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DA demands Premier Lesufi to release Gauteng DSD corruption reports to ensure accountability

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng demands that Premier Panyaza Lesufi urgently conclude and release all the Department of Social Development (DSD) corruption-related reports from 2016 to ensure accountability and for consequence management to take place.

Delays in releasing corruption-related reports deny justice for the Gauteng residents whose money has been stolen by corrupt officials. Furthermore, it has severely affected the most vulnerable residents of Gauteng, who are solely dependent on this department for survival.

It is important for Premier Lesufi to release the corruption inquiry initiated by the late DSD MEC Thuli Nkabinde to clarify if the five recently suspended officials are linked to it.

For the past five years, this department has failed to meet its set targets, such as the distribution of dignity packs and failing the vulnerable children of this province.

The DA demands that Premier Lesufi make these reports public to ensure transparency and accountability. Failure to do so will leave the DA with no option but to submit a PAIA application to force the Premier to release all DSD corruption-related reports.

Furthermore, the DA will table questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to ascertain why five officials were suspended and why there have been delays in concluding these reports.

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NPOs battling to provide social services abandoned by Gauteng Department of Social Development

Unfortunately, a protest by Gauteng NPOs in the Johannesburg CBD turned violent this week. NPOs working with children and people with disabilities once again highlighted their dissatisfaction with the Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD) after their funding was reprioritised.

Their anger this week was fuelled by the fact that the GDSD gave them the impression in April that their funds would be returned and they should carry on with the work they are doing.

Five months later, the NPOs that provide much-needed services to the most vulnerable in our society are still waiting for their funding to be paid. This was after the department promised that they would get paid. Instead, R258 million is still in the department’s coffers and has not been allocated.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) does not condone the violent action that took place outside GDSD’s offices yesterday. We are, however, sympathetic to the NPOs who have continued to work without receiving payment.

The DA will continue to put pressure on GDSD to explain what is happening to the unallocated funds and the beneficiaries of these NPOs whose funding has been taken away.

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DA to picket outside Garankuwa Court in support of a 70-year-old rape victim

Today, 28 August 2023, the DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development, Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL, the DA Tshwane Ward 24 Councillor, Cllr Thabisile Vilakazi, and the DA activists will picket outside the Garankuwa Magistrate Court D and attend court proceedings to support a 70-year-old rape victim.

Gogo Elizabeth Dliwayo was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 22-year-old man in July 2023.

Women and children’s lives are at risk due to the high number of sexual crimes reported in Gauteng.

The crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year indicate 146 rapes in domestic violent crimes, and an overall total of 1 910 rapes occurred between April and June in Gauteng.

Members of the media are invited, and there will be an opportunity for interviews and photographs.

Details of the event are as follows:

Date: 28 August 2023
Venue: Garankuwa Magistrate Court
Time: 09:00

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DA to picket outside Garankuwa Court in support of a 70-year-old rape victim

Tomorrow, Monday, 28 August 2023, the DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development, Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL, the DA Tshwane Ward 24 Councillor, Cllr Thabisile Vilakazi, and the DA activists will picket outside the Garankuwa Magistrate Court D and attend court proceedings to support a 70-year-old rape victim.

Gogo Elizabeth Dliwayo was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 22-year-old man in July 2023.

Women and children’s lives are at risk due to the high number of sexual crimes reported in Gauteng.

The crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year indicate 146 rapes in domestic violent crimes, and an overall total of 1 910 rapes occurred between April and June in Gauteng.

Members of the media are invited, and there will be an opportunity for interviews and photographs.

Details of the event are as follows:

Date: 28 August 2023
Venue: Garankuwa Magistrate Court
Time: 09:00

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DA to report Gauteng Department of Social Development to SAHRC over violation of NPOs beneficiaries’ rights

Despite Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi promising to discuss reversing the current budget proposal with the Gauteng MEC for Social Development, Mbali Hlophe, some NPOs have already received notifications informing them that their funding will be cut, while many have not received funding for the 2023/24 financial year. This indicates that Premier Lesufi cannot be trusted in resolving this issue.

Therefore, Today, Wednesday, 26 April, the DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development, Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL, and the DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Social Development, Bronwynn Engelbrecht MPL, will lay a complaint against the Gauteng Department of Social Development for violation of NPO beneficiaries’ rights to the South Africa Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

The department has reprioritised the budget of NPOs putting the lives of the most vulnerable residents of Gauteng at risk.

Thousands of people living with chronic illnesses, disabilities, children, and the elderly will be affected and the DA fears that this will result in another Life Esidemeni saga.

The details of the event are as follows:

Date:26 April 2023

Venue: South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)

Address: JD House, 27 Stiemens St, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001

Time: 10:00-12:00

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Tembisa residents are exposed to terrible conditions while accessing SASSA services

The residents of Tembisa continue to be exposed to appalling conditions when accessing social services at the Rabasotho SASSA office which is in dire need of refurbishment.

The residents are forced to queue outside because there is no waiting area or adequate space to accommodate them. During the rainy season, pensioners and mothers carrying babies have to be cramped in a small room that is used by SASSA officials as an office. The ablution facilities are not adequate as males and females are sharing.

The environment is not conducive to rendering social services to our people.

In 2015, the DA tabled questions in the National Assembly about the upgrades of this SASSA office. The former Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, stated that the Rabasotho SASSA office will not be upgraded by SASSA as the Ekurhuleni Municipality has confirmed that the building is earmarked for upgrade within their Urban Renewal programme.

The DA councillors in Ekurhuleni also tabled a motion in Council proposing that the City of Ekurhuleni must speed up the construction of the proposed precinct starting with the office space for SASSA. They also demanded the progress report and timelines from the SASSA management about the relocation of the SASSA office.

Six years later, no such upgrading has happened our people continue to endure terrible conditions at this office.

The DA has submitted a petition with over 2000 signatures to the National Assembly demanding the upgrades of the Rabasotho SASSA office.

Furthermore, today, the DA’s activist Nombulelo Dubula, a resident from Ward 7 Tembisa made a presentation to the Social Development Portfolio Committee in the National Assembly about the terrible state of the Rabasotho SASSA office and demanded urgent intervention.

The SASSA CEO was also in attendance when the presentation was made.

The DA through its members in the National Assembly will continue to ensure that there is budget set aside for the upgrading of this much needed facility.

We will continue to fight for a dignified SASSA office for Tembisa residents.

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Abandoned Kempton Park Hospital used for alleged criminal activities

The abandoned Kempton Park Hospital is now allegedly being used for criminal activities instead of being refurbished and re-opened to help to ease pressure at Tembisa and Edenvale Hospital, which are currently overcrowded and unable to render adequate healthcare services.

 

Residents of Kempton Park cannot continue to travel long distances to Tembisa and Edenvale Hospital to receive healthcare services, while their nearest hospital has been abandoned.

 

The DA conducted an oversight inspection at the abandoned Kempton Park Hospital following numerous complaints from the residents about the alleged criminal activities happening in the building. We were disappointed to discover that there were learners in school uniforms from the neighbouring schools inside the abandoned hospital during school hours. These learners have found a new ‘chilling’ spot where they are prone to indulging in alleged criminal activities.

 

The DA will continue to put pressure on both the Gauteng Department of Health and the Department of Infrastructure Development to ensure that this hospital is revamped and re-opened as people in this area are in dire need of this facility. We will be tabling follow-up questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to ascertain when the renovations of this hospital will begin and when the hospital will be re-opened.

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Children’s rights to essential services continue to be undermined

Children’s rights to access essential learning equipment and shelter continue to be undermined by the Gauteng Department of Social Development (DSD).

In the face of Child Protection Week, children continue to suffer due to the DSD’s constant underspending on its allocated budget for the programmes meant to deliver welfare services to children.

South Africa may be celebrating this week, yet there is nothing to celebrate, while children who are solely dependent on the government for survival are failed by the very same government on which they rely.

Year after year DSD celebrates children, while it has failed to meet its target of placing children in foster care.

According to the department’s fourth-quarter report for the 2020/21 financial year, only 16 811 children were placed in foster care compared to the targeted 17 654. The department also failed to meet its target of providing psychosocial support services as only 48 122 children accessed the service compared to the target of 71 092. 1342 children were provided with non-centre-based services compared to the target of 1902.

In addition, while 172 717 children were targeted to be registered for Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes only 156 940 were registered, 201 of 281 children with disabilities were registered in ECD programmes and only 105 919 children accessed registered partial care facilities compared to the target of 157 150.

This department is failing our children and one week of Child Protection Awareness is not enough. All children deserve to benefit from government programmes and not a selected few individuals.

Therefore, the DA demands that this department must ensure that the most vulnerable in our society, particularly the children, do not suffer by ensuring that targets are met for children’s programmes.

We also urge all stakeholders to work together to stop the cycle of neglect, abuse, violence, and exploitation of children. However, to protect our children this department must ensure that it meets its target for foster care placement and other psychosocial support services that our children need.

Our children are the future of this country hence they must be protected, and the DA will do everything to ensure this happens.

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Department of Social Development misses dignity packs target yet again, Gauteng learners left to suffer

Girls still miss days of schooling or use unhealthy materials during their menstruation because of the Gauteng Department of Social Development’s failure to meet its target to distribute dignity packs to learners across the province. 

 

This department’s incompetency can no longer be tolerated as female learners’ dignity continue to be trampled on when it should be protected.

 

According to the department’s fourth quarterly report for the 2021/2022 financial year, only 636 119 dignity packs were distributed to learners compared to the target of 2.1 million which is equivalent to 30, 2 percent.

 

This is unacceptable and indicates that most learners that are in dire need of dignity packs did not access them due to the department’s failure to meet its target in this regard.

 

Furthermore, only 151 797 (65.4%) of school uniform packs were distributed compared to the targeted 232 098.

 

This is an unfortunate failure by the department as Covid-19 should have spurred it on to exceed its targets considering that its mandate is to alleviate poverty and provide essential support to the vulnerable members of this province. 

 

Considering that many people have lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many parents are unable to afford to buy sanitary pads and school uniforms for their children and they are solely dependent on this department to assist. 

 

This is a crucial time when the department needs to prioritise providing dignity packs and school uniforms to Gauteng learners.

 

Therefore, it is not acceptable that the department blames its underperformance on Covid-19 and the lockdown regulations. Covid-19’s arrival caught this department with their pants down.

 

For far too long, the DA has been demanding the establishment of a database with the addresses and contact details of the beneficiaries of the dignity packs and school uniforms. This will ensure that all learners registered on the database have access to this critical service.

 

The DA will continue to exert pressure on the Gauteng MEC for Social Development, Morokane Mosupyoe, to establish a database for all the learners benefiting from the dignity packs and the school uniform programme.

 

Education is a basic right, and no child deserves to miss a day of schooling because of menstruation or not having a proper school uniform. It is high time that this department delivers on its core mandate of assisting the vulnerable people of Gauteng.

 

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Gauteng ECDs continue to suffer as DSD fails to disburse the Covid-19 stimulus package

Maphindis Day Care Centre in Mpilisweni section, Thokoza, Ekurhuleni is struggling to provide children with balanced meals and to sustain its operations due to the Gauteng Department of Social Development’s (DSD) failure to pay out the Covid-19 Early Childhood Development (ECD) Stimulus Package.

ECDs continue to suffer while children starve, yet the department has received R77 million from the ECD Employment Stimulus Relief Fund which is supported by the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme.

This centre is one of many ECDs across the province that are struggling to sustain their operations due to financial constraints.

Maphindis Day Care Centre has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic as most of its funders have pulled out. Parents cannot afford to pay the ECD fees for their children as many have lost employment during this period. The centre is now dependent on food donations and a little money received from a few parents that can still afford to pay for the ECD fees. This centre is also struggling to pay for its operational costs and to ensure that children have access to all ECD basic educational needs.

The department received the money in October 2020, and to date, it has only paid out R37 million to the ECDs across the province which is equivalent to 48 percent of the total money.

This was revealed by the Gauteng Department of Social Development MEC, Morakane Mosupyoe while responding to my oral questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).

This money is meant to help the ECD services recover from the loss of income because of the pandemic and not for the department to keep in its coffers.

Furthermore, ECD facilities are mainly run by women and therefore the slow disbursement of this stimulus package perpetuates the suffering of women.

The DA will continue to engage with the affected ECDs and put pressure on the department to disburse the money. We will also be writing to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Social Development Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Refilwe Kekana to call for an urgent meeting with MEC Mosupyoe and the HOD to explain to the committee the reasons behind the delays in disbursing the ECD stimulus package.

Failure to spend this money is a serious crime to those that need it the most as it will be returned to the treasury. The DA will fight for this not to happen.