DA debates 2016/17 Gauteng Social Development Annual Report

The following speeches were delivered in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature today by DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development, Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL and DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Social Development Justus de Goede MPL, during a debate on the 2016/17 Annual Report of the Gauteng Social Development Department.

Speech by
Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL

“Lazy department, sluggish results: Social change requires swift action”

  • The department could do more to attract persons with disabilities. Out of a target of 1948, 1916 was achieved. The department could not place 32 people;
    • The department failed to source all 40515 beneficiaries with HIV and Aids for receiving meals. They only reached 34 752;
    • Increasing the number of specialized social workers, would ensure that more children are moved out of Child Youth Care Centres and into foster care; and
    • It is not sustainable to have current social workers, work the current caseloads for placement to foster care, this severely compromises the attention and quality given to each individual case. More foster care placements would provide children with a loving home with parents.

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

Speech by
Justus de Goede MPL

“Trim the fat off the budget to ensure better social services are offered”

  • Despite the dramatic increase in substance abuse, specifically in disadvantaged areas, receives the lowest allocation in the budget. The substance abuse program receives a mere 5% of the Departmental budget;
    • Funded NPOs cannot provide adequate care for the aged, because of the low ceiling of per capita funding by the Department. The result is that many of these facilities support a small percentage of their capacity;
    • These issues have been raised with the MEC and the Department and the usual answer is that the budget cannot fund more social or auxiliary social workers or increase the subsidies to NPOs caring for the elderly; and
    • The Department should be directed to reprioritise the budget and ensure that the fat in certain programs, like Program five, Development and Research, is trimmed and channelled to where it should be, basic social services on the ground.

The full speech can be obtained here.