ATC090218: Report Annual Report - 2008
Social Development
Name of Committee:
PC on Social Development
Chairperson:
Hon. Adv. T M Masutha, MP
Committee Secretary:
Ms Zola Vice
Mission and Mandate of the Committee
To serve as the representatives of the people in reviewing, developing and monitoring the implementation of appropriate legislation that responds to the social development needs of the people and that assists in reducing poverty and social exclusion, and ensuring public participation. The Committee will also, through its oversight function, ensure that the social development services, programs and policies implemented by Government are focused on comprehensive protection against vulnerability and on strengthening the social fabric.
Chairperson’s overview:
The Committee continued with its task of reviewing and overhauling the legislative framework that informs service delivery in the field of Social Development. In this regard the Committee considered and reported on the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Bill which has since been passed by Parliament and is awaiting the President’s assent. This legislation comes at a time when substance abuse has become a growing social challenge within our communities especially amongst young people. The purpose of the legislation is to strengthen the tools and the partnership between government and civil society aimed at arresting the problem and strengthening the necessary interventions for prevention, treatment and ultimately combating the scourge of substance abuse. The Committee has, in promoting the expansion of access to social protection considered and reported on the social assistance amendment bill 2008 which has created a framework for the progressive realisation of the goal of full equality between men and women envisaged in our Bill Rights with specific focus on access to social assistance.
The Committee in performing its oversight work held hearings with the department and reporting entities on several occasions during 2008 and identified gaps and areas for improvement in service delivery to ensure that the goals of promoting full social protection amongst all our people is achieved. This includes hearings conducted on their annual reports of the Department and entities to evaluate their work and make recommendations for improvement in their performance.
In order to enhance its own capacity to execute its mandate effectively, the Committee participated in several national and international conferences and undertook a study tour of Brazil to learn from the successful interventions made in that country to address some of its social challenges with regard to substance abuse.
The Committee also considered draft regulations under the Social Assistance Act 2004 which were subsequently promulgated on 14 August 2008 which provide a detailed legal framework for the payment of social grants. The Committee further considered draft regulations on the Older Persons Act 2006 which are yet to be promulgated in order to bring the Act into operation. The Committee has continued to urge the Department to operationalise outstanding new legislation and promulgating the relevant regulations there under including the regulations under the Children’s Act 2005.
The Committee also anticipates that the Department finalises regulations under the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Bill as soon as the bill is assented to by the President.
A lot still needs to be done and in this regard the Committee has previously made recommendations in its reports to Parliament detailing suggestions of areas needing improvement with the hope that a future parliament and committee on Social Development will make further follow ups.
Department over which the Committee exercise oversight
Department of Social Development
Entities which the Committee exercise oversight
- South African Social Security Agency (SASSA)
- National Development Agency (NDA)
Entities under the Department of Social Development
- Central Drug Authority (CDA)
- South African Council of Social Service Professions (SACSSP)
- Disaster Relief Fund Board (DRBF)
1. MEETINGS – 13
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No |
Agenda |
Date of meeting |
Recommendations made |
Minutes adopted |
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1. |
1. Discussion of the Committee programme. 2. Discussion of the overseas study tour and oversight visit. 3. Discussion of the strategic planning workshop. 4. Adoption of the report [Visit to Pretoria to consult national departments on their readiness to implement the Children’s Bill]
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23/01/08 |
4. The Secretary would effect the amendments suggested and the report would be adopted in the next meeting.
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Yes, on 05/03/08 |
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2. |
1. Deliberations on the impact of the State of the Nation Address on the work of the Committee.
2. Briefing by the Minister of Social Development.
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12/02/08 |
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Yes, on 05/03/08 |
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3. |
1. Briefing by the Department of Social Development on the regulations under the Older Person’s Act 2006. 2. Presentation by the Older Person’s Forum on the regulations under the Older Person’s Act 2006.
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20/02/08 |
1) Although the Committee is not required to approve the regulations, Members retained oversight accountability.
2) Members’ questions referred to the composition of the Department’s task teams, the nature and extent of the different levels of service offered by the Department, the opportunity for stakeholders to provide further input on the proposed Regulations, and the Department’s plans for implementing the provisions of the Act and for monitoring the facilities and services provided to older persons.
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Yes, on 05/03/08 |
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4. |
1. Initial briefing by the Department of Social Development on the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Bill.
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27/02/08 |
1) Members raised concerns that there was firstly a need to interact with other Portfolio Committees, such as Health and Justice.
2) Criticisms were expressed that the Bill in its present form appeared to be very prescriptive and contained many clauses that more properly belonged in regulations, as also that the substance and title of the Bill did not appear to address the same issues, and that clarity was needed on various points.
3) The Committee agreed that the whole Bill should be reconsidered or revised as Members were of the view that some of issues fall under the regulations.
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Yes, on 05/03/08 |
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5. |
1. Adoption of Committee reports and minutes. 2. Discussion of the Committee programme.
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05/03/08 |
1) The report on the visits to the National Departments and sample organisations to evaluate their state of readiness of implement the Children’s Bill was adopted. 2) Minutes from 07 November 2007 to 20 February 2008 were adopted.
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No, draft available |
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6. |
1. Public hearings on Budget Vote 16 (Social Development) tabled by the Minister of Finance on 20 February 2008.
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19/03/08 |
No recommendations |
No, draft minutes available |
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7. |
1. Briefing by the Department of Social Development on Budget Votes and Strategic Planning.
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26/03/08 |
No recommendations |
No, draft minutes available |
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8. |
1. Briefing by the South African Social Security Agency and the National Development Agency on Budget Votes and Strategic Planning.
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27/03/08 |
No recommendations |
No, draft minutes available |
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Constituency Period 31 March – 02 May 2008
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9. |
1. Briefing by the Department of Social Development on Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Bill[B12-2008].
2. Briefing by the Central Drug Authority on its role, functions and profiles on current status of substance abuse, trends and statistics.
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06/05/08 |
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No, draft minutes available |
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10. |
1. Briefing by the Department of Social Development on Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Bill[B12-2008].
2. Briefing on Social Assistance Bill[B17-2008].
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07/05/08 |
No recommendations |
No, draft minutes available |
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11. |
1. Voting on Social Assistance Bill[B17-2008].
2. Briefing by the Department of Social Development of litigation issues faced by the Department.
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08/05/08 |
1) The Committee voted on the Social Assistance Bill.
2) The alleged incidences of bribery and corruption within the Department, especially in rural areas were quite a serious matter which needed to be referred to the law enforcement agencies.
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No, draft minutes available |
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Constituency Period June – July 2008 |
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12. |
1. Discussion of the Committee Programme.
a. Oversight visits on all nine provinces. b. Plant visits to Distell and British American Tobacco.
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20 August 2008 |
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No, draft minutes available. |
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Constituency Period 23 September – 12 October 2007
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13. |
Consideration of the Amendments on the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Bill |
18 November 2008 |
Bill was adopted. |
No, draft minutes available |
2. CANCELLED MEETINGS:
None.
3. LEGISLATION CONSIDERED BY COMMITTEE
|
Title of Bill |
Referral date |
Briefing by the Dept. |
Public hearings |
Submissions received
|
Date considered and finalised (with or without amendments) |
ATC Date |
Date adopted by the House |
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Social Assistance Act [B17-2008] |
23/04/08 |
07/05/08 |
No public hearings were held |
-
|
08/05/08
|
12/05/08 |
16/05/08 |
|
Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Bill [B12-2008] |
17/03/08 |
27/02/08 and 07/05/08 |
13 and 14 May 2008 Parliament |
Yes |
19/06/08 With amendments |
24/06/08 |
26/06/08 |
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FROM 06 MAY – 19 JUNE 2008 THE COMMITTEE DELIBERATED ON THE PREVENTION OF AND TREATMENT FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE BILL.
MEETINGS WERE HELD AS FOLLOWS:
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MAY
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JUNE
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06 07 13 & 14 (Public hearings) 20 & 21 (Briefings by depts) 28
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03 04 11 12 13 18 19
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TOTAL NUMBER OF MEETINGS |
14 |
4. OVERSIGHT VISITS UNDERTAKEN FOR THE PERIOD UNDER REVIEW
The Committee abandoned its oversight programme due to a decision by Parliament to prioritize legislative work and merely participated in the oversight programme arranged by Parliament under the People’s Assembly visit to Mpumalanga.
The new oversight mechanism will hopefully further improve the system in Parliament so as to empower Committees to discharge this function on Parliament’s behalf.
5. STUDY TOURS/INTERNATIONAL TRIPS UNDERTAKEN
The Committee study tour to Brazil was sponsored by ARTH and a letter of gratitude was sent to them on 20 August 2008.
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PURPOSE OF VISIT |
COUNTRY |
DATE OF THE VISIT |
DATE REPORT ADOPTED BY COMMITTEE |
REPORT ATCed
|
DATE ADOPTED BY THE HOUSE |
ESTIMATED COSTS |
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Meeting with the central authorities in that country to evaluate their management and monitoring systems.
Visiting organizations and rehabilitation centres that are accredited to work with people who were addicted to drugs and other substances.
Investigating the existing programmes and interventions aimed at rehabilitation including funding models.
Exploring the composition and functioning of the Central Drug Authorities in that country |
Brazil |
24 July – 05 August 2008 |
18/11/08 |
- |
- |
R 996 451.60 |
6. COMMITTEE BUDGET ALLOCATION FOR 2008
Initial allocations to Committees were consolidated and priority was given to legislative work of the Scorpions and the SAPS bills and also the Review of the Criminal Justice System.
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ALLOCATED BUDGET |
EXPENDITURE AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2008 |
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Activity |
Costs |
Balance as at 30 September 2008 |
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R 500 000 |
Catering
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R 89 644.00 |
- |
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Oversight trips
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R 114 693.00 |
- |
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Study tours |
R 132 196.00 |
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R 95 633.00 |
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RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE
The Committee was for the reasons advanced not able to fully perform its oversight mandate by undertaking provincial oversight visits that had already been scheduled in its programme with the result that it was rendered unable to effectively discharge this critical constitutional mandate. It is the committee’s view that a future parliament should ensure that Committees are allowed the resources, time and space in the programme of Parliament to discharge this which is one of the most critical tasks under Parliament’s constitutional mandate.
The clarity regarding resourcing of Committees needs to be established in the new parliament so as to enable Committees to plan and execute its work effectively. The area of public participation has attracted the attention of our courts and Parliament need to come up with a new comprehensive framework to regulate this with a view to maximising the opportunity for interaction between parliament, its committees and ordinary people on the ground. More specifically parliament should ensure that Portfolio Committees in deserving circumstances are allowed to have direct interaction with ordinary people in their communities, especially given their inability to come to Cape Town and to take advantage of invitations to participate in public hearings and forwarding of written submissions when legislation and other important matters are considered by Parliament.
The yet to be resolved contradiction between the supportive role of Parliament’s administration and the constitutional mandate of Members of Parliament and the committees they serve in needs to be further clarified and articulated in the institutional arrangements of Parliament. This will minimize the continuing misunderstandings and tensions between the two spheres of Parliament as an institution. More specifically, a system needs to be developed for the finalisation of processes and decisions of committees relating to legislation, reporting, planning, budgeting and execution of programs that affirms rather than undermine the constitutional mandate of committees.
Report to be considered.
Documents
No related documents