Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress, SRD, grant has certainly
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buffered many families from the full impact of the pandemic on
their livelihoods. Politically, the roll-out of the SRD grant
is an important step towards addressing poverty and inequality.
In line with the ANC’s commitment to economic transformation,
the commitment to expand the pay point areas for the SRD to
local consumer goods traders represents a step in the right
direction for laying the foundation for an inclusive economy
that we aspire for.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, we further acknowledge the steps taken
by the department to not only providing psycho-support to GBVF
victims but also the initiative to empower them with skills to
participate in the economy of our country. In most cases the
victims of GBVF are people who are reliant on their livelihoods
on the perpetrator, therefore, the transfer of skills will go a
long way in empowering the victim’s independent livelihoods.
Hon Deputy Chair, as we intensify the fight against the GBVF,
we must not forget to intensify our fight against unwanted
teenage pregnancies, alcohol and substance abuse and against
gangsterism in our schools and communities.
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We welcome the emphasis the Minister has put on the fight of
against these social ills that are killing the future of our
country. It cannot be the responsibility of the government and
civil society organisations alone, but we must strive to include
the affected communities.
The payout of the social Relief of Distress Grant has resulted
in long queues in our post offices with people lining up for
queues as early as the night before their payment date.
Further, the application process for the grant has
demonstrated that digitisation is the way to go. Many of the
beneficiaries of the SRD grant made their application via
their mobile phones, therefore, confirming the need for a
transition towards the full utilisation of the opportunities
brought by the 4th Industrial Revolution.
We call upon the Department of Social Development and the SA
Social Security Agency, Sassa, to explore the possibility of
introducing a financial technology system which will reduce the
costs of distributing grants whiles creating inclusive access.
Hon Deputy Chair, it is disheartening to read on the news on
reports of corruption and fraud involving public servants
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We welcome the commitment made by the Minister of rooting out
fraudulent activities in rolling out of SRD. Fraudulent activity
in any size, shape or form is a gross injustice to the people
of South Africa. We cannot as such protect any elements in the
state that seek to rob the country and its people.
Hon Deputy Chair, in conclusion, we need to strengthen ethical
governance within the public sector. This can only be done if
we continuously emphasise the upholding of the Code of Conduct
for Public Servants. The ANC in the National Council of Provinces
supports the Department of Social Development Budget Vote 19. I
thank you, Deputy Chair.
Ms S MANI-LUSITHI (Eastern Cape): Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon
members and delegates and fellow South Africans allow me to
greet you as I rise on behalf of the Eastern Cape to support
the 2022/23 Budget Vote 19 of the Department of Social
Development as tabled by the hon Minister Lindiwe Zulu. Since
the beginning of the Sixth Administration and the past two
years of the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic and other
disasters, the Minister has provided a sterling leadership to
the Portfolio Committee on Social Development. Indeed, under
her leadership, the portfolio has managed to ensure that we
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build comprehensive systems of social protection that has
brought social solidarity to life and the vulnerable groups.
In the province of Eastern Cape, yourself and the Deputy
Minister have been part of our interventions to prioritize the
rights of women, youth, children, and people with
disabilities. Hon Chairperson, we recognize that we are now at
the Mid-Term of the Sixth Administration and that we only have
less than seven years left towards the realisation of the
goals set out in Vision 2030.
This means we must prioritize the implementation of
programmes, which will yield the greatest impact towards the
attainment of Vision 2030. As we look forward to a new
financial year, we therefore appreciate the message of the
Minister in that:
The Social Development portfolio is entering a period of
great shift wherein our visibility, responsiveness and
relevance will be aligned with the people’s felt needs.
In his state of the nation address, Sona in February this
year, His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa called for an
urgent necessity to fuse our efforts in tackling our present-
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day challenges. President Ramaphosa articulated a need for
what he termed as a New Consensus. He said:
It must be a consensus that is born out of a common
understanding of our challenging situation and
recognition of the need to address the challenges of
unemployment, poverty and inequality.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, we reaffirm that the 10-point
interventions outlined in the budget vote indeed seeks to
intensify interventions that address the impact of poverty,
inequality and unemployment. The demand for developmental
social welfare services has increased immensely amid this
socioeconomic challenge caused by the pandemic. The allocation
of the R257 billion from our fiscus is indicative of the
immense task we have in responding to the challenges of
poverty and hopelessness.
The Minister’s budget speech has done exceptionally well in
aligning our policies, programmes, and our service
deliverables towards realising social transformation as we
navigate the difficult times presented by the post Covid-19
economy. In this regard, we have learnt some key lessons in
operating the Covid-19 pandemic wherein:
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Firstly, agility and speed have become the norm in decision
making, government and social partners proved that it is
possible to put urgency in dealing with transformation.
Secondly, social compacting between government and social
partners emerged and informed decision structures at all
levels in the country and this proved that it is possible for
government to partner with the private sector and pool
resources. Lastly, integration within and between government
departments became norm and all it needs is sustaining through
systems beyond structures.
One of the key priority areas of the Sixth Administration
includes building a capable, ethical and developmental state
which marks a significant and radical shift from a welfare-
orientated stance to a more developmental approach. This,
therefore, means strengthening community development services
towards sustainable livelihoods. In advocating for the shift
efforts will be made to ensure a strength-based, community-
centred and participatory approach to integrated service
delivery, within the broader mandate of social development.
In realizing these priorities, the department remains
steadfast in improving governance and management practices on
effective planning, operational efficiency, and overseeing the
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implementation of the policies through effective planning,
monitoring and evaluation systems. Central to the Strategic
Plan’s ability to guide clear actions is the need to renew the
organizational culture, and the delivery of the services while
also strengthening management capabilities. The extent to
which we meet these goals will speak volumes about our
determination to improve the lives of the people we serve.
Hon members, these priorities are anchored by the National
Development Plan, NDP Vision 2030 which seeks to establish and
responsive social protection system. In this regard, we want
to ensure that families, as the cornerstone of a developmental
state will appreciate the increase of the budget for Social
Assistance to R248,2 billion for 2022/23 financial year. This
shows our commitment in cushioning the vulnerable members of
society.
Hon members, in view of the escalating incidences of violence
against women, we welcome the intervention and the commitment
by the department as led by the Minister through the National
Development Agency, NDA, to strengthen our gender-based
violence and femicide, GBVF-focused partnerships with civil
society organisations, CSOs that render services to victims of
gender-based violence. We welcome the R103 million worth of
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funding that has been approved. This will go a long a way in
fighting the scourge of gender-based violence.
However, we must re-iterate the principal point that the
relentless fight against Gender-based violence and Femicide is
social collective matter. Indeed, the realisation of a
prosperous and vibrant democracy is severely compromised and
tarnished by the violence directed at women and gender non-
conforming persons. We welcome the intervention of the Social
Employment Fund that will create a further 50 000 work
opportunities using the capability of organisations beyond
government, in areas such as early childhood development, and
tackling gender-based violence.
In supporting NPOs which impacted positively in the
development and empowerment of vulnerable groups in our
communities thus contributing to the improved quality of life.
We therefore welcome the R33 million which has been allocated
to support NPOs and the more than R7 billion that will be
directed to provinces.
In conclusion, I want to recommit and assure the people of the
Eastern Cape that my department including its agencies and
stakeholders will continue to strive for the betterment of
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their lives and the realisation of a more sustainable society.
Honourable Chairperson, Budget Vote 19 of Social Development
is supported by the Eastern Cape. I thank you.
Ms D C CHRISTIANS: Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon members, and
hon Minister, South Africa currently records the highest
unemployment rate in the world and the current economic
indicators are reflective of a struggling economy suffering
high job losses, and high levels of economic inactivity,
exacerbated by the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and further
intensified by recent natural disasters. It has been reported
that 46% of the population are on some or other sort of social
support from Department of Social Development and the question
is how long is this sustainable without looking at the root
cause of poverty and unemployment.
Deputy Chairperson, even prior to the pandemic the country was
evolving into a welfare state, it must therefore be
acknowledged that it is through the failings of government
that a grant needs to be secured as the state is unable to
secure jobs, provide quality education, health or social
assistance, thereby creating a welfare state. There is no
clear plan or commitment to lift the people of this country
out of poverty.
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Just recently, we read on social media how a young man
committed suicide out of desperation because he could not find
a job. Close to 200 children died of malnutrition in the first
few months of this year, forced to eat sand to fill their
stomachs.
Foster care and adoption programmes remain in crises as red
tape leaves many vulnerable children unattended to. We are
pleased to hear the Minister saying, it receiving attention
and funds. And, we will continue to monitor the progress.
The human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, budget has been cut by
R1 million, the older person’s program has been reduced by
R1,1 million, the substance abuse program has been
substantially reduced from R21,9 million to R20,7 million.
Nonprofit organization, NPO’s remain underfunded,
approximately 7 000 social workers have still not been
employed despite the plethora of social issues in the country
and this department along with the other state departments in
this country, seems to have given up on the gender-based
violence and femicide scourge.
The department has discontinued the Social Worker Scholarship
for this financial year and has failed to absorb social work
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graduates. Social work graduates who benefitted from the
scholarship remain unemployed, leading to wasteful
expenditure, and of course with that, the rise in social ills.
This leaves provincial departments to come up with strategies
to absorb social work graduates as there continues to be a
lack of social workers in rural communities, including in
schools.
Considering also that 70 000 social workers are required in
order to implement the amended children’s Bill and 5 000
additional social workers needed to implement the substance
abuse Bill.
Deputy Chairperson, the NCOP’s role in overseeing the budget
is to ensure that provincial and municipal interests are
properly accommodated in the budget and that the division is
equitable.
The consistent reduction in funding across the entire
Provincial Departments of Social Development is therefore a
cause for concern.
The department emphasizes that social welfare services is a
priority, but budget cuts in provinces in the social welfare
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program suggest otherwise. Drastic reductions in provincial
budgets have been made where provinces have had to take full
responsibility for psycho social services, HIV programmes,
shelters, nongovernmental organizations, NGOs and funding for
food security.
Hon deputy Chairperson, let’s move our focus to South African
Social Security Agency, SASSA, the presentation made to the
Select Committee on Health and Social Services indicates that
the SASSA had 50 planned performance targets but, they only
achieved only 37, which translate to 74% achievement rate.
This means that the agency did not achieve 19 of the planned
targets for 2020-21 financial year.
In program one of SASSA, administration only achieved 23 out
of the 32 planned targets. The Agency only managed to finalize
16 of 1167 of financial misconduct cases and only 64% reported
fraud and corruption cases were investigated.
Key grants administration systems remain problematic as the
target was not achieved as scanning solutions was not deployed
to regions nor supported by a training module as per approved
project plan. Out of 20 internal audit reviews planned to be
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conducted, the agency only conducted three internal audit
reviews.
Vacancies in the department continue to present challenges for
service delivery. In the year under review the vacancy rate
for the department was at 57,4% and additionally the target
related to internal audit and risk management was again not
achieved as highlighted in the annual report.
Irregular expenditure to the tune of R1, 142 billion for the
year under review was reported and the agency incurred
R87,3 million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Of
concern is that the agency spent 96% of its allocated budget
but only achieved 74% of its planned targets for the year
under review.
Under Programme two, Benefits Administration and Support the
Agency had incurred irregular expenditure to the amount of
R73 million. This relates to failure to follow a competitive
process and expired lease contracts still in use and cleaning
and sanitation contracts not following tender processes as
well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure to the amount of
R1 million relating to penalties and not honouring booked
hotels.
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The Auditor General reported that effective and appropriate
steps were not taken to prevent irregular expenditure
amounting to R73,1 million and that the majority of the
irregular expenditure resulted from expired lease contracts
still in use as well as cleaning and sanitation contracts not
following tender processes.
The Auditor General, AG, also noted internal control
deficiencies as leadership did not exercise adequate oversight
responsibility over compliance with applicable legislation and
performance reporting. This resulted in instances of irregular
expenditure not being prevented and reported and performance
achievements not agreeing to supporting documentation.
Payments were made to ineligible individuals due to inadequate
internal controls to perform validations and prevent payments
being made to persons that were not entitled to the Social
Relief of Distress, SRD, R350 grant. The irregular expenditure
incurred by the agency to the value of R73 million during the
period under review remains a serious concern.
South Africa’s problem is that there is no viable economic
growth, too much debt and corruption and not enough money to
assist the poor, disabled and vulnerable in this country. In
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fact, more and more people are queuing for social assistance
outside SASSA offices.
Is the South African government serious about curbing the
scourge of gender-based violence and femicide? Not according
to the annual performance plans or budget.
Furthermore, Minister, have any of the social protection
programmes made an impact in the country, if so, could you
please indicate to the House how and where it has managed to
reduce the suffering of vulnerable women, children and those
with disabilities?
It is no secret that South Africa is in an economic crisis due
to corruption, mismanagement and a failing economy. As the
challenges of fiscal resources increase the department’s
capacity to implement policies, reduce poverty and create
employment opportunities will continue to be impacted
negatively. I thank you, Deputy Chairperson.
Setswana:
Moh S LEHIHI: Ke a leboga, Motlatsamodulasetilo.
English:
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Chairperson, the EFF rejects the budget for Social
Development. The Department of Social Development is
responsible for providing social development, protection and
welfare services to the public and the general people of South
Africa. Some of its main objectives is to ensure that, it
creates an enabling environment for the poor, the vulnerable
and excluded members of the South African society to secure a
better social welfare, by creating an enabling environment,
which your department has failed drastically.
As a country, South Africa faces overwhelming socioeconomic
development challenges such as poverty, which stands as a
security threat, as this department has failed to provide for
a social security system that uplifts our people out of
poverty. The poor continue to suffer the effects of a
mismanaged economy, deep structural poverty, the COVID-19
pandemic and now the floods in Kwazulu-Natal and Eastern Cape.
Many of the non-governmental organisations, NGOs under your
department are not funded. They have either received partial
funding or no funding at all.
This has happened under your watch, and you have failed
dismally to ensure that proper financial support is given to
NGOs. Reatlegile Centre for the disabled, women and children
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in Maquassie Hills, in the North West Province, knows of your
failures, as you have failed to ensure that there is proper
sanitation provided to the elderly people who cannot take care
of themselves. The workers in many centres across the country
have been failed by your department, as they are volunteering
and working without any payment whatsoever.
This department has sent a lot of students to study social
work. However, there has not been any placement of many of
those students who are qualified as social workers. There
exist no plans in place on how to absorb graduates into the
department in order to address the issues of high unemployment
in the country. This department has failed our people,
particularly women, and the young people of this country
because, there are little to no programmes which are fully
funded in terms of developing skills of our people so that
they can become independent and participate in the economy of
our country.
Our country faces a high unemployment rate, which is at the
heart of many of the challenges faced. Problems resulting from
this include crime, hopelessness, a state of inequality and
the poverty cycle. In terms of social security, Minister, your
department has failed. You have failed the orphans across this
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country by not amending legislature to ensure that when
individuals turn 18 years of age, they are not cut off from
social grants. The truth is that; they cannot be able to
provide for themselves. Many of our learners finish their high
school at the age of 18.
Who is supposed to pay for their university fees? Who is
supposed to take care and provide a shelter for them? Who is
supposed to buy them food? You are failing to ensure that the
vulnerable and less privileged have a secured future. Your
department has failed the people of KwaZulu-Natal, the people
of North West, and the people of the Eastern Cape. No relief
has been provided for them since the devastating floods. Which
programme is your department embarked upon to ensure that it
restore the dignity and livelihood of the victims of the
floods?
Under a capable government, overcoming socioeconomic
development challenges in South Africa is actually possible.
However, such reforms can never come about under the
leadership of the ANC. As the EFF we have consistently made
calls for reforms. We must increase the child support grant,
we must increase the disability grant, we must increase the
old age grant, and we must increase the foster care grant. A
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permanent solution is the implementation of social assistance
and work towards a universal basic income for all.
The EFF rejects the proposed budget for the Department of
Social Development because it does not make provision for
these increases or work towards implementation of the
universal Basic Income Grant, BIG, despite the EFF’s calls for
these increases.
Setswana:
Ke a leboga, Modulasetilo.
English:
Thank you, Chairperson.
Ms A D MALEKA: Hon Deputy Chairperson, this Budget Policy
debate takes place two days before the nation commemorates
Youth Day. The brutal events of 1976 can never be erased from
the history of this country. As leaders and activists in the
democratic movement, we have the responsibility of ensuring
that issues affecting the livelihoods of young people remain
at the centre of all discussions about the nation’s
developmental trajectory. Studies by the UN on population,
projects that by 2050, youth populations in the poorest
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countries are likely to increase by 62%. As a developing
nation that is faced with the reality of widening inequality,
it is therefore prudent that we do not ignore these
projections but that we continue to ensure that our
governmental interventions are strategically mainstreaming
young people.
The President’s Budget Vote speech last week in the National
Assembly highlighted the inroads that have been made in the
area of the economic empowerment of unemployed South Africans.
This is done through the Presidential Employment Stimulus that
has created 879 000 opportunities which have primarily
benefitted young people and women. In South Africa and the
world at large, young people, and young women in particular,
continue to carry the brunt of violence, poverty and
inequality, amongst other ills. It is therefore necessary that
this reality is one that is foregrounded in our engagement of
the Budget Vote as previously tabled by the Minister of Social
Development, hon Minister Lindiwe Zulu.
The mandate of the Department of Social Development is to
provide social protection services and lead the government’s
efforts to forge partnerships through which vulnerable
individuals, groups and communities become capable and self-
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reliant participants in their own development. This mandate
has been given by the people of this country, through
bestowing their confidence in the ANC, shown in their support
for the organisation and policies as articulated in its
manifesto.
I wish to state categorically that the position of the ANC on
social transformation is one that is the centre of the
department’s official mandate. The bias towards the working
class, poor and otherwise marginalised people of this country
remains the cornerstone of the ANC’s revolutionary policy
positions.
As a political organisation, our traditions are rooted in the
understanding of South Africa’s society, as one that has over
the years been confronted by oppression through both
colonialism and apartheid. As such, as an organisation and as
progressive activists committed to justice and equality, we
will not shy away from the reality of our history because it
is from this premise where we can honestly and critically
engage with the status quo of our nation and chart a way
forward to the future we espouse.
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One of the legacies of colonialism and apartheid is its
displacement and marginalisation of the African majority. Both
these political systems have succeeded in disenfranchising the
majority and it is indeed our responsibility as the ANC to
ensure that the social welfare of South Africans is
prioritised.
Today’s engagement of the Minister’s Budget Vote is inspired
by the thinking of the renowned Pan-Africanist, Marxist
scholar and revolutionary activist, Thomas Sankara,
particularly his ideas on patriarchy, women and the
revolution. Hon Minister, according to Comrade Sankara, “...
there is no true social revolution without the liberation of
women”. It is this very thinking therefore, that frames our
acknowledgement of women as among the motive forces of change,
as articulated in the ANC’s Strategy and Tactics ... a policy
perspective that continues to shape the agenda of the ANC and
its approach not only to liberation politics but also to
governance.
Of course, the Department of Social Development does not only
seek to benefit women through its various departmental
programmes. This being so, it is still important to understand
that the legacy of the patriarchal system that has previously
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thrived in South Africa, lingers. This is the legacy that has
seen the triple oppression of African women on the basis of
their race, their class position and their sex. In order to
bring about real transformation, an application for a gender
analysis to Budget Vote No 19 is non-negotiable. Therefore,
our pursuit towards a nonsexist society remains relevant and
must at all times be seen as urgent.
Given the reality of the global political economy, sub-Saharan
Africa is expected to experience the height of this deepened
level of poverty, given that 62,8% of women living in extreme
poverty are from this region.
It is important to recognise the extent to which the
programmes of the department play a critical role in keeping
South Africans out of poverty and vulnerability. These
programmes include over and above the roll-out of social
grants, which includes financial commitments towards the
COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant at R44 billion, the
Extended Child Support Grant at over R680 million and the
Welfare Services Policy Development at R309 million. In real
terms, it is indeed these interventions that make it possible
for children who have been left orphaned by the scourge of HIV
and Aids, COVID-19 and gender-based violence and femicide, to
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continue to receive support from the state, thus offering them
better prospects for their future. The Budget Vote as
outlined, is of course about the delivery of social services
but it is most importantly a bread and butter issue for the
millions of beneficiaries of these grants.
The Department of Social Development remains a strategic
department that makes an important contribution to addressing
gender inequality whilst alleviating poverty and serving as a
building block upon which millions of vulnerable and
marginalised South Africans ... Appreciating the details
provided in Budget Vote No 19 as presented, it is worthwhile
that mainstreaming youth and women’s issues remains central.
Mindful also of the numerous debates that have swelled
political and social discussion, specifically as it relates to
social welfare in general, and the policy on the Basic Income
Grant in particular, it is important that the needs and
interests of the majority of the people in South Africa remain
a priority. Ours remains an agenda to advance the development
of a society that is nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and
prosperous.
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Given the demographics of our nation and the degree of
inequality that still exists, a perspective that engages with
the reality of such inequality must at all times be
foregrounded in order to ensure that this prosperity and
equality that we aspire to, is one that is enjoyed not only by
some but by all South Africans.
It is indeed important to acknowledge the complex economic
reality that faces us as a nation and the constraints that
this presents in dealing with inequality in the country.
However, given the emphasis made on the importance of applying
a gender lens to budget processes, it is important that the
budget as outlined by the Minister is supported. Our view is
one that sees this Budget Vote as a vote for the marginalised
people in South Africa, women, youth and children in
particular. As the ANC, we are confident that the budget as
presented will certainly make a difference in the lives of
many South Africans, providing integrated, comprehensive and
sustainable social development services towards a self-reliant
society. As the ANC, we support the Budget Vote. Thank you,
Deputy Chair.
Ms S G FERNANDES (Western Cape): Hon Deputy Chairperson, the
hon Minister Zulu, all hon Ministers present, this debate
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takes place as the city and province are affected by severe
weather conditions including widespread flooding.
Recently, we have seen other provinces affected by natural
disasters too. So, these are incredibly challenging times for
the citizens of South Africa, whom we are mandated to serve.
This is compounded by the impact that COVID-19 pandemic has
had on the socioeconomic landscape of the country since the
Disaster Management Act was first implemented in March 2020.
The ongoing pandemic has affected the lives and livelihoods of
many South Africans. It has been indiscriminatory in its
nature and it has impacted the psyche of the nation. Yet, the
acts of kindness and solidarity by civil society, our NPO
partners and all stakeholders during this time, has been
immense and for that, I am deeply grateful.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, the Minister of Social Development,
hon Minister Lindiwe Zulu, made some bold statements about her
department’s commitments to intentionally intensify its
contributions towards interventions that address the impact of
poverty, inequality and unemployment.
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Whilst I welcome the fact that 2022-23 Budget Vote 19 of the
Department of Social Development is government’s third-largest
budget for the 2022-23 financial year, constituting 13,1% of
government’s overall estimated budget of R1,957 trillion, I
fear that National Department of Social Development problem is
much larger than budgetary constraints but rather systems or
in fact, the lack of systems in place to ensure that the
department’s funding does indeed change the lives of its
intended recipients.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, in the interest of time I will confine
my input to the failure of SA Social Security Agency, SASSA,
to deliver on its basic mandate. The announcement that
R248 billion will be distributed directly to more than
18 million beneficiaries monthly raises many questions.
Will additional capacity be provided to SASSA given all the
additional funds and grants that SASSA has been expected to
administer?
It doesn’t help to keep adding money for grants if it cannot
be channelled to those who need it most, efficiently and
responsively and responsibly.
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Where is the plan for additional infrastructure and personnel
to ensure that SASSA is responsive and able to reach citizens,
especially those in deep rural areas? Will the disparity of
SASSA offices across the country be addressed? More
importantly, where is the SASSA winter readiness plan, on a
very cold day like today?
During the 2015-16 financial year 16,9 million people were
receiving a social grant. Today, that figure stands at nearly
18 million. This is not a statistic to be proud of! Yet the
ANC continues to celebrate the increasing number of citizens
falling into poverty.
If we include the additional 10,5 million individuals that are
deemed eligible for the Social Relief of Distress, SRD, R350
grant for the current financial year, more than 28 million
people will be receiving some form of state support.
I would like to ask this entire House to let that figure sink
in for a second, 28 million people. We have become a wealthy
state.
Sadly, nearly 50% of this country is in poverty and this is
something the national department wishes to celebrate, by
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calling it a priority. We should hang our heads in shame. We
can and must do better.
If history is to repeat itself, I am also fearful that the
R44 billion allocated for the extension of the special
COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant for one year will not
reach its intended recipients timeously. The fact that some
beneficiaries have missed out on payments for two months is an
indictment. People are hungry today and need the much needed
relief now.
If the initial management of the Early Childhood Development,
ECD, Stimulus Relief Fund and previously lapsed temporary
disability grant by the National Department of Social
Development is anything to go by, I can only imagine that we
will witness challenges with this project too. It is not a
matter of if but rather, when.
Although, provincial Departments of Social Development are not
mandated to provide social relief of distress, we have been
forced to absorb the failure of SASSA. We have had to allocate
funding which ought to be directed to our statutory work, to
fill the gaps, particularly with regard to food relief, which
the Western Cape Department of Social Development has
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allocated just over R50 million for the 2022-23 financial
year.
Whilst we recognize that this is not our provincial
government’s mandate, we believe that it is the responsibility
of all spheres of government to ensure that no person is left
behind.
It is important to note that on a day to day basis, my office
receives emails, calls, WhatsApp and SMS messages from SASSA
clients desperate for any form of assistance because I am
told, no one responds to emails, no one answers the phone. We
have even had occasions when SASSA officials failed to pitch
in far flung rural communities as promised.
Never has there been a time for SASSA to step up and deliver
on its constitutional obligations as contained in the Social
Assistance Act of 2004.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, I must express my disappointment that
the hon Minister Zulu made no mention of the psycho-social
impact of COVID-19 pandemic on citizens across the country.
The need for a psycho-social services, increased dramatically
as a consequence of bereavement, grief, loss and the
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increasing number of citizens becoming unemployed due to
COVID-19.
I would like to encourage the Minister to consult with the
social sector, Cabinet colleagues and consider implementing
transversal measures to support the emotional and
psychological wellbeing of our citizens.
I wish to quote the National Minister directly to reiterate
the Western Cape government to provide safe spaces for victims
of gender-based violence:
With regard to expansion of shelters, we are working jointly
with the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure to
identify state-owned facilities across the country that can
be re-purposed into Khuseleka One-Stop Centres.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, I do believe that since this
announcement was made in March 2020 that the Western Cape is
the only province to have successfully converted all of the
six state-owned facilities handed over by the National
Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure into safe houses
for victims of gender-based violence.
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Last year we completed the refurbishment of all the six
properties in record time. I am also pleased to announce that
all six properties are fully functional and currently housing
victims of gender-based violence. This, whilst other provinces
have made little or no progress.
I reiterate my stance and deep concern regarding state
dependency and what we really ought to be directing our
attention to. Instead of identifying state dependency as a key
priority, the Western Cape has committed to being obsessed
with empowering the people whom we serve through creating
opportunities for employment.
The solution to ending poverty and ensuring that we create a
prosperous future for our children is through job creation.
I wish to quote the words of the Premier of the Western Cape,
Alan Winde, in this regard, and he said:
We must fight back against our pandemic of joblessness.
Because a job puts food on the table. A job keeps a child in
school. A job can keep a young man off the street and out of
a gang. And a job can mean a healthier, happier and longer
life for you.
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Let us unite to fight the pandemic of poverty, inequality and
unemployment that is sweeping our country. We must be
intentional if we wish to avoid a humanitarian crisis. The
time is now. I thank you.
Ms C N RAKGOALE (Limpopo): Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, hon
Lucas, the Minister of Social Development, Umama Lindiwe Zulu,
Deputy Minister, Ms Bogopane-Zulu, members of the Select
Committee on Social Services and Health, MECs from other
provinces who have joined the sitting; hon members, all
protocols observed, it is my pleasure to be part of today’s
National Council of Provinces debate on Vote 19 of the
Department of Social Development.
Today’s sitting is taking place at a time when we are
commemorating Youth Month, as a nation. As a democratically
elected government, we are using this month to demonstrate our
determination to empower the youth and to highlight the
strides that have been made in the education sector since the
infamous 1976 Soweto uprising.
These activities are buildups for the June 16 commemoration,
which will happen in two days’ time. It is indeed very
important for all of us to reflect on this important historic
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event, which puts pressure on the past regime, which
disregarded the human rights of our people for many decades,
and ultimately turned the tide against apartheid.
The plight of young people in this country demands that all
government departments and the private sector redouble their
efforts in creating job opportunities for young people. The
realisation of this goal will really ease the social
protection pressure on the Department of Social Development.
As the situation stands, the majority of South Africans,
especially those in rural provinces such as Limpopo, are
largely dependent on the government’s social grants, which are
mainly within the Department of Social Development. These
grants are in fact the main source of income for about 18
million people across the country. In Limpopo, half of the
population depends on the provision of these grants.
We therefore strongly believe that the department’s budget
allocation of R257 billion, of which R248 billion is allocated
to cover more than 18 million social grants beneficiaries will
go a long way in mitigating the effects of poverty that some
of our people are currently enduring. Guided by this reality,
we are indeed delighted that the sixth administration, as led
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by President Cyril Ramaphosa is determined to ensure that, no
South African, especially the vulnerable groups of our
society, go to bed on an empty stomach.
As a country, we just observed National Child Protection Week,
which the Department of Social Development used to highlight
the plight of the children of our country. We once again take
this opportunity to remind all South African citizens that
parents and other caregivers have a full responsibility of
ensuring that children are always protected and cared for, as
articulated in some sections of Children’s Act and the
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
The continuing incidents of gender-based violence in some
parts of South Africa has a direct and indirect impact on the
safety and wellbeing of our children.
Still talking about child protection, I must indicate that the
Department of Social Development’s Budget Vote as presented by
Minister Lindiwe Zulu demonstrates that government is
determined to ensure that it continues to protect children,
with one of the most effective ways, which is the Child
Support grand.
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Minister Zulu indicated that as soon as the amended
regulations to the Social Assistance Act of 2004 are
published, Sassa will be able to provide the extended Child
Support grant of R720 per child per month to relatives who are
caring for orphaned children.
While we expect the extended Child Support grant to be
implemented this month, we estimate that it will be received
by over 191 000 recipients during the 2022-23 financial year.
One other milestone which must be applauded is that in order
to access this grant, qualifying applicants need not go
through the lengthy Children’s Court process. As a result, the
affected children will quickly receive the support they need
for them to unlock their full potential.
We must all draw wisdom from the words of South Africa’s first
democratic President, Tata Nelson Mandela, who once said, and
I quote: “Our children are our future and one of the basic
responsibilities is to care for them in the best and most
compassionate manner possible.” All South Africans must refuse
to be a society that has a total disregard for the rights of
children.
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The Department of Social Development is continuing to put all
the systems in place to redouble its effort in the fight
against substance abuse, which is one of the contributory
factors in the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide.
We have now started to observe that drug dealers are targeting
the youth in townships and rural areas. This is after the law
enforcement agencies managed to squeeze their space in big
cities and towns.
The department and law enforcement agencies are zooming into
these rural areas in terms of crime awareness campaigns and
calling on our communities to work jointly with government in
eradicating drugs in our communities.
We therefore welcome the support that the department is giving
to the Central Drug Authority in doing its work, the
registration and monitoring of nonprofit organisations, the
promotion of population policy, community development and
Substance Abuse Advisory Service and oversight at an amount of
over R7 million.
In line with the commitment of the sixth administration, as
led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Department of Social
Development will continue to play an important role in the
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implementation of pillar 4 of the National Strategic Plan on
gender-based violence and femicide.
Our society’s strides in undoing the scourge of gender-based
violence and femicide rests on the pursuit of comprehensive
and targeted partnerships across different sectors. We also
want to welcome a move by the Department of Justice and
Correctional Services programme of ensuring that it also plays
a role in empowering communities about the dangers and effects
of gender-based violence and femicide.
In Limpopo, the Department of Social Development has recently
joined the Black Management Forum and the Department of
Justice and Correctional Services in reaching out to
communities to talk about gender-based violence. The Director
General, Adv Doctor Mashabane and some judges were also
forming part of these awareness campaigns. These campaigns
also assist us to encourage people to break the silence
against the abuse of the vulnerable groups of society. They
will also assist in terms of restoring trust in the country’s
justice system. It is our strong conviction that when the
wheels of justice are seen turning strongly against gender-
based violence and femicide, it will deter would-be
perpetrators to commit these heinous acts.
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During these interactions with our people, judges also added
their voices in pleading for gender-based violence and
femicide incidents to stop, as they are stripping away the
dignity and the rights of women and children. The attacks on
vulnerable groups of society are not just statistics, but
these are people whose rights are violated by abusers who must
be rooted out of communities. We have also seen Minister Beki
Cele on the ground together with the SAPS, determined to clamp
down on gender-based violence and femicide and the society at
large must also come on board.
We also take comfort in the fact that the President
highlighted during his delivery of the Presidency’s Budget
Vote, five days ago, that there are continued efforts by
government to deal with social ills, such as gender-based
violence and femicide. President Ramaphosa said, and I quote:
Putting stringent laws in place and enhancing the capacity of
the police and prosecutorial service to investigate and
prosecute these crimes is not enough, and we need all of
society’s involvement in prevention efforts.
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Community-based organisations are indeed agents of change and
play an important role in the effort to eradicate gender-based
violence and femicide and other social ills.
As I conclude, we would like to appreciate the effort by the
national Department of Social Development, together with
Public Works and Infrastructure, of wanting to expand the
shelters of the victims of gender-based violence, as this will
augment the victim empowerment centres that we are already
funding in provinces. The state-owned facilities across the
country can indeed be repurposed into Khuseleka One-Stop
Centres. The department’s VEP program assist in terms of
ensuring that psychosocial support services are provided to
survivors of violent crimes during the recovery process. As
Limpopo, we support the budget, as presented by our hon
Minister Lindiwe Zulu. I thank you!
Afrikaans:
Mnr S F DU TOIT: Agb Voorsitter, hoekom spog die Minister dat
die begroting vir die Departement van Maatskaplilke
Ontwikkeling die regering se derde grootste uitgawe is? As dit
die plaaslike regerings se begroting, Gesondheid of selfs
Polisie was, sou ons verstaan. Die Minister bevestig hiermee
die groot maatskaplike nood in die land.
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English:
What necessitates government to avail an estimated R257
billion towards the department of social development, 13,1% of
governments overall estimated budget of R1,957 trillion? Could
it be that a caring government is looking after the best
interest of its people? No. Could it be that government is,
through this vote, fulfilling the Vote’s purpose, to, and I
quote: “ensure protection against vulnerability by creating an
enabling environment for the provision of a comprehensive,
integrated and sustainable social development service”? No.
The irony is the fact that government created circumstances,
through legislation and regulations that guaranteed that more
individuals became vulnerable and dependent on the state.
As alluded to in the Ministers’ budget speech to the NA,
R248 billion of this budget, that is 99,6%, goes towards
social grants, to some 18 million beneficiaries on a monthly
basis.
Afrikaans:
Dit is waar dat ouderdoms-pension deel van hierdie toelae
uitmaak, maar tot ’n mindere mate.
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English:
This departments name must change! The word development must
be removed. This is not social development; government is
merely providing slight relief- for pain they caused.
Afrikaans:
Sowat 10,5 miljoen persone, maak tans maandeliks aanspraak op
die R350 maatskaplike verligtings toelae. Die regering spog
hiermee, asof hul die reinkernasie van Moeder Theresa is, wyl
dit eerder ’n geval van Mari Antoinette is. Maak geen fout
nie, dit is uiters noodsaaklik dat sosiale uitdagings
aangespreek en honger uitgewis moet word! Maar tans sien ons
dat die regering omstandighede skep wat werkloosheid teweeg
bring.
Die afgelope vrygestelde misdaad statistiek stel dit duidelik
dat geweld teen vroue en kinders toegeneem het.
English:
Governments is blaming a so-called violent historical legacy
of the country for their inability to create a save
environment!
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Corruption and race-based legislation and practices did not
spare the social compact. Communities could have thrived,
children excelled and poverty and hunger eradicated, if it was
not for the selfish pride of some!
How ironic that the Minister mentioned the following in her
speech: “I wish to reiterate our government’s commitment and
readiness to fight crime syndicates and criminals who are
defrauding the state”. The Minister just has to look to her
left and her right to see members of her party that are as we
speak, defrauding the country!
It is a government that is supposed to be trusted with the
wellbeing of the elderly, the young, the vulnerable, the
hungry and the poor?
Afrikaans:
Is hierdie einskappe van ’n regering wat werklik omgee, ’n
regering wat deur regulasies veroorsaak dat sowat 2,2 miljoen
mense hul werke sederd 2020 verloor het? Is hierdie einskappe
van ’nrRegering wat toegekyk het hoe skade aan skole gedurende
die afgelope Julie 2021-onrus, sowat R100 miljoen beloop? Dit
sluit skole uit wat sedert die 2020-inperking gepluder,
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verbrand en verwoes is. Nou moet daar na dieselfde kinders wat
hierdeur geraak is, se welstand omgesien word?
English:
Is this a caring government that allows school feeding schemes
to fail, resulting in an even greater stunting percentage
among children? This budget allows for a disabilities and
foster care grant, but government’s broken system results in
escalating domestic violence and violence against woman and
children.
Afrikaans:
Die antwoord oor hoekom die Minister met die derde grootste
begroting spog is hartverskeurend!
English:
Government created an environment that is conducive for social
ills, poverty, hunger and violence. They now ease the pain
with grants, making more people dependent on the state and
are, in effect, buying votes from hungry eyes, broken families
and devastated, unemployed masses. Thank you.
Ms N M KHOZA (KwaZulu-Natal): Greetings, hon House
Chairperson; greetings to the hon Minister, Lindiwe Zulu;
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greetings to the hon members here; ladies and gentlemen. It is
a great pleasure for me to be participating in this debate of
Budget Vote 19 speech of
2022-23.
We rise in this august House during the important month of
June. This year marks 46 years since the 1976 student
uprising. As we commemorate youth month. It is important to
continue protecting our youth from social ills and I’m
pleased, Chair, that the Minister’s budget talks of ...
[Inaudible.] ... abuse which is allocated a bigger chunk which
is the thing which affects most of our youth as well as
addressing employment.
House Chairperson, for the past year we have been facing
serious challenges with the COVID-19 outbreak, July 2021
unrest and floods that hit the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal. In
all these disasters, Chair, the department has been at the
forefront to protect the livelihood of the citizens. On that
note, we would like to give thanks to all donors and
nongovernmental organisations, NGOs, unions, different
provinces, churches and the private sector, including global
communities who came on board to support us as a province
during this time.
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The National Department of Social Development has stood with
the province during this difficult time and the Minister
channeled all the donations to the province to help the flood
victims. Equally, we are more than grateful to SA Social
Security Agency, Sassa, for their efforts in ensuring that the
people have food and stretching their normal intervention of
the social relief of distress, SRD, to provide a once of grant
of over 1 984 social relief of distress to the victims of
floods. Thank you for grants donations received from all
provinces, provinces such as Gauteng, Free State, Limpopo and
from private donors while others were brought directly to the
government.
The intervention of the different departments, including SA
Police Service, Saps, SA National Defence Force, SANDF, the
Western Cape and Mpumalanga which were tasked with the rescue
mission also performed exceptionally well to find the bodies
of the deceased from debris. We recorded over 435 people who
lost their lives and ... [Inaudible.] ... reported missing. A
total of ... [Inaudible.] ... the district development model,
DDM, ... [Inaudible.] ... spheres of government work together,
enrolled in all stakeholders. In all temporary shelters for
displaced people, we have ensured that every person gets three
meals a day. For us to meet the demand of all the vulnerable
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people, we need more funding for the social relief of distress
grant as well as shelters.
The disasters exposed us and exposed our vulnerability as
KwaZulu-Natal, especially when it comes to social workers. We
had to look for social workers from less affected district.
The department is currently moving away from its welfare
approach. We all need to understand that department has a
responsibility to respond correctly to the plight of the
people at all times, hence the importance to move towards the
developmental approach. The department has been doing very
well in extending the help to those engulfed in poverty. A big
portion of the department budget is channeled towards
disbursement of social grants.
As we are a caring government, we are grateful that they have
been an extension of the special COVID-19 social relief of
distress grant for one year distributed over 10,5 million
eligible persons as we know, COVID-19 brought more challenges
to our people and created a lot of unemployment. The provision
of different grants to our vulnerable people continues to
contribute meaningfully towards poverty reduction and ensure
that no person sleeps on an empty stomach. We have seen fast
growing trends of crime syndicates and criminals who were
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defrauding grants, but it was pleasing to learn from the hon
Minister that systems ... [Interjections.] ...
Mr J J LONDT: ... some of those syndicates are sitting in
Luthuli House.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): No. No, hon member of
the executive council, MEC, you are protected. Hon Londt, no.
Continue, hon member of the executive council, MEC.
Ms N M KHOZA (KwaZulu-Nata): It was pleasing to learn from the
hon Minister that systems were put in place to ensure we fight
any form of corruption. Equally, we are pleased that the
department has also set clear programs and allocated a budget
to fight against illicit drugs and substance abuse in our
society. Illicit drug has destroyed a number of our youth and
families. A number of cases of gender-based violence and
femicide are linked to the use of drugs. We are appeal to the
department to continue to play an important role in the
implementation of strategies to end gender-based violence.
It must be stated that the success to end this scourge of
gender-based violence and femicide is the responsibility of us
all as members of the society. We welcome and appreciate the
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part of reconstruction and recovery taken by the ANC
government to ensure that the economy performs better
following the disasters we had to endure. We want to thank the
hon Minister for delivering a comprehensive Budget Vote 19 of
the Department of Social Development for the 2022-2023
financial years. The ANC mandated us to respond with a
solution to better the lives of the people. During this
difficult time, we need to work together as South Africans to
build this overarching country’s identity.
Hon House Chairperson, we need not be ambiguous about the
challenges we face, including teenage pregnancy, gender-based
violence cases and other social ills that need the department
to employ more social workers. We have a lot of graduate
social workers who are still at home unemployed. We also need
to see our sister departments coming on board by recruiting
social workers, departments like education and community
safety. We have seen social development employees showing an
undisputed dedication to serving our people.
The achievement in the seventh National Batho Pele Excellence
Award speaks volumes about the jobs done by social development
in communities. Renowned American philosopher, Elbert Green
Hubbard said and I quote: “A little more persistence, a little
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more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to
glorious success” This is befitting of this situation faced by
social development with this little budget we have and we are
debating today, which is true it is really too little when you
look at the responsibility for social development. Through
social development, this government remains the hope of
hopeless.
We have no doubt that something good out of the budget, will
restore hope to the hopeless. We thank the Honorable Minister
and her entire team for their relentless effort to the
realisation of the department’s mandate and to ensure that no
vulnerable person is left behind. I thank you, Chair.
Mr N M HADEBE: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members of
the executive council, MECs, in an ideal world the Department
of Social Development should play a central role in uplifting
and improving the lives of South African citizens, especially
the most vulnerable. Instead, as one reads through the
portfolio committee’s report ... [Inaudible.] ... and annual
performance plan. One is confronted by terrifying laundry list
of concerns and these are not just the committee’s concerns.
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The Auditor-General identified findings in multiple areas of
consent, including financial management, procurement and
contract management, compliance management and more. These are
just for the Department of Social Development at one of its
entities, SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, which is tasked
with the management of billions of rands and taxpayers’ moneys
meant for the alleviation of extreme poverty through
mechanisms such as the many grants it provides. The Auditor-
General identified material irregularities, in just one
example listed noncompliance also resulted in a material
financial loss of R74 million for SA Social Security Agency,
Sassa.
Further, according to the Report in 2021 over R200 million was
lost on the payment of social relief of distress R350 grant to
ineligible beneficiaries and payments were made to ineligible
individuals due to inadequate internal controls. Let us talk
about these grants in South Africa, the country with the
highest unemployment rate in the world grants are a necessity
and not an accomplishment for the government to boast about
their welfare state, where 50% of South Africans survive on a
grant alone, is nothing more than an attempt by the ruling
party to create a success story out of what is essentially the
management of the poverty of our people.
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The IFP reiterates our desperately plea to the Minister, to
Table and urgent plan of action to address her department’s
weakness. The Auditor-General findings, a plan to enforce a
culture of consequence management and a plan to intensify the
fight against ... [Inaudible.] ... corruption. The department
cannot afford to fail the lives of too many people relying on
it. It is for this reason, hon House Chairperson, but with
great reluctance that the IFP accepts the Budget Vote. I thank
you.
Mr M R BARA: Masibulele Sihlalo (Thank you Chairperson.) Hon
Chairperson, hon members and hon Minister. There is now a
broader agreement that extreme poverty and inequality can lead
to future episodes of damaging instability. The debate around
additional financial support is moving on from whether it
needs to be implemented, to how the country and the government
will do it. Some argue for a Basic Income Grant, while the
Finance Minister has reiterated that he would rather expand
measures, than encourage employment such as youth employment
subsidies and public works.
South Africa has over 10 million young people aged 15 to 24
years. Of these, only 2,5 million were in the labour force,
either employed or unemployed. The largest share, 75,1% of
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this group of young people are those that are out of the
labour force. The main reason for being inactive is
discouragement, namely, they have lost hope of finding a job
that suits their skills or in the area they reside. They hard
lockdown made things much worse as tax revenues plunged, while
health and social assistance spending increased. Need I
mentioned that corruption also took a toll from those that
only thought of themselves even in the face of a dire dilemma
to many South Africans.
In 2021-22, we have seen our country go through a shocking
time in history, with COVID-19 the unrest in some of the
provinces and the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape
and North West Provinces. These have certainly had a huge and
negative impact on social wellbeing of South Africans as it
affected lives and livelihoods and destroyed many business
entities.
Minister this department is the heart and soul of stability to
the poorest of the poor. Therefore, there can be no room for
errors is that will go down in history harshly. Minister
corruption and fraudulent activities by some of the officials
in your department cannot and should not be tolerated. We are
dealing with people and people’s lives here. Therefore, you
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should uproot every ounce of corruption as it causes a severe
burden to the poor and needy that depend on these grants for a
living.
The government has long promised to address its rising debt
burden, by slowing spending and raising tax revenue. But, this
has proven difficult as we witness on a daily basis, the cost
of living reaching an impossible rate to adhere to. Never
before was the gap wider between announcements of relief from
hunger and starvation for millions in South Africa, and the
actual fulfilment of those announcements.
The hon President announced in February this year that, the
Social Relief of Distress, SRD Grant of R350 would be extended
to March 2023. Today, no less than 10 million hungry would be
beneficiaries have not seen a sense of the grant. And to the
basic food basket increases over the immediate past, according
to the household food index by the Pietermaritzburg Economic
Justice and Dignity Group, around this time last year the food
basket cost R4 137,11.
Fast forward to May this year, the same food basket has
increased to R4 609,89. The lack of caring for the people by
this government is outstanding, given the hardships they
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experience daily. First, it was the appeals that date back to
August 2021 that have not been paid. Then it was the closure
of post offices that led to beneficiaries travelling long
distances to receive their grants, and then the delay in
paying the inadequate R350.
While these gaps continue to widen, hard wrenching reports pop
up every day of children are dying of acute malnutrition. It
is for this reason, hon Chairperson, that the DA is calling
for clarity on the actual date, the grant will be paid and the
back pay or the months that have lapsed. A caring government
would do all it takes to ensure that, so many people at the
very least are able to keep hunger and starvation at bay, if
it cannot restore their dignity and protect their lives and
livelihoods. The current ANC government certainly does not
care.
Every month, vulnerable South Africans struggle to access
their grants due to a technical glitch, system crashes and
changes in grant qualification requirements. Millions of South
Africans rely on these grants to support their families. Every
month there is uncertainty on whether their grants will be
disbursed and accessed on time. Reports have highlighted that,
the technical errors on SA Social Security Agency’s side
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resulted in dates changing from the third to the second of
June as a result of funds that are unavailable. This has left
many pensioners waiting for their disbursements.
Minister, this department is the integral part of our society
during and post COVID-19, as we have seen the trauma caused by
the pandemic. The department is a burden to mother the orphans
and vulnerable children due to COVID-19. It has the
responsibility to provide hope to the hopeless with mental
support, and forging a stable pathway through all the darkness
we have enjoyed. This department has an obligation to lessen
the burden by all means possible.
Therefore, hon Minister it is time to deliver a service that
will give South Africans hope as enshrined in the Constitution
of our beautiful country. The right to dignity, right to
security and identity is preserved in a stable social
environment. Let us deliver.
In conclusion Chair, Minister, this department is what South
Africans rely on to gain a glimpse of hope through everything
we have been through. Monitoring and evaluation is crucial to
make sure that we provide South Africans with the democracy
they fought and died for. I thank you Chairperson.
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Mr M E NCHABELENG: Thank you very much, hon Chair. My
reception is not very, very stable. May I switch my video off,
maybe it will improve if it pleases the House.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): No, you can switch it.
You can switch it for the sake of you to present your speech.
Mr M E NCHABELENG: Thanks a million. Hon Minister, the Chair
of the House now, the top management of the NCOP, hon members,
special delegates, members of executive council, MECs,
present, my MEC from Limpopo, Mme Rakgoale and the Minister,
as I was listening to this debate it really makes it very
difficult to comment on some of the remarks that people are
throwing at this Budget Vote. There is a lot of concentration
on things that did not go well ... [Inaudible.] instead a lot
of focus is on the positive things that this department has
done since she took over the office. Since you came into this
office, hon Minister and members, we all know as we engage
with the department that there has been improvement in
management and even in the performance at the audit levels
compared to the past years. Therefore, we are fully behind
you. We know that you will turn this department around and
ensure that whatever negative comments that come for the
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Auditor-General’s, AG, reports will be rectified. I have
confidence in you and so to the people of South Africa.
Hon House Chairperson, the African National Congress rises to
express its support for the Budget Vote 19 on Social
Development that has been presented by the hon Minister
Lindiwe Zulu. In our view, the proposed budget as outlined is
reflective of the aspirations that the ANC has for social
transformation in South Africa. These are aspirations that are
anchored on our commitment to address the injustices of the
past specifically as it relates to the development of the
people of South Africa. The African National Congress remains
committed to the vision of building a national democratic
society that is democratic, nonsexist, nonracial and
prosperous. This envisaged society is one that carries the
aspirations of social and economic freedom for all South
Africans. The future that we want to see in the country is
one that is significantly different from that of previous
regimes that sought to deliberately isolate Africans, and was
disparaging towards women, youth and other marginalised
groups.
In this regard, the Budget Vote 19 as presented cuts across a
number of issues that are critical for the developmental
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agenda of the country. Some of these issues include, but are
not limited to strengthening partnerships and the social
compact, expanding the District Development Model, improving
governance and addressing the scourge of gender-based violence
and femicide. Building a capable developmental state means
that we need to ensure that our government institutions have
the adequate human capability and the resource capacity to
efficiently and effectively deliver its mandate within the
parameters of the law and in an ethical manner.
The question of our moral fibre and the importance of the
moral regeneration programme demonstrates that our governance
systems and the services provided by our government will
always be impacted by different vested interest which can be
legal or illegal. It is therefore critical that the department
responds to all findings which the Auditor-General has made.
Consequence management on findings which warrant decisive
action should be a norm in the state in order to ensure our
people get value for money. We must ensure that government
expenditure is optimal.
Looking at social compact, the National Development Agency has
been allocated R 219 million that is targeted at alleviating
poverty and addressing food insecurity in communities, more
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especially given the context of the coronavirus disease 2019,
Covid-19, pandemic. This has displaced many families and left
millions of people in economically compromised positions where
they are unable to afford and sustain their livelihoods. The
particular area of opportunity for partnerships and building a
social compact in this regard, lies in the department’s
capacity to empower Civil Society Organisations with both
financial and educational capacity to serve communities in
collaboration with the government.
This proposed budget commits to strengthening governance and
accountability of Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, through
providing financial and management skills, sound and ethical
management of community organisations that are funded by the
government are important for improving governance, and the
budget allocation towards this end that as provided in the
Budget Vote 19 is notable. The budget creates a platform for
the department to leverage other social partners in the
private sector and academia, thus creating a platform for
robust and multi-disciplinary approaches to implementing the
mandate of the department.
The District Development Model as spearheaded from the
Presidency is aimed at strengthening the co-ordination and
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integration of the planning and budgeting of government
programmes at a district-based level. As this relates to the
delivery of the social services, it is necessary that low-
hanging fruits be identified in implementation of the pilot
areas and efforts be strategically channelled towards the
success of these pilots in order to establish a baseline that
can be used for the expansion of the programme. Within the
department, there are various areas of intersection with
strategic goals in other departments such as Basic Education
and the Ministry in the Presidency for Women, Youth, and
Persons with Disabilities that should be looked at to better
enhance the case for the broad implementation of this model.
Hon House Chairperson, it should also be noted that the
improvement of governance systems is not an operation that
occurs in silos spearheaded by specific units and sub-units in
departments. It is critical that there exists an appreciation
of how improving governance calls for the introduction of a
knowledge-sharing systems approach to be adopted and
implemented by departments across all spheres of governance
and other relevant stakeholders. It is significant that the
department has allocated R125 million towards strengthening
the operations of the South African Council for Social Service
Professions in order to enhance its capacity to carry out its
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mandate. The budget allocation shows that the department is
serious about maintaining professionalism in the social
services profession sectors.
This is important in the broader developmental discourse and
the transformation agenda of the nation. The social services
professionals are the anchor of the work that the department
undertakes. This being so however, we acknowledge that within
the profession there exists multiple barriers of opportunity
especially for young professionals from historically black
institutions as it refers to them being channelled into the
profession. The department’s role is thus critical to ensuring
that the required support for social services professionals is
provided.
It is certainly unfortunate that the scourge of violence
against women and children remains one of the most persistent
challenges that have plagued this country over the years. The
report on the Presidential Summit against gender-based
violence is a useful tool in shaping interventions aimed at
curbing this. The department’s role through the National
Development Agency is one that aims to provide the required
social support for victims of gender-based violence across the
lengths and breath of the country. It is important that as a
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nation we root out this scourge that has destroyed and taken
the lives of many women and children.
The department’s continued support of the services provided
through the commitment to working with the Department of
Public Works and Infrastructure in order to repurpose state-
owned facilities into Khuseleka One-Stop Centres is
commendable. It is, however, important to note that while the
targeted interventions are significant, it is even more
important to recognise that the level of gender-based violence
in South Africa are an anomaly, and that much more community-
led interventions are required
In conclusion, hon House Chairperson, allow me to conclude my
contribution by making acknowledgement of the historic
relevance of the month of June to our beloved nation. Although
the years have gone by, and the ANC government has made
concerted efforts towards a just transition from the atrocious
regimes of the past, it is impossible that the significance of
June 16 to the nation will ever be eroded, even amidst the
narratives spread by some among us about the insignificance of
our history today. Of course, they won’t appreciate that
because some of them were sell-out during those days or they
are on the other side. Therefore, we were at the wrong side of
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the gun, and the gun was in their hands. Truly, the journey we
have travelled as a nation is long. As some of the
interventions highlighted in the proposed Budget Vote suggest,
the legacy of apartheid policies is that they have entrenched
inequality, and made the implementation of progressive efforts
towards justice and social cohesion extremely difficult.
In our commemoration of Youth Month under the theme:
“Promoting sustainable livelihoods and resilience of young
people for a better tomorrow”, it is important that government
in its clarion call to the youth to forge resilience and
pursue opportunities for a sustainable livelihood, today and
in the future equally provides the necessary support in order
to ensure that this idea comes alive and doesn’t merely remain
as a slogan that does not bear any fruit for the current and
future generations. It is indeed the responsibility of the
youth of this generation to follow in the assertions made by
Frantz Fanon in the Wretched of the earth, I quote:
... out of their relative obscurity, discover their mission,
and choose to fulfil or betray it.
Those are the young people of our country, House Chairperson.
With these word, as a representative of the African National
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Congress, I move for the adoption of the Budget Vote 19 as
presented. Thank you.
Afrikaans:
Baie dankie.
The MINISTER OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: Hon Chairperson, hon
members, from the ANC across to the IFP who supported the
budget. And indicate Chairperson that we hear them because
they don’t only just support the Budget Vote, but they also
had issues they raised which are of concern to them, and
especially the issue of the National Development Agency, NDA.
I fully agree that the budget allocated is not adequate. And
therefore, we will continue to work towards galvanizing
support for the NDA beyond our own budget.
I also wish to thank all the members of the executive
committees, MECs, who participated here today and in
particular, the ones who supported the budget and indicate hon
Chair and hon members that these MECs are people that I work
very well with and I regard them as the people who I must
always talk to and always engaged with because they are at the
coalface of where our people live. We are at national level
and we focus on policy and other issues. But when we are
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bringing projects and programmes down on the ground, we depend
very much on MECs.
I also want to indicate that the South African government is
one that is supposed to create a conducive environment for our
people so that they can be able to either have jobs or create
jobs for themselves. And we work with a whole number of people
outside who are in the non-profit organisations, NPOs, and
nongovernmental organisations, NGOs, who are really doing a
whole lot of good work in supporting us.
Our task is to continue to do this. And the series of
investment conferences the Economic Recovery and
Reconstruction Plan, ERRP, and putting South Africa to work
out answers to some of the questions that were raised here
about the issue of South Africa being ... We are creating a
dependency state.
I don’t know where some of these people live. Because if the
social grants were not paid to the elderly, to the children,
to the people with disabilities, all the grants that we are
paying ... Imagine if these grants were not being paid, where
would these people be? We are not saying that this is enough,
we know that we need to move beyond the issue of just paying
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the social grants. But also it is our responsibility to
encourage young people in particular, to get jobs where they
can. And appreciating and understanding that the jobs are not
available right now, we cannot leave our people in hunger.
To the opposition parties, it’s a pity I just have to lump you
all in one especially those that did not support. I know the
IFP did support. I think it has to be understood that the
Department of Social Development has got programmes where we
deal with the issues of poverty and unemployment, poverty in
particular. That is why we have the Community Nutrition
Development Centres, CNDCs, we have drop in centres, we have
RISIHA programme, we have home-based care, there’s a whole
number of programmes that we have. And the unfortunate thing
about the opposition is that ... We plead with you, you need
to be constructive.
The reason why those of us who contributed towards building
the South Africa that we have, and the institutions that we
have today, basically, we said, despite all the pain, despite
all the things that you did to us, we needed to include you to
be part and parcel of South Africa. But if you’re going to
continue not to even bother to listen at us, when we are
presenting, I presented a budget and I meticulously went
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through where the money is going to. And members of the
opposition come here with already prepared speech and they
didn’t even bother to listen to what we're saying.
We are pleading with you, you are part and parcel of South
Africa. We have embraced you embrace us too and also
understand that in governance, there will be mistakes that
will be made. And in that we need to correct those mistakes.
So, you must be constructive.
For instance, when you listen to the hon member of the EFF ...
Hon member, I can just only say to you do to the honourable
thing, get your facts right. Go and read. If it’s not what is
in the speech, it is there. Almost 13 million children get
child support grant. Just over 7 million caregivers in the
budget. I clearly indicated what money goes where.
As for the hon member from the FF Plus, you see, it’s easy for
you to talk about dependency, the same thing as MEC Fernandez
said and I quote:
We pay grants, not because we believe South Africans
cannot do things for themselves. We pay the grants
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because the system created a situation where our people
had nothing to start with.
Even when we started in in 1994, we made sure that the grants
are paid to everybody. And the way, we don’t even
discriminate, who are you, what colour you are, where you
live, as long as you qualify for the grant, we pay the grant
to all. So, when people talk about state dependency, we are
where we are because black people in the majority never had
the opportunity of creating a good environment for themselves.
Therefore, the responsibility of this government ... This
social grants are the main source of income. You know very
well that when you go to your constituencies, you know that in
almost each and every home you go to, particularly black
homes, you will find that is the grandmother, the grandfather,
the children they are all dependent on social grant. As long
as the economy is not growing in the manner in which it is
growing, it is our responsibility as a government to support
our people.
To the DA, can I just remind you about your own policies that
you do not support minimum wage as agreed at National Economic
Development and Labour Council, Nedlac, and you are determined
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by the Wages Commission. Instead, you are proposing an opt
out. For me it’s like, where do you live? You must go to the
communities and see what is happening in the communities and
once you know that you will not say what you said.
To the basic income grant, now everybody is jumping up and
down about the basic income grant. It is this government of
the ANC that started the debate about the basic income grant.
It is this ANC-led government that has come back with the
basic income grant. And I know some others are fighting it
outside and saying it mustn’t happen. Where must people go?
This government is responsible and it must take responsibility
and support our people. I thank you very much for your
patience, Chairperson.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Thank you, hon
Minister. Hon members, allow me to take this opportunity to
thank the Minister of Social Development hon Zulu, Deputy
Minister, all MECs, all members who participated in this very
important debate. That concludes the business of the day their
Council is adjourned. Thank you very much.
Debate concluded.
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The Council adjourned at 19:03.
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