Questions and Replies

Reply:

No. It is important to note that the Social Assistance legislation only provides for receipt of the CSG up to the month in which the child turns 18. However, the same beneficiaries would be eligible to apply for COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant.

In addition, through the National Integration Social Protection System (NISPIS) programme, DSD links CSG beneficiaries to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), should they wish to pursue their education at institutions of higher learning and they are exempted from NSFAS means test.

Furthermore, government provides for other support services to ensure that vulnerable children complete their education such as no fee schools in poor communities, school nutrition programmes, free primary health care at public facilities, free basic services, and subsidised housing for poor households. A combination of social protection interventions create powerful opportunities to multiply the impact of children’s grants in achieving comprehensive social and economic developments through integration to additional services.

Reply:

 

1(a) As the Honourable Member is aware, the GBVCC only make use of the services of qualified social workers registered with the SA Council for Social Service Professions. At its inception, the GBVCC had 48 social work agents and 8 social work supervisors. This number has gradually reduced through natural attrition. Currently the GBVCC has 38 social work agents and 7 social work supervisors.

(b) Due to the sensitive nature of the GBVCC, the Department does not make use of call centre operators. The social work agents are supported by 4 Technical Shift Supervisors were employed who perform the task of a Workforce Planner and 4 Quality Assurance Managers to quality assure the work of the GBVCC. There is an onsite Systems Support Technician and there is a Call Centre support manager that supports the overall management of the GBVCC ensuring that oversees the management of all the various systems in the Call Centre including data management and system reporting.

2 (a) To ensure that members of the public can easily access services, the GBVCC uses a Toll-Free Number: 0800 428 428. (b) Information on cost to victims is not readily available.

3(a)(b) GBVCC provides 24/7 telephonic psychosocial support services, including trauma and counselling and referral services to survivors of gender-based violence. These may include a referral to social workers in the local area, SAPS for opening of a GBV case or protection order, health services or a shelter for survivors of GBV in the local area from where the client is calling.

 

 

Reply:

a) Two (2). The cases relate to the procurement and/or management of office accommodation leases. Although there was no financial loss on the part of SASSA, the officials were found guilty of gross negligence for not renewing office accommodation leases on time.

b) The two (2) officials mentioned above were subsequently dismissed after due disciplinary processes were followed.

Reply:

The Honourable Member is advised to refer to the Department’s Annual Performance Plan (APP), which clearly outlines key activities for the financial year. The Department will continue with the commemoration of annual campaigns which are not confined to the celebration of 30 years of democracy.

Reply:

1. (a) As stated in my reply to Parliamentary Question 4207, SASSA works closely with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) on data validation and conducts monthly checks to confirm the life status of clients before a payment file is generated on a monthly basis.

b) The life status (proof of life) confirmation is sourced from DHA on the day that the payment file is generated. If proof of life is confirmed, payment is included in the payment file and effected for that month. Using February 2024 payment as an illustration, the process is as follows:

Step 1: On the third weekend of the month payment file is extracted (26-28 January 2024) – It must be noted that due to the controls and volumes of the payment file, the payment file is done over the weekend when there is no production work being processed.

Step 2: The payment file is quality assured and approved on Monday (29 January 2024)

Step 3: Tuesday (30 January 2024), SASSA sends payment file to Bankserv – Bankserv requires the payment file 2 days before payment date

Step 4: Thursday (1 February 2024) – is reserved for National Treasury administrative processes

Step 5: From Friday (2-5 February 2024) – Payment starts. If the 1st day of payment falls on a Monday, payment is moved to Tuesday to enable retailers and banks to ensure sufficient cash circulation within the industry. The 5-step process is necessary to ensure the right person is paid. It must be noted that the above will still not resolve the challenge of late death notifications by families to Home Affairs, which implications for SASSA.

Reply:

(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(i)(ii) I refer the Honourable Member to my previous reply question (Question 94). Neither myself nor the Deputy Minister have purchased any new vehicles since the reply to Question 94.

Reply:

a) As the Honourable Member is aware, social grants appeals are handled by the Independent Tribunal for Social Assistance Appeals. For the period in question, the Tribunal received a total of 23 939 400 appeals for the SRD Grant.

b) The above number is inclusive of 15 343 533 appeals received for the period 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023 and 8 595 867 appeals received during the period 1 April 2023 – 31 December 2023. To date, the Tribunal has adjudicated and finalised a total of 23 298 222 SRD Grant appeals.

Reply:

(a) (b) (c) (i) (ii) (iii) (aa) (bb) (cc) None

Reply:

1. (a) As stated in my reply to Parliamentary Question 4207, SASSA works closely with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) on data validation and conducts monthly checks to confirm the life status of clients before a payment file is generated. SASSA does not knowingly pays social grants to deceased beneficiaries.

(i)(ii)(b) Please refer to my reply to Question 4207

2. It is important for the Honourable Member to note that all social grants, with the exception of Foster Child Grant, which is court issued, are means tested for eligibility. If a government employee decides to foster a child an apply for a Foster Child Grant and the court grant foster care place, the employee will be eligible for the Foster Care Grant.

It is also important for the Honourable Member to note some categories of government employees such as those recruited through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and internship programmes, most of whom are the groups appearing on the government database. These individuals would qualify to receive social grants, should they satisfy the eligibility criteria.

(b) The breakdown of grant types is as follows:

Grant Type	Number
Care dependency grant	61
Child Support Grant	3773
Disability Grant	3579
Older Person’s Grant	52 655
Grand Total	60 068

All of the above beneficiaries were identified through the AGSA audit process and they were subjected to a review process by SASSA. It was found that some of the employees receive social grants on behalf of someone in their care.

Reply:

a) Please refer to Annexure A for a list of every South Africa Post Office (SAPO) payment point that will be closed

b) Please refer to Annexure A for a list of every South Africa Post Office (SAPO) payment point closure dates

c) Please refer to Annexure B for the number of SASSA grant recipients serviced at each SAPO/Postbank

d) (i) and (ii) Please refer to Annexure C - for alternative payment points to each of the closed or will be closed SAPO branches and related kms

 

Reply:

(a) As the Honourable Member is aware, the Special COVID-19 SRD Grant is a wholly digital and this exposes it to cybercrimes. To address this, SASSA has developed robust ICT capabilities to detect fraud and related activities. SASSA’s cyber-crime prevention and detection capacities include interfaces with other government departments and entities, including the Department of Home Affairs (National Population Register), PERSAL and the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF), SARS, Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) amongst others.

(b) Additional fraud detection and prevention measures include interfaces with banks who rely on the Financial Intelligence Centre for verification purposes. SASSA also uses the data of the South African Fraud Prevention Services (SAFPS) to stay abreast of those that have been identified as perpetrators of fraud or victims of fraud. These efforts strengthen SASSA’s ability to validate grant applications.

Reply:

(1)(a) GBV Command Centre Statistics Report: 01 November 2013 – 31 December 2023
Date	Telephone Calls Received	GBV victims assisted
01 JAN 2023 – 31 Dec 2023	65 311	5 845
01 JAN 2022 – 31 Dec 2022	40 700	3 086
01 JAN 2021 – 31 Dec 2021	65 490	5 036
01 JAN 2020 – 31 Dec 2020	136 940	5 954
01 JAN 2019 – 31 Dec 2019	59 800	1 955
01 JAN 2018 – 31 Dec 2018	64 680	3 015
01 JAN 2017 – 31 Dec 2017	12 020	4 048
01 JAN 2016 – 31 Dec 2016	71 040	1 816
01 JAN 2015 – 31 Dec 2015	64 820	2 214
01 JAN 2014 – 31 Dec 2014	7 607	940
01 NOV 2013 – 31 Dec 2013	1 997	325
TOTAL	590 405	34 234

(b)The GBV Command Centre is a call-centre service that can be contacted by anyone who need assistance with issues of GBV or any issue relating to abuse or threat to personal safety, at any time of the day (24/7) and throughout the year.

Since inception, the GBV Command Centre is managed by qualified social workers registered with the SA Council for Social Service Professions. Depending on the nature of the call, the client is referred to the relevant services, including Health, SAPS and local NGOs that provides shelters for survivors of GBV

(2)(a)(i) and(ii) The awarding of the tender followed the prescripts in terms of the Public Finance Management Act and its regulations. This included amongst others, a compulsory briefing, a 2-stage shortlisting, verification and recommendation of bidders consisting of the Bid Evaluation and Bid Adjudication Committees. This was further strengthened through a requirement of submission of verifiable project qualifications and skills of the respective Project leaders of each bidder, and the submission of verifiable, written references of past provision of services by the prospective service providers.

(b) The Department has established a Project Steering Committee that meets on a weekly basis to measure progress in the implementation and roll-out of the GBVCC project. This is further assisted by a weekly meeting between the Director-General and the CEO of Brilliantel to further measure progress and resolve, any outstanding contractual or project delivery matters.

Reply:

SASSA suspended 81 687 Child Support Grants since 1 April 2023 up to 31 January 2024.

These grants were suspended because the banking details of grant recipients captured on the SASSA database did not correspond with details captured by their respective banks, indicating possible changes in the clients’ records. The suspension was implemented as per the provision of Section 14(5) of the Social Assistance Act (Act No. 13 of 2004), which requires clients/beneficiaries to ensure that their records are accurate and updated with the Agency.

Reply:

a) At the time of this response, I have not been informed of any cases anywhere in the country where SASSA has defaulted on rental payments.

b) Refer to (a). SASSA has a system in place to manage ahead of time all office rentals to ensure no offices are closed due to non-rental payments. Hence, there has been no closure of any leased offices in the last two years.

 

Reply:

The table below provides the number of official complaints received during the period 2020 until 2024; and the outcomes of the complaints.

Year	Number of complaints	Breakdown per grant type	Outcome
2020	106	Type of Grant Number of Complaints SRD 01 Care Dependency 00 CSG 14 FCG 00 DG 12 Grant in Aid 00 Older Persons 79 War Veterans 00	Finalised Not 106 nil
2021	40	Type of Grant Number of Complaints SRD 00 Care Dependency 00 CSG 03 FCG 01 DG 13 Grant in Aid 00 Older Persons 23 War Veterans 00	Finalised Not 40 nil
2022	119	Type of Grant Number of Complaints SRD 03 Care Dependency 00 CSG 10 FCG 00 DG 22 Grant in Aid 00 Older Persons 84 War Veterans 00	Finalised Not 119 nil
2023	424	Type of Grant Number of Complaints SRD 262 Care Dependency 00 CSG 21 FCG 01 DG 32 Grant in Aid 00 Older Persons 108 War Veterans 00	Finalised Not 409 15
2024	256	Type of Grant Number of Complaints SRD 414 Care Dependency 00 CSG 02 FCG 00 DG 08 Grant in Aid 00 Older Persons 31 War Veterans 00	Finalised Not 252 4

(2) Thus far there’s no linkage of the lodged complaints on ID fraud with a) public servants outside the department, b) SASSA employees and c) employees of the department.

(3) The issue of “duplicate IDs” SASSA has identified two situations mainly affects older clients where two persons share the same ID number, unknowingly. These cases are not necessarily fraudulent, but in part the result of various legacy issues. Such matters are flagged and referred to the Department of Affairs for investigation and resolution.

(ii) Recently, the same issue of “duplicate IDs” is affecting those applying for the SRD grant. These are not necessarily duplicate IDs but some form of Identity theft. Fraudsters steal and use another person’s ID number and personal details to apply for the SRD grant; as well as open accounts with private banks, pretending to be the rightful owners of the ID.

When such cases are detected, SASSA will flag the applicant as fraudulent and require the applicant to provide a HANIS report to confirm their identity. SASSA is also implementing a system that will allow for these clients to digitally verify themselves through a facial recognition process. We however, cannot make the specific fraud prevention mechanisms public as this would weaken the mechanism and defeat their purpose. At high level, as part of the detective mechanism, we conduct compliance inspections and systems to detect any internal control deficiencies across the regions. As part of corrective mechanism, we conduct investigations and ensure that corrective measures are taken. Where necessary, members of the South African Police Service also assist in the investigation of fraud cases.

Reply:

a) It is important for the Honourable Member to note that SASSA is a tenant at the aforementioned premises that are owned by the Western Cape Provincial Department of Social Development. As the Honourable Member is aware, SASSA has temporarily relocated to Kuyasa Library to ensure continued service to the people of Khayelitsha.

SASSA is also working with local community-based organisations such as Khayelitsha Development Forum and Freedom To The Forgotten to find a long-lasting solution on this matter. In addition, SASSA has made an application to the City of Cape Town for the permanent use of the Kuyasa Library.

b) Refer to (a)

 

Reply:

(1) As stated in my reply to Parliamentary Question 4207, SASSA works closely with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) on data validation and conducts monthly checks to confirm the life status of clients before a payment is generated. Payment is effected for clients who are confirmed to be alive, as per validation outcome.

The life status (proof of life) confirmation is sourced from DHA on the day that the payment file is created. If proof of life is confirmed, payment is included in the payment file and effected for that month. As soon as SASSA receives notice of death from DHA, payment is immediately cancelled and not included in the payment file for that month.

It is important for the Honourable Member to note that social grants payments are effected upon confirmation of proof of life by the Department responsible for this function, which is the DHA. It is incorrect to insinuate that SASSA knowingly pays social grants to deceased beneficiaries.

The activities and the period between payment extraction and payment date can be outlined as below: Using February 2024 payment as example:

• Fourth weekend of the month payment file is extracted (26-28 January 2024) – It must be noted that due to the controls and volumes of the payment file, the payment file is done over a weekend when there is no production work being processed.
• Payment file QA and approval on Monday (29 January 2024).

(2) It will be appreciated if the Honourable can clarify this question because SASSA does not have the data readily available.

Reply:

a) (i0(ii)(iii) The reply to Question 4207, was for total grant overpayments of Post Bank clients. Data related to payments and debts, including recoveries, is housed on two different systems, and requires an extensive cross referencing of the two data sets to answer the question in its current form. This will also require remapping of data across multiple years.

With regard to recoveries, refer to the table below:

FY 2021-2022	FY 2022-2023	FY 2023-2024
R10,826,491.53	R17,900,226.07	R20,001,986.99

Reply:

(1) (a) Information provided to Question 4207, was for grant overpayments to Post Bank clients. Over the last three years grant overpayments to deceased Post Bank clients were as follows:

• • 2021/2022 = R59 256 000
  • 2022/2023 = R50 372 000
  • 2023/2024 = R31 928 000

SASSA does not have data on other Banks readily available to provide statistics as requested above. A special script is required to extract the required data; which takes time to develop, execute and analyse for accuracy and to ensure this part of the question is responded to adequately.

(b) Considering that the above-mentioned grant overpayments were made to the most vulnerable members of society, SASSA’s ability to recover debt might be expensive than the debt itself. However, I must point out that each debt, irrespective of the amount, remains “recoverable “until it is s written off.

There are a number of questions and factors that can be considered when dealing with deceased grant beneficiaries to whom a grant was paid before SASSA received a notice of death from Home Affairs:

• Would it be economical to invest all the resources required to recoup a debt for one-month payment made to a deceased grant beneficiary?

• Does the deceased have an estate or the value of the estate is so small to claim against such that the full value of the grant may not be recovered?

• Would recovery cause undue hardship to his or her dependents?

(2) (a) and (b) Information on private bank accounts, such as balances within those accounts, is confidential information, to which SASSA dos not have access.

(3) (a) SASSA is not currently a registered creditor to any deceased estate. There is currently no system interface between SASSA and the Office of the Master of the High Court. When death occurs, the majority of Social Grant beneficiaries’ families make no effort to wind up an estate with the Office of the Master of the High Court (estates between R125,000 and R250,000) or with the Magistrates Office (estates below R125,000) as required by law. Therefore, if no “case file” is created no-one can register as a Creditor.

(b) All debts are considered “recoverable”, until National Treasury approves the write off. Hence the full amount referenced above is considered recoverable until this process is completed.

(4) It’s important to note that for the SASSA cards, funds are paid into a bank account at Postbank, which is governed by the same laws as any other bank account. SASSA with the assistance of National Treasury is investigating the possibility of all banks to return balances remaining in social grant beneficiary’s bank as a result of grants not withdrawn back to government. The technicalities and implications of this proposal are still under discussion.

Reply:

1. The question relates to the operations of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Social Development, which is under the political oversight of the MEC of Social Development. As reported in several meetings of the Portfolio Committee, the National Treasury is implementing budget cuts across all government departments, including provincial departments of Social Development.

Reply:

a) The Department has implemented new funding model with effect from October 2023. The new funding model entails paying NPOs in tranches on a quarterly basis. The tranche will be paid in April, July, September and January each financial year. This will ensure timeous payment of subsidies to NPOs

b) 

1. Subsidies for August 2023 were paid in full on 06 October 2023;
2. Most of NPOs have been paid subsidies for September, October and November 2023. The remaining unpaid NPOs will be paid on 2 November 2023.
3. October is included on the New Funding Model, final payment will be made on 2 November 2023.

c) There were delays in payment of subsidies due to cash blocking resulting from budget cuts. The funds are allocated by Provincial Treasury on monthly basis. The department does not have enough cash to pay for its contractual obligations and operational costs.

The department has requested funds for NPO subsidies to be allocated quarterly in order to pay NPOs in tranches to avoid late payments. The tranche payment to NPOs will be paid in April, July, September and January each year. The first tranche for 2023/24 has been effected in October 2023 and the next one will be in January 2024.

Reply:

Yes, the issue was on the agenda of the MINMEC meeting held on 5 December 2023 and was discussed at length with all MECs. The meeting to discuss and find long term solution is scheduled for early next year with the KZN Provincial Department of Social Development. The meeting will address issues that are a challenge for both parties. All the NPOs that have signed the Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Department have been paid their subsidies as in December 2023.

Reply:

Below is the statistical information on the contactable options for victim of Gender Based Violence:

a) Calls received

Date	Telephone Calls Received
01 November 2022 – 31 October 2023	54 398

b) Please-call-me notifications received

Date	Please-call-me Notifications Received
01 November 2022 – 31 October 2023	0

The Department of Social Development appointed a new service provider for the GBV Command Centre who started 01 November 2023. During that transition phase, certain channels for example SMS, USSD, Skype and Webpage were not fully operational hence, some of the statistical information on these channels for that period are not available.

c) Skype Calls Received and responded to

Date	Skype Calls Received	Skype Responded to
01 November 2022 – 31 October 2023	10	09

In addition, the following email/website requests were received and responded to for the same period:

Date	Email/Website Requests
01 November 2022 – 31 October 2023	572

(a)(i) GBV cases that were referred to Social Workers

The GBVCC Social Service Professionals conducted telephonic referrals to various stakeholders at an estimation of 1059 cases in the past 12 months. The Social Workers also conducted 496 written referrals to Social Workers in the different provinces.

ii) Below are the specified cases that have been resolved successfully

Over 1000 cases were resolved successfully based on follow ups conducted by Social Workers and Supervisors on all referred cases.

(b) The GBV Command Centre assist with GBV cases as they provide psychosocial services and support to victims telephonically in terms containment, emotional support, dealing and management of trauma as well as counselling. The Social Service Professionals are working closely with different stakeholders such as SA Police Service, National Prosecution Authority and the Department of Justice. The GBV Command Centre ensures that victims are promptly connected with relevant stakeholders in cases of emergency. They activate the SA Police Service to dispatch a vehicle to the scene immediately to ensure the victim is assisted in a domestic situation. Furthermore, the GBVCC Social Service Professionals will then make the necessary follow up with SAPS as well as the victim within a period of 30 minutes to ascertain that the victim is indeed receiving the required assistance.

Reply:

(1) Yes, the Department monitors the GBV Command Centre on a daily basis through social workers and social work supervisors. The Technical Shift Supervisor performs at least one test per shift per channel to test that the channel is active, monitored and promptly responded to. In addition, the Quality Assurers of the GBV Command Centre provide quality assurance as part of monitoring and improving the times in which these channels are responded to.

(2) Depending on the nature of the call, the callers are referred for various services, including the SA Police Service, Civil Society Organizations including GBV Shelters in cases of domestic violence and rape. They are further referred to both Government and Non-governmental organisation (NGOs) i.e. the Department of Justice for protection orders, Department of Health for injuries and NGOs such as Family and Marriage Society of SA (FAMSA), Lifeline for face-to-face counselling on family preservations. The GBV Command Centre also refers cases to the Local DSD offices through the provincial offices.

(3) The GBV Command Centre is managed by qualified Social Workers and Social Work Supervisors with the support of Technical Shift Supervisors in terms of testing and ensuring that all the channels are fully operational.

(4) (a) Please see below attached annexure A on the three Job Descriptions as per the Occupation Specific Dispensation (Social Auxiliary Worker, Social Worker and Social Work Supervisor).

(4) (b) The qualifications are BA Social Work or Bachelor of Social Science in Social

Work for Social Workers and Social Work Supervisors; and a Certificate in

Social Auxiliary Work for Social Auxiliary Workers.

Reply:

1. SASSA works closely with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) on deceased data validation and conducts monthly checks to confirm the life status of beneficiaries before a payment is generated. Payment is effected to beneficiaries who are confirmed to be alive, as per validation outcomes.

(2) Yes, there are instances where deceased social grant recipients have been wrongly paid. This happens when a grant beneficiary dies after proof of life is confirmed by DHA and when the payment run is released to the beneficiary’s bank account.

(a) The numbers of such social grant recipients in the past three years are as follows:

(i) 2021/2022 = 32920

2022/2023 = 26512

2023/2024 = 15204

(ii) To prevent the withdrawal of social grant monies, SASSA freezes the accounts of the deceased beneficiaries through Post Bank and follows up with a letter to the next of kin to return the money to SASSA. Where a withdrawal has already taken place, a SASSA debt recovery process is followed.

b) The monetary value of such payments in each of the past three years is as follows:

2021/2022 = R59 256 000

2022/2023 = R50 372 000

2023/2024 = R31 928 000

Reply:

(1) The 10 Point Plan was introduced in the year 2000 and was well encapsulated in the 2000-2005 Strategic Plan of the Department. The Ten Point Plan was published on the DSD homepage and is still there even today. Since these are public documents, the Department of Social Development took a conscious decision to retain archived documents on its home page in line with the Public Access to Information Act for easy access by the public for purposes of research and general information.

In terms DPME Framework for Strategic Planning and Annual Performance Plans, strategic priorities are reviewed on a medium-term basis, every 5 years, in line with the dispensation of the government administration. Therefore, the strategic priorities have been revised in line with the National Development Plan (NDP) and the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF).

(2) The Ten-Point Plan is still relevant to the work of the Department and have since been institutionalised to inform the Programmes and the structure of the Department. The plan still forms part of our Departmental mandate and still finds expression in the strategic documents such as the APP, and through the key outcomes for the 2019-2024 MTSF. The key outcomes are:

• Outcome 1: Reduced levels of poverty, inequality, vulnerability, and social ills
• Outcome 2: Empowered, resilient individuals, families, and sustainable communities
• Outcome 3: Functional, efficient, and integrated sector

(3) The Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Social Workers, which includes the Social Work Scholarship Programme was introduced in 2007. Since then, the Department recruited, trained and appointed 8 821 social work graduates. Since the 2018/2019 financial year, the Department has been experiencing capacity challenges to absorb all social work graduates due to budgetary constraints.

As a result, our country faces the paradox of social work graduates unemployment co-existing with major social ills in many communities. To address this challenge, the Department is working jointly with other key departments in the sector on Sector Strategy for Employment of Social Service Professionals as guided by the National Development Plan, which puts the figure at 55 000 social service professionals.

Reply:

1(a)

(i0 SASSA KZN Region has been the occupant of the Chatsworth building since April 2006 in a shared services arrangement with the Department of Social Development (DSD), with DSD being the primary contract holder with the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. After the departure of DSD from the premises, SASSA started experiencing glitches with the building maintenance as KZN Provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (PDPWI) stopped maintaining the building on the basis that their tenant (DSD) had vacated the facility.

When it became apparent that PDWI would not provide maintenance services, SASSA attempted to address the issues they were experiencing by requesting for quotations to possibly manage the challenges but found the costs were prohibitive.

The next option was to approach National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (NDPWI) to take over the responsibility of the building. When an assessment was done on the state of the building by both NDWI and the Depart of Labour they both declared the building unfit for occupation as it had deteriorated to a point that it did not meet occupational and health standards.

(ii) Both NDWI and the Department of Labour declared the building unfit and unsafe for occupation after Occupational Health Safety (OHS) inspections were conducted leading to the declaration and the office being vacated.

(b)

(i) To ensure the safety of the specified premises, quarterly committee meetings between SASSA OHS and Durban District are held since 2017

(ii) As part of the oversight, a cost was established to correct the maintenance issues raised, but these costs were more than what the Agency could afford. NDWI was approached to take over the premises, however, upon inspection of the building by their OHS inspectors it was found that the building was no longer fit for purpose.

2. (a)

(i) NDPWI has taken over the Chatsworth building, and according to NDPWI the building has been prioritised for rehabilitation in its 2023/2024 financial year with their professional teams working on this project.

(ii) It is expected the rehabilitation of the building in the care of NDPWI will comply with OHS occupational requirements, norms and standards, and other property legislation applicable.

(iii) According to NDPWI, they have prioritised funding for the rehabilitation of the building in its 2023/2024 financial year budget with their professional teams working on this project.

b. According to NDPWI, rehabilitating the property will commence in January 2024. We recommend the MP engages NPDWI directly on the rehabilitation project plan and timeframe to re-open the building.

3. To ensure the safety of other SASSA local offices in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality region, SASSA has taken the following preventative measures;

• The more recent lease agreements entered into by SASSA directly with the Metropolitan Municipality include maintenance.
• There are existing offices wherein SASSA has shared services costs with DSD KZN, with these SASSA is in the process of finalising a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on shared office service costs that includes maintenance, payment of utilities and other running costs related to each facility where such an arrangement exists.

• All NDPWI contracts have been standardised to include a maintenance plan for the duration of a lease period. The NDPWI has since appointed an official from SASSA to form part of the Bids Specification and Evaluation Committees to represent SASSA’s interests to ensure that buildings selected meet the safety requirements.

Reply:

(a) Outcomes of the CDA 3rd National Summit on Substance Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

a) The 3rd National Summit hosted by the CDA was preceded by provincial dialogues and culminated into the adoption of resolutions to address the problem of alcohol and drugs misuse, and illicit trafficking.

b) The main aim of the Summit was not to come up with new plans, but to expedite the implementation of the key priorities and the 7 Goals of the National Drug Master Plan (2019-2024). The full report and programme of action will be submitted to the Portfolio Committee in due course for oversight purposes.

Reply:

Yes, SASSA offices have undergone infrastructure upgrades to improve services. SASSA has a national toll-free number for the public to contact the Agency for any social grants related enquiries. SASSA has dedicated employees to receive and deal with public enquiries on the Toll Free: 0800 60 1011.

This is complemented by the national e-mail address for the public to contact the Agency for queries: [email protected]. There are SASSA employees dedicated to receive and respond to the public via this platform. For the younger generation SASSA also features on social media where members of the public can engage SASSA:

• Twitter: @OfficialSASSA
• Facebook: SASSA News and #SASSACARES

Reply:

a) In fulfilment of the responsibility to oversee SASSA’s management, administration and payment of social assistance, the Department has put systems and structures in place at different levels and there are regular engagements between the two entities to continuously monitor payment of social grants.

The following are some of the key oversight initiatives by the Department:

• The Department has initiated the establishment of a Social Assistance Service Delivery Assurance Committee (SASDAC) comprising of senior officials from both DSD and SASSA and formalised through the terms of reference duly signed by accounting officers of both institutions (the Director- General and the Chief Executive Officer). The committee meets bi-monthly amongst other things the committee monitors compliance with social assistance legislation, service delivery norms and standards and deliberates on service delivery related challenges, with the intent to improve service delivery. The key focus areas include access to social assistance, spending in accordance to voted funds, service delivery quality and business processes. Since its establishment in the 2nd quarter FY23/23 two meetings have already been held.
• The Department also conducts oversight visits at SASSA local offices, SAPO branches and cash pay points, to monitor compliance with legislation, as well as norms and standards. For this financial year, visits have been conducted to four Provinces namely North-West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Western Cape.
• The Inspectorate for Social Assistance also conducts financial and compliance audits on the integrity of the social assistance frameworks and systems at SASSA. Reports are subsequently shared with SASSA and the Department and presented to the Audit Committee.
• The Agency also submits quarterly performance reports to the Department. The reports and other management issues are subsequently analysed and discussed at the Entity Oversight forum which is led by the Department on a quarterly basis.

(i) On a month-to-month basis, DSD ensures that a payment schedule is uploaded and payments are authorised well in advance. SASSA pays the grants directly into the bank accounts of eligible beneficiaries, every month without fail. Where incorrect payments are made it is sometimes as a result of instances where beneficiaries’ circumstances have changed and SASSA is not notified in time or the databases that are relied upon are not updated in time.

(ii) The error rate of grant approvals remains very low, as can be seen by the low number of appeals that get upheld; as well as research that indicates that South Africa has one of best targeted systems in the world. SASSA also implements stringent background checks on applicants when they apply as well as regular reviews while they are accessing the grant. However, there will always be applicants who attempt to defraud the Agency, or client who do not update their records when their circumstances change. These remain a small group of clients. SASSA has a relatively strong Fraud unit aimed at deterring such behaviour.

The Inspectorate for Social Assistance also conducts audits aimed at identifying any weaknesses in the systems that may expose SASSA to fraud.

 

 

Reply:

a) Current foster care grant backlog per province compared to June 2022

REGION	2019 & Prior Years	2020	2021	2022	2023
EC	165	522	1525	720	3118
FS	14	4	26	40	458
GP	942	704	1124	1244	1778
KZN	49	26	127	224	1351
LP	801	618	921	944	1114
MP	32	150	165	82	206
NC	1	2	3	23	122
NW	7	5	8	18	425
WC	62	75	154	267	1549
TOTAL	2073	2106	4053	3562	10121

b) Top-up grant monthly uptake per Province

REGION	Jun 2022	Jul 2022	Aug 2022	Sep 2022	Oct 2022	Nov 2022	Dec 2022	Jan 2023	Feb 2023	Mar 2023	Apr 2023	May 2023	June 2023	July 2023	Aug 2023	Sep 2023
EC	306	1,249	2,711	4,072	5,314	6,153	6,825	7,388	8,167	8,764	9,274	10,046	10,751	11,341	12,108	12,715
FS	100	392	910	1,210	1,535	1,734	1,949	2,148	2,338	2,569	2,721	2,996	3,306	3,584	3,875	4,172
GP	239	579	1,339	1,843	2,578	3,097	3,578	4,049	4,508	4,939	5,265	5,732	6,154	6,460	6,900	7,281
KZN	458	1,228	2,602	3,717	3,717	5,386	6,046	6,378	6,925	7,438	7,798	8,282	8,602	8,959	9,476	9,873
LP	227	633	1,733	2,347	3,007	3,388	3,901	4,243	4,665	5,073	5,405	5,724	6,030	6,268	6,522	6,855
MP	119	283	712	1,084	1,591	1,803	2,080	2,382	2,659	2,989	3,229	3,628	3,973	4,258	4,533	4,779
NC	71	199	379	565	702	754	861	965	1,078	1,213	1,290	1,399	1,504	1,597	1,674	1,764
NW	64	249	550	894	1,289	1,499	1,716	1,931	2,191	2,432	2,617	2,904	3,178	3,373	3,590	3,767
WC	64	206	492	754	955	1,158	1,362	1,492	1,741	1,999	2,150	2,426	2,654	2,790	3,000	3,246
TOTAL	1,648	5,018	11,428	16,486	20,688	24,972	28,318	30,976	34,272	37,416	39,749	43,137	46,152	48,630	51,678	54,452

c) (i) The Children’s Act has been amended to allow relatives of orphaned children to refer this category of children for Child support grant (CGS) Top-Up grant. However, the regulations are not yet gazetted for implementation as a result Social Workers (legally) are still referring relatives of orphaned children to the Foster Care system.

It should be noted that the Department of Social Development and South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) are continuously conducting educational roadshows, stakeholder and public education about the Child Support Top - Up, including the eligibility criteria. We therefore believe that overtime, there will be tangible movement.

(ii) The Child Support Top-Up Grant is included in the report. The data is on page 45, table 27 of the attached report.

Reply:

As the Honourable Member is aware, all applications for the COVID-19 SRD Grant are subjected to a means test, without any exceptions. The SRD Grant is targeted at the poor and the unemployed living below the food poverty line of R624. I take it that the Honourable Member is familiar with the eligibility criteria, which was published in the Government Gazette.

The fact that one has applied does not mean that they are automatically eligible. Vigorous checks, including bank validation and income conducted are conducted against various databases such as the Unemployment Insurance Fund to avoid double dipping and to ensure only eligible applicants receive the money.

There are various reasons as to why applications are declined or deemed not eligible, including the ones mentioned in the table below:

TABLE 1: REASONS FOR DECLINING COVID-19 SRD TO YOUNG ADULTS WHO AGED OUT OF THE CSG.

Reply:

1. Yes, the Provincial MEC of Social Development informed me of the situation and measures taken to deal with it to date. The matter relates to allegations of sexual assault of one of the learners by the Boarding Master on 21 May 2023. The Local, District and Provincial DSD Offices conducted a fact finding visit to the school and provided appropriate support. Following the report by the School, Social Service Practitioners (Social Worker and the Child and Youth Care Worker), the following interventions were performed as mandated by the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:

-Empowered the Social Service Practitioners about the implementation of Section 125 of the Children’s Act No.38 of 2005 (Screening of educators and support staff against Part B of the National Child Protection Register);

-Telephone interviews were conducted with the school principal following up on the reported matter;

-The child in question interviewed and provided with psycho-social support.

-Engagements were held with school Social Service Practitioners (SSP’s) to give them support on steps to be followed in attending the case; and

-Referral to SAPS for police to open a case of sexual assault.

2. (a) The Department does not have regulations that guide the monitoring of special schools, including boarding hostels. The Norms and Standards: Partial Care; norm 12, subsection 1, paragraph C, regulates partial care facilities, as per the Children’s Act 38/2005 as amended, Chapter 5, section 87. A partial care facility is defined as a private hostel. This does not include boarding schools run by the Department of Basic Education.

(b) DSD participates in the Integrated School Health Programme. Currently, and due to lack of personnel, the Department provides services on a need basis. For example, Ikhwezi Lokusa Special School was visited on 08 August 2023 by the Social Worker, on 11 August 2023 by Local, District and Provincial Offices and on 06 September 2023 by the Local, District, Provincial Office and MEC for Social Development. Social workers at special schools are under the employ of the Department of Basic Education. Social Development provides support to special schools through awareness campaigns, psychosocial support, school uniforms and dignity packs for learners in need.

Social Development intends to roll out social behaviour programmes to special schools such as You Only Live Once (YOLO), Zazi and Chommy. The Provincial MEC has been in the forefront of efforts to ensure that the learner gets support and justice. Because of her efforts, the alleged perpetrator has been denied bail and is still in custody.

3. Refer to (1) (2) The role of Social Development is to ensure the protection of the learner from secondary victimisation. It is important for the Honourable Member to note that the alleged perpetrator is in the employ of the Department of Basic Education. Issues relating to disciplinary process are therefore the responsibility of the Department of Basic Education and the South African Council for Educators.

Reply:

(a) (b) (c) (i) (ii) (iii) (aa) (bb) (cc) Not applicable to Social Development.

Reply:

BACKGROUND

The Saldanha Bay Municipality has a population of 154 635 according to Census 2022 spread over eight major towns where SASSA office was rendering its services. Prior to the onset of COVID-19, the office had 10 Grant Administrators- split into two teams to service the Vredenburg Office and linked service points. Over the past two years, the Vredenburg Office lost a total of fourteen officials due to various reasons. Unfortunately, the National Treasury placed a moratorium on the filling of vacant positions, which resulted in the closure of the office.

After noticing the growing number of applicants, SASSA decided to re-open the service point on an appointment basis, which has proven to be an effective way.

1. The SASSA policy norms and standards defines access to a service point to be within a 25-kilometre radius. To cater for the needs of the community, SASSA has negotiated with the Saldanha Bay Municipality to allow clients to utilise the Hopefield Thusong Centre to access the SASSA online application system free of charge with the assistance of the centre manager.

SASSA also does conduct home visits for frail/ sick clients who cannot access the offices. A request is generally made through the local office.

2. The Hopefield Thusong Centre serves as an access point where clients have access to use the SASSA online application free of charge. The Centre Manager also facilities the online application for clients who are not computer literate.

3.Beneficiaries in Hopefield who have switched to other banks but have not yet received their payments can still access their social grants using their Postbank card. SASSA has made arrangements for officials to visit Thusong Centre on 20 November 2023 to solve beneficiary concerns. Regarding beneficiaries who want to change to other banks, forms will be made available on the same day.

Reply:

1. SASSA utilises medical practitioners in the employ of the Department of Health doctors who were previously referred to as District Surgeon in all the provinces. While other provinces have changed the title, it is still being used in some provinces, but basically refers to same. There is no different arrangement for KZN. The medical practitioners conduct social assistance assessments.

2. According to our records, there are no outstanding invoices or outstanding payments for medical practitioners in any of the SASSA regions. Where such exists, it is because some medical practitioners prefer to submit their combined monthly invoices (that cover a number of months) for a bigger claim amount. On a continuous basis, SASSA encourages timely submission of invoices by doctors. All invoices that have been submitted have been processed.

Reply:

1(a) The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) plays a very crucial role in the payment of social grants. Key amongst others, SASSA has contracted SITA to provide Social Pensions System (SOCPEN) application maintenance; SOCPEN functional support; SOCPEN mainframe hosting; geographical information services (GIS) support; Basic Accounting System (BAS); and PERSAL (Government employee Personal and Salary System) mainframe hosting project. These services directly impact SASSA’s ability to manage the administration and payment of social grants.

(b) Refer to A.

(2) (a)(i)(ii)(b)(i)(ii) SASSA had proactively engaged with SITA to ensure that social grants payments are not adversely affected by the strike action. In turn, SITA assured SASSA in a formal letter of its mitigation plans and business continuity in case they were unable to dissuade the participation of key personnel in the strike.

SASSA had also put in place contingency plans to ensure the administration and payment of social grants were not disrupted during the strike action. These would have included executing jobs that enable bank accounts verification and updating records prior to payment; extracting the payment file as per predetermined validation and Bankserv format, routing files to National Treasury (PERSAL) for routing to Bankserv and routing cash book files to National Treasury (PMG) for funding purposes.

(3) SASSA is in the process of drafting its requirements for supply chain procurement processes to source a service provider to replace SOCPEN. The replacement will ensure that SASSA opt for a standard modern technology and in a long run drastically reduce dependency on SITA. It is anticipated the transition will be phased-in over a 3-year project.

SASSA is also engaged in a Business Process Reengineering (BPR) project of which one of its aims is ensuring that the IT environment is resourced through a hybrid model (partially outsourced/ insourced/co-sourced) therefore reducing more technical dependence on SITA. Additional measures include the implementation of online application channel as an additional option for new applications and change of circumstances processing, thereby enabling activation of another channel should the accessibility to SOCPEN have been affected by the strike. This channel is not dependent on SOCPEN.

Reply:

SA Post does not only process social grants but other payments, including stipends for Expanded Public Works Programme. The long queues that the Honourable Members refers to people at Mbizana Post office were made up of EPWP workers.

With regard to Mbizana, all SASSA payments were completed successfully within three (3) days at the Love Life Hall in Bizana from 3-5 October 2023.

 

Reply:

(a)	DSD (i)	SASSA (ii)	NDA (iii)
	9 senior managers were appointed to act in vacant position in terms of the Public Service Regulations	There were forty (40) acting appointments at Senior Management level at the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) over the past two years.	The following positions have had acting appointments within the past 2 years:   Chief Executive Officer Company Secretary
(b)	1.Director-General: Social Development 2.Chief Financial Officer 3.Deputy Director-General: Welfare Services 4.Deputy Director-General:  Strategy and Organisational Transformation   The four vacant SMS posts have been job evaluated as per the DPSA prescripts and will be advertised and filled before the end of the current financial year.   The filling of the remaining five (5) SMS positions will be informed by the finalisation of the organizational structure and based on available budget for Compensation of Employees	The status with regard to acting appointments and or permanent appointments at the Senior Management System (SMS)category is as follows:   Twenty-three (23) positions have been filled; Seventeen (17) positions remain vacant of which five (5) of these positions are prioritised for filling by 31 March 2024; There are currently four (4) acting appointments and due to budgetary constraints and cost containment measures re-emphasized by National Treasury, in the current financial year (23/2024 FY); Twelve (12) of these positions are not prioritized for filling in this financial year therefore, acting appointments have been terminated.	The positions are to be filled on a permanent basis on the following dates:   Chief Executive Officer – interviews finalised and Cabinet Memo en route for Cabinet approval Company Secretary post is now filled

 

 

Reply:

a) There are no legislative provisions for baby savers that mandates their existence in the Children’s Act which already has adequate child protection measures to care and protect abandoned children. Baby savers encourages child abandonment which is a criminal offence, and a person who abandons a child after birth may be charged and prosecuted.

The practice encourages infant abandonment; promotes the birth mother relinquishing her parental responsibility with no consequences, silences the voice of the father who also has a parental responsibility as well as the family of the baby, robbing the child of a right to a name, identity as enshrined in the Constitution.

b) Temporary safe care, child and youth care centres and adoption interventions are available as per the provision of the Children’s Act (Act No. 38 of 2005). The Act provides for the placement of abandoned children in temporary safe care pending further investigation and final placement through children’s court proceedings.

Reply:

It is important for the Honourable Member to note that the report in question was commissioned by the Department of Social Development. It is for this reason that the d findings and recommendations of the report have already been put to good use to inform the Draft Policy on social assistance for children, which is currently in the initial policy development stages.

The Department is planning to develop an action plan to implement the recommendations of the study.

Reply:

1. (a) Yes, baby savers are illegal as they constitute a criminal offence in terms of the Children’s Act (Act No. 38 of 2005). Baby savers are regarded as an act of child abandonment and neglect as per the provision of Section 110 of the Children’s Act.

(b) Organisations that promote the use of the so-called baby savers contravenes the Children’s Act, which is the principal law in terms of the promotion and protection of children’s rights.

2. The issue of baby savers should not be seen in isolation from all other important issues aimed at strengthening child protection measures that were considered during the public hearings on the Children’s Amendment Bill. The Act makes provision for alternative care for children in need of care and support, and baby savers are currently one of those.

3. The Gauteng Provincial Department of Social Development bound by the same Act—the Children’s Act, according to which baby savers are a form of child abandonment and neglect.

Reply:

a) An amount of R4.3 billion was returned to the National Treasury due to the lower than expected up take of the SRD Grant.

b) All applicants for the SRD Grant are assessed on a monthly basis. When their financial situation improves and no longer meet the eligibility criteria or they voluntarily stop applying for the grant, there are significant savings on the fiscus. On average, SASSA pays the SRD Grant to over 8, 5 million eligible applicants every month.

 

Reply:

The key funding options that have been proposed for funding the basic income grant are through an increase in taxation, reallocation of current budget allocations or through borrowing.

The borrowing option has the advantage that it would provide additional funding without a need for budget reprioritisation or tax increases. However, this would be expensive for the country as it would increase the country’s debt burden and also increase the already very high interest payments which are already one of the biggest spending items in our government expenditure, which could crowd out other important spending priorities of government.

A second alternative would be a reprioritisation of current budget allocations. This would have the advantage of shifting funds from some government expenditures which are less effective and/or efficient, and redirect it to the urgent needs of the poor. However, such a reprioritisation would be very complex and difficult to implement quickly, since some projects would require significant time and careful planning to wind down without negative unintended consequences.

The tax options considered include wealth taxes, removal of tax expenditure subsidies, increases in the Value Added Tax (VAT) or personal income tax. The advantage of the VAT is that it would be a broad-based tax which enables government to collect sufficient revenue to fully fund the grant, which would be fairly easy to introduce and collect. The disadvantage, however, is that this would be regressive in that the poor would pay the same as the rich. Such an approach would negate the motivation for the grant as the poor would in effect pay proportionally more than the rich because VAT is a flat rate for everyone.

The wealth tax, on the other hand has the advantage of being quite progressive as it would target the rich only. The disadvantage however is that it could result in significant tax avoidance and thus result in inconsistent revenue on a year to year basis as the wealthy find ways to avoid it.

The tax expenditure subsidies on retirement savings were also considered as a possibility. The advantage of this is that, in addition to providing new tax revenue, it would create greater equity in the tax system by reducing support which is currently benefitting high income earners. However, the disadvantage is that it is difficult to quantify and would be unreliable as the only source of revenue, and may result in disincentivising retirement savings among some high-income earners.

The Personal Income Tax (PIT)approach has the advantage of being a more progressive tax which would take a greater contribution from the high-income earners than the lower income earners, thus ensuring a more sustainable revenue source. It is also more reliable than the other tax approaches, thus ensuring sustainable funding in the long term. The additional advantage of using the PIT to finance the grant would also improve the income inequality in our country, as the poor would receive an increase in their income while the rich would have a reduction based on the increase in the tax rate that they have to pay.

 

Reply:

The National Department of Social Development reflected an underspending of R 6.1 billion for the 2022/23 financial year. The main underspending was reflected in the Social Assistance Programme (Social Grants Budgets). R 4.3 billion of this amount is related to the SRD R 350 grant.

During the 2022 Adjusted Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) in September 2022, an amount of R 755.303 million was approved by Parliament to be shifted from the National Department of Social Development to the Department of Defence for extended deployment as part of Operation Vikela in Mozambique.

The Department has requested the National Treasury to re-utilize any savings from social grants for poverty alleviation strategies in the social sector. This request was however not granted, and Parliament has re-allocated savings on social grants to other government pressures.

Reply:

1. The Department envisages to fill these key Management positions by 31 March 2024.

The Department of Social Development has twenty-two (22) vacant posts in the Senior Management Service (SMS) level.

There are six senior management posts that are at various stages of the recruitment and selection processes – advertising, screening, shortlisting, interviews, and appointments.

The remaining sixteen (16) SMS positions are being considered in line with the re-alignment of the organization structure, cost containment measures and availability of budget.

2. The Department of Social Development has appointed officials to act in various vacant and funded SMS posts.

There are various reasons for not filling the posts immediately when they became vacant, and these include the cost containment measures, the continued reduction of the compensation budget, the funding of the wage agreement from departmental budgets, and the recent DPSA directive on the filling of posts.

Reply:

a) The Community-Based Prevention and Early Intervention Programme is effective as the programme is designed in a manner that facilitates early identification of vulnerable children through home visits conducted by auxiliary child and youth care workers who uses the assessment tool (Ungubani) that has seven domains to identify the level of risk a vulnerable children is exposed to. Upon identification of risks, the child(ren) are referred to drop-in centres where interventions informed by the seven domains of the programme are rendered to children and their families for purposes of building their resilience. Schools also act as referral point to Social Workers and Drop-in centres through the implementation of Integrated School Health Programme. Drop-in centres which are access points for the community-based prevention and early intervention programme provides psychosocial support and educational support to improve academic performance and this has been demonstrated by the improved academic performance including matric results. Children are encouraged to remain in school until matric, and those who continue with tertiary education are also supported. The effectiveness of the programme is also demonstrated in the implementation of prevention and early intervention services directed towards individual family members, improving interpersonal relationship, whilst building resilience of children and families. The programme has reached 222 152 by the end of the second quarter of 2023/2024 Financial Year.

b) According to the Guidelines for Community -Based Prevention and Early Intervention Services to Vulnerable Children, the ratio for identified vulnerable children to number of available professionals is as follows:

1:47 for qualified Auxiliary Child and Youth Care Workers; and

1:24 for learner Child and Youth Care Workers.

 

Reply:

Eastern and Western Cape

DSD

a)

1. The core mandate of the department is to render psychosocial support services through its cadre of professions to victims of disasters. This service continues to be available to those who need it and its availability was communicated at the Provincial Disaster Management Centre meetings where all Heads of Centres of the respective District Municipal Disaster Management Centres are in attendance.

2 The role of DSD in the response to a disaster is to coordinate own services in the form of psycho-social services and access facilitation to humanitarian relief to the affected communities.

In this regard DSD did the following:

1. The Red Cross Society of South Africa was identified by DSD as a collection and distribution point for donations due to their experience in responding to disasters.
2. Vodacom worked with Gift of the Givers to provide relief in areas identified by DSD through the Joint Operations Committee (JOC).
3. DSD linked Heal Our Land with the Cape Winelands and Overberg District Municipalities to support with the humanitarian relief response. Heal Our Land is still busy with providing relief in some areas within the Overberg Municipal area.
4. In the Metro, several humanitarian relief organisations provided support to the affected communities in collaboration with the City of Cape Town Disaster and Risk Management Centre.
5. The WeLoveUFoundation has also come on board and is willing to provide support in any identified area. DSD is working with the City of Cape Town (COCT) to identify an area where support is required. WeLoveUFoundation prefers to work within a metropolitan area oppose to a rural area.
6. The following Municipalities - Cape Winelands District Municipality, Overberg District Municipality and the City of Cape Town arranged with numerous Humanitarian Relief Organisations to provide hot meals and other nutrition as required to the affected communities within their area of operation.

The department continues to work collaboratively with all strategic partners and stakeholders to mitigate against the social vulnerabilities heaped upon the poorest of the poor resultant from the flood disaster.

b) The Department’s future social protection plan for vulnerable persons affected by disasters is to continue to work collaboratively with municipalities, community representatives and other stakeholders to identify hot spots for disasters. The whole of society and the whole of government approaches need to be engaged to raise awareness and caution vulnerable groups from illegally erecting informal structures in swamp, wetlands and/or low-lying areas. The Department works with all municipalities and stakeholders to development and implement the annual summer/winter readiness plans.

The Department will continue to establish and monitor the existing humanitarian social relief work-streams in the metro and rural municipalities as part of its preparedness and response mitigation plans.

The department will also continue to provide capacity building and education to internal staff and stakeholders on the DSD Social Relief Plan, Protocols and SOP’s that are in place.

The Department will also continue to provide psycho-social support to the vulnerable individuals affected by the disaster and where appropriate, refer affected and vulnerable individual to our sister departments and relevant stakeholders for material support and other needed services.

SASSA

a)

SASSA provides Social Relief of Distress to any person in need of immediate relief, as per Social Assistance Act 13 of 2004 (Section 13), together with Regulations 11, 16, 17, 18 and 19

The form of relief can be meals, thick foam sponges, blankets, vanity packs, baby pack, school uniforms, and or cash voucher as prescribed and approved by the Agency provided the affected persons meet the qualifying criteria.

The relief provided is on a short-term basis to persons affected by a disaster, declared or undeclared.

Declared disasters:

• A person may qualify for Social Relief of Distress if that household has been affected by a disaster as defined in the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act 57 of 2002).

• The value of social relief of distress paid to a person as a result of a disaster may not be recovered from any social grant payment, including an arrear payment.

• A list of persons or households affected by a disaster as verified by the Provincial or Local Disaster Management Response Unit will be regarded as the final list for the provision of immediate humanitarian relief.

Undeclared disaster:

• A person may qualify for Social Relief of Distress if that household has been affected by a disaster incident.

• A list of households affected by a disaster as verified by the provincial or local office of the Agency will be regarded as the final list of those who are affected for the purpose of disbursing Social Relief of Distress.

The below table depicts the number of people affected by floods in the Eastern and Western Cape and related costs dispersed in the 2023/2024 financial year.

Provinces	No. of people affected	Expenditure FY23/24
Eastern Cape	5,317	R2,446,125.00
Western Cape	16,611	R19,075 581.00
TOTAL	21,928	R21, 521,706.00

It must be noted the Social Relief of Disaster (SRD) response depends on the availability of funds. Further to that, assistance is discretionary.

b) DSD is in the process of drafting a National Disaster Framework which will incorporate, Disaster Preparedness, Response, Recovery and Rehabilitation processes. DSD is also working with NDMC to finalise the process of Disaster Funding Institutional Arrangement which will assist departments to access funding in the event of a disaster.

This will ensure that DSD has access to the much needed funds during disasters to effectively respond and assist the most vulnerable and poor people in the society.

 

Reply:

1. (a) In response to steps taken by the department to significantly reduce the number of child abandonment annually, it is important to clarify that there are no records of 1000 babies abandoned annually recorded in the National Child Protection Register (CPR) which is a legislated register to keep records of child abuse cases including abandonment. The Department notes with concern the number of abandoned babies indicated in statistics that are not reported taken to CPR. The discrepancy in reporting could be attributed to low reporting to CPR.

(b) The steps taken by the department to address child abandonment are as follows

(i) The Department of Social Development in partnership with the Department of Health and Education conducts implementing Integrated School Health Programme conducts education and awareness on sexual and reproductive health rights including dealing with unwanted pregnancy.

(ii) Lifeskills programmes are conducted addressing teenage pregnancies.

(iii) Education and awareness also conducted through media campaign and community dialogues educating communities about available alternative care options and support for parents in distress, education about risks and dangers of child abandonment.

(iv) Isiqalo Program directed to vulnerable pregnant girls/women focussing on life skills, improvement of maternal health, baby care information, prevention of child abuse and reduction of child mortality.

(v) Flourish programme, a national network of antenatal and postnatal classes (10 weeks) that support, celebrate and empower mothers through the critical first 1000 days of a child’s life.

(vi) Sinovuyo Teenagers parenting programme as well as prevention and early intervention parenting skills development programmes to build capacity of parents to care for their children.

(vii) Promotion of adoption services and capacity building of social workers in the Department of Health, empowering them to provide the right information about adoption to birth mothers in order to prevent abandonment of children by the mother of a new born baby including cases when mothers are unable to care for their babies.

(viii) Work in partnership with stakeholders such as the South African Police Service, Department of Health, Department of Education, Faith Based Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations in the awareness campaign on challenges of child abandonment, empowering mothers with information on how they can safely relinquish their children within the child protection system.

(ix) Conduct holiday programmes through funded implementing partners, empowering communities and parents how to keep children and babies in a safe environment.

(x) Deploying Social Workers and Social Auxiliary Workers at borders over the festive period to ensure that children, inclusive of babies, who may be abandoned during the festive period, are receiving the necessary psychosocial services and are placed in a place of safety accordingly.

Reply:

The Postbank has confirmed to SASSA that all system glitches have been resolved as demonstrated in the recent payment run that went unhindered. Postbank also communicated the following to SASSA as remedial action they have taken to prevent future glitches:

• Enhanced monitoring mechanisms to track the payment process in real-time.
• Strengthened their technical infrastructure to handle higher transaction volumes, ensuring swift and uninterrupted disbursements.
• Engaged specialists for a comprehensive review of their system and to continuously rectify any vulnerabilities.