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DA Debates Gauteng Social Development 2015/16 Annual Report

Speech by: Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL

“Secrecy over transfers to NGOs will be exposed by the DA”

  • There is no detail of transfers to each of the 2598 NGOs in Gauteng.
  • The department had 1017 abnormal appointments out of a staff compliment of 5417.
  • The department had a 17.8% vacancy rate (910 posts). Of these 47.7% were of lower skill as in Level 1-2).
  • No people with disabilities were recruited in the department during this period.
  • Out of 4198 employees, 3016 used sick leave costing the department R19 million.

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

Speech by: Ashor Sarupen MPL

“The good, the bad and the ugly”

  • 49 individual consultants worked on 21 projects for a total of 896 work days, totalling over R2million in spend.
  • Only 75% of the EPWP grant given to the department was spent.
  • Domestic abuse is still a serious problem, drug addiction and gangsterism still plagues too many of our communities.
  • Women are disproportionately the victims of domestic violence, and many see no escape, trapping them into abusive relationships, despite the work by the department.

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

 

Media Enquiries:

Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development

060 558 8297

 

Ashor Sarupen

DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Finance

060 558 8303

[Image source]

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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]

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Budget Vote Speeches: Social Development

Note to editors: The following speeches were delivered in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature today by the DA’s Shadow MEC for Social development, Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL, and Spokespersons for Social Development, Ashor Sarupen MPL and Janet Semple MPL, during the 2015/16 Annual Budget Debate on the Department of Social Development.

 

“Vulnerable groups remain short of promised opportunities”Refiloe Nt'sekhe DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development

Speech by: Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL – DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development

Speech highlights

  • The core mandate of the department is to support and uplift the most vulnerable groups in our society.
  • This department should help protect scared children, stand up for abused women and liberate disabled persons from their physical restrictions.
  • It is the department which is able to provide opportunities where there are none and hope where many feel it does not exist
  • A fair government would ensure that there are programmes in place to assist old age homes to become compliant and provide a safe haven for the elderly
  • The province is in desperate need of more substance abuse treatment centres; particularly for communities who are unable to afford proper medical care
  • The department remains at the frontlines of providing our people with better opportunities for a brighter and more prosperous future.
  • Budgetary allocations do not always reflect a genuine concern for the core challenges facing the people of Gauteng

The full speech can be obtained here

 

“Leaner, more efficient department needed to tackle social challenges in Gauteng”Ashor Sarupen DA Spokesperson for Social Development

Speech by: Ashor Sarupen MPL – DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Social Development

Speech highlights:

  • When we assess the Social Development budget, it is best to think of this as the department of NGO’s and social workers.
  • Many NGOs in our province are dependent on this department to ensure that they are able to provide social services and support to communities and vulnerable persons.
  • The department’s programme of action is frequently duplicated and cloned in programmes run by the Community Safety Department.
  • The department must learn to do its work in a more lean and efficient manner without any cuts to frontline services that our communities desperately need.

The full speech can be obtained here

 

“Build Gauteng’s future generations one child at a time”Janet Semple DA Spokesperson for Social Development

Speech by: Janet Semple MPL – DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Social Development

Speech highlights

  • Building a better society for our children to live in begins by ensuring that they have the future they deserve.
  • Programme 3 of the 2015/16 budget, which deals with Children and Families, has received a significant increase of 24% of the overall budget allocation.
  • It is concerning that the budget for Child and Youth Care Centres has declined by almost R1 500 000.
  • Of particular concern are the youth of 18 years and older who remain vulnerable and can no longer be cared for in state facilities because of their age.
  • While the spatial and economic legacy of Apartheid still lingers far too obviously in many parts of Gauteng, our children should not be bound by the circumstances they are born into.

The full speech can be obtained here

 

 

Media enquiries:

Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development
060 558 8297

 

Ashor Sarupen MPL
DA Spokesperson for Social Development
060 558 8303

 

Janet Semple MPL
DA Spokesperson for Social Development
082 462 8239

[Image source]