DA Gauteng Debates Social Development Budget 2016/17

Speech by: Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL

“Gauteng Social Development needs to meet rising expectations”

  • Now more than ever before, the MEC of Social development should take the lead in forging a stronger relationship with both the departments of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture and Economic development.
  • The number of organisations that lose funding during the year indicates that the department needs to constantly challenge itself to meet its own targets on the empowerment of NGO’s, so that the beneficiaries are protected from closures.
  • EPWP will receive R13.1 million. It is concerning that the HIV/AIDS sub-programme responsible for prevention and social protection programmes will have to share this amount with other programme priorities.
  • Socio-economic empowerment of people with disabilities should become a priority in Gauteng. There is no report of what the disability desk has achieved for people with disabilities in Gauteng.

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

Speech by: Ashor Sarupen MPL

 “Social Development must learn to do more with less” 

  • Learn to do more with less, or this government will continue to fail the most vulnerable in society, whom this budget is meant to protect.
  • There is scope across this budget to spend the money allocated to the department far more effectively to achieve proper outcomes.
  • Proper costing of tenders in the department also needs to be reviewed. On the school uniform programme, we pay in excess of R600 per school uniform, when the average middle income family in South Africa spends R350 on a school uniform.
  • This R4.2 billion rand budget might not be sufficient to meet the needs of a province of over 13-million people, but it can be spent in a much more efficient manner.

The full speech can be obtained here

 

Media enquiries:

Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL

DA Shadow MEC for Social Development

060 558 8297

 

Ashor Sarupen, MPL

DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Social Development

060 558 8303

[Image source]