The Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report (BRRR) of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development, on the performance of the Department of Social Development and its entities for the 2013/14 financial year, dated 22 October 2014

The Portfolio Committee on Social Development, having considered the performance and the submission to the National Treasury for the medium term period of the Department of Social Development, the South African Social Security Agency (hereafter SASSA or the Agency), and the National Development Agency (hereafter the NDA or Agency) reports as follows:

 

1.     Introduction

 

The Portfolio Committee on Social Development as an extension of the National Assembly of Parliament is tasked with a mandate to conduct oversight over the Department of Social Development and its entities (the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and the National Development Agency (NDA). The purpose of the oversight function of the Committee is for the Committee to monitor the financial and non-financial performance of the department and its entities. It ensures that the department and the entities deliver on their strategic objectives, priorities and targets set in their Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans. The Committee further monitors that the service delivery of the department and its entities is in line with the Budget Vote it approved.

 

The process of compiling the BRRR therefore enables the Committee to fulfill its mandate of scrutinizing the annual performance and financial reports of the department and its entities. To further enrich this process the Committee makes use of the oversight information from its stakeholders, such as, the Office of the Auditor-General (AG), National Treasury reports, submissions from civil society organisations and research reports from research institutions. It also uses the findings of its oversight visits, recommendations of the previous BRRR and committee briefings.

  

Most importantly the budget review process gives the Committee an opportunity to have a say in the budget allocation of the department through the recommendations it makes. Its recommendations are considered during the consideration of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). The budget review process also enables the Committee to make recommendations to the Minister of Social Development on issues pertaining to service delivery. This therefore means that the analysis contained in the BRRR is both backward and forward looking.

 

1.1.         Mandate of the Committee

 

The Committee’s mandate as prescribed by the Constitution of South Africa and the Rules of Parliament is to build an oversight process that ensures a quality process of scrutinising and overseeing the department’s action and that is driven by the ideal of realising a better quality of life for all people of South Africa.  It is also required to facilitate public participation, monitoring and oversight over the legislative processes relating to social development and also to confer with relevant governmental and civil society organs on social development matters. The Committee also enhances and develops the capacity of its members to exercise effective oversight over the Executive Authority in social development.  It monitors whether the Department of Social Development fulfils its mandate and according to priorities. 

The Committee also processes and approves legislation and international protocols and conventions relating to social development. It participates in the national and international social development conferences. It also engages in any activities and programmes aimed at the development and delivery of quality social development to all South Africans. It is also mandated to perform the following:

 

1.2.         Description of core functions of the Department of Social Development, SASSA and the NDA

 

Department of Social Development

The department derives its mandate from several pieces of legislation and policies, including the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997) and the Population Policy (1998). The constitutional mandate of the department is to provide sector-wide national leadership in social development by developing and implementing programmes for the eradication of poverty and social protection and development amongst the poorest of the poor and most vulnerable and marginalized.

The department’s mission is “to ensure the provision of comprehensive social protection services against vulnerability and poverty within the constitutional and legislative framework, and to create an enabling environment for sustainable development. The department further aims to deliver integrated, sustainable and quality services, in partnership with all those committed to building a caring society.

The vision of the department is to create a caring and integrated system of social development services that facilitates human development and improves the quality of life.

 

SASSA

The South African Social Security Agency was established in April 2006 as a Schedule 3A Public Entity in term of the PFMA. The Agency derives its legislative mandate from the South African Social Security Act, 2004 and the Social Assistance Act, 2004.  The main function of the South African Social Security Act is to make provision for the effective management, administration and payment of social assistance and service through the establishment of the South African Social Security Agency.

The Social Assistance Act provides a national legislative framework for the provision of different types of social grants, social relief of distress, the delivery of social assistance grants by a national Agency and the establishment of an Inspectorate for Social Security.

The mission of the Agency is to administer quality customer-centric social security services to eligible and potential beneficiaries. The objectives of SASSA are to act as the sole agent that will ensure the efficient and effective management, administration and payment of social assistance and to eventually serve as institution to manage broader social security benefits.

 

The NDA

 

In terms of the National Development Agency (NDA) Act (Act No 108 of 1998 as amended), the NDA was mandated to contribute towards the eradication of poverty and its causes by granting funds to civil society organisations (CSOs) to:

       Implement development projects in poor communities, and

       Strengthen the institutional capacity of CSOs that provide services to poor communities.

 

1.3.         Purpose of the BRR Report

 

In terms of Section 5 of the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act, No. of 2009, the National Assembly (NA) through its committees must annually assess the performance of each national department. Portfolio Committees must thus annually submit Budget Reviews and Recommendation Reports (BRRRs) for tabling in the NA in order for Parliament to compile a report for the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement.

The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act therefore make it obligatory for Parliament to assess the department’s budgetary needs and shortfalls vis-à-vis the department’s operational efficiency and performance

1.4.         Method

 

This report culminated from a very intense and thorough analysis and interaction with the department and its entities through briefings and interactions with relevant stakeholders. These included a briefing from the Department of Social Development and its entities on their annual reports and quarterly performance reports, a briefing from the Office of the Auditor-General on the audit outcomes and deliberations on the analysis done by the support staff on the performance of the department in terms of their service delivery targets and financial performance.

 

2.     Overview of the key relevant policy focus areas

 

The social development sector derives its overarching mandate from Section 27 of the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996). Section 27 makes it a right for South African citizens to have access to social security and food security. In line with this constitutional mandate and the international and regional obligations, the government adopted the 2009 – 2014 Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) in which 12 Government Priority Outcomes were identified. Due to the cross cutting nature of the social development sector, the Department of Social Development had to implement a number of these priority outcomes. Additionally, Government adopted a National Development Plan in 2012, which provided a strategic framework for the 2014 – 2019 MTSF. This MTSF increased the Government Outcomes to 14. The priorities and targets that have relevance to the social development sector are as follows:

 

·         provision of a comprehensive, responsive and sustainable social protection system;

·         creation of decent employment through inclusive growth;

·         ensuring that all people in South Africa are and feel safe;

·         creating a vibrant, equitable, sustainable rural communities contributing towards food security for all;

·         developing an efficient, effective and development-oriented public service; and

·         creating a diverse, socially cohesive society with a common national identity.

 

The strategic objectives and priorities of the department and its entities respond to the provisions of the aforementioned plans. For the year under review, the department and its entities reported on their financial and non-financial performance with regard to implementing their 2013/14 Annual Performance Plan, which emanated from 2013 State of the Nation Address and five year government programme of action as outlined above.

 

Analysis of 2014 State of the National Address

Social Assistance

 

The social assistance programme reaches about 16 million people especially vulnerable people. However conventional economic theory suggests that social grants may undermine labour force participation by reducing the opportunity cost of not working. Models developed for industrialised countries and applied broadly to South African data sometimes validate this hypothesis. However, when models are developed that reflect the labour market behaviour of South Africans who receive social grants, the results contradict this hypothesis. Research demonstrates that people in households receiving social grants have increased both their labour force participation and employment rates faster than those who live in households that do not receive social grants. In addition, workers in households receiving social grants have realised more rapid wage increases. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that South Africa’s social grants increase both the supply and demand for labour. This evidence does not support the hypothesis that South Africa’s system of social grants negatively affects employment creation.

 

Furthermore the establishment of the National     Planning Commission produced the landmark National Development Plan (NDP). The NDP provides a synopsis what the country should do to eradicate poverty, increase employment and reduce inequality by 2030. The Department of Social Development plays a critical role in the reduction of poverty and inequality. In increasing job creation, the President highlighted that 15 million people have jobs in the country. However, unemployment still remains high, and youth unemployment continues to be a matter of concern. The current statistics on unemployment indicates that the number of unemployed persons decreased by 50 000 (or 1.0%) between the third and fourth quarters of 2013. In 2013, the number of unemployed men increased by 71 000 (or 3.0%) while unemployed women increased by 49 000 (or 2.1%).

 

Job Creation

The Expanded Public Works Programme and the Community Work Programme (EPWP) is an effective safety net for the poor and youth. EPWP Social Sector operates through volunteers who are mostly located within non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) and community-based organisations (CBO’s). Although the programme targets all the vulnerable citizens of the country, the Code of Good practice currently articulates specific targets for the share of EPWP participants that should be women, youth and persons with disabilities. This ensures that there is sufficient inclusion of the youth in the programme. Currently  the Home and Community Home Based Care (CHCBC) programmes and Early Childhood Development (ECD) initiatives facilitated by the Department of Social Development  (DSD) fall under this programme. The Department co-ordinated the creation of more than 171 000 job creation in 2012/13 financial year. This translates into 58% of EPWP Social Sector beneficiaries being youth. They received on average a stipend of R1 300 per month which in most cases contributes towards supporting households with an average of 5 people each. This contributes to reducing household food insecurity and equips participants with skills to seek better opportunities in the job market.

Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP)

 

The President highlighted that a number of measures have been introduced to eradicate violence against women and children. Measures that have been taken are the reopening of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units as well as Sexual Offences Courts. The Victim Empowerment Programme is implemented in accordance with work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Root Causes of Violence against Women and Children, and is led by the Minister of Social Development as the convener. The Inter-Ministerial Committee has since developed a five-year Programme of Action which was adopted by Cabinet in 2013.

 

The department has established seven Khuseleka One-Stop Centres and funds a total of 88 shelters for abused women across the nine provinces. The process of establishing two additional Khuseleka One-Stop Centres during the 2013/14 financial year is underway.  Furthermore, the department is planning to establish nine White Door Centres in all nine provinces during 2014/15 financial year, as part of the strategy to extend services to protect victims of crime and violence including women and children especially in the previously under-resourced areas. Despite these efforts, research indicates that protection to the various categories of victims of crime is dispersed across different legislation, instead of a single comprehensive law.    Further, it is also noted that the existing legislation is poorly connected and coordinated. The department is in the process of drafting the Bill on Victim Empowerment Support Services to address this gap.

 

Department Strategic Priorities (2013/14)

The department identified five strategic priorities for the 2013/14 financial year; namely:

·         Expanding Child and Youth Care Services through the Isibindi Model;

·         Increasing access to Early Childhood Development (ECD);

·         Combating substance abuse and gender based violence;

·         Increasing household food and nutrition security and

·         Protecting and promoting of the rights of older persons and people with disabilities.

 

3.     Summary of previous key financial and performance recommendations of Committee

 

3.1.         2013/14 BRRR recommendations

 

The Committee raised a concern that the actual achievement of some targets exceeded the planned targets.  This portrayed an impression that the department had under-targeted or poorly planned. It also expressed a serious concern that the department managed to achieve only 61% of its planned targets meaning, 39% targets were not achieved. 

It recommended that the Minister should ensure that the department reviews how it sets its annual targets to ensure that they are Simple, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound (SMART).  The department and its entities should also strengthen their monitoring and evaluation unit. The department should ensure that it meets its performance targets as planned for in each quarter. It should use evidence based planning in setting its targets. Evidence should be based on statistics and findings of the national census, community surveys and community profiling of the War Room on Poverty. This kind of evidence is vital to ensure that the targets set meet the populations demands.

The Committee again expressed concerns over the four (4) dormant disaster funds (Refugee Relief Fund, Social Relief Fund, State President’s Fund and the Disaster Relief Fund) of the department. The purpose of the Refugee Relief Fund is to render fair and reasonable assistance to refugees. The Social Relief Fund was establish to provide assistance to persons with psychological problems and provide fair and reasonable relief of distress to victims of violence. The State President’s Fund assists was established to assist victims of any act of terrorism with their medical treatment and rehabilitation and relieve financial hardship or financial distress caused directly or indirectly by any act of terrorism. The purpose of the Disaster Relief Fund is to assist persons or organisations who or which have suffered damaged or loss caused by disaster. The Committee wanted know the reasons that caused the delays in deactivating these funds as they have been dormant for some time.

 

The department explained that it intended to draft a fund repeal legislation that would provide for the closure of these funds. However, due to the fact that Parliament would have a short year (in 2013) this was shifted to the next financial year (2014/15). It would also hold discussions with the Department of Defence with regard to the fund that falls within its jurisdiction.

 

The Committee recommended that the Minister should facilitate a process to ensure that the four dormant funds of the department are deactivated or a legislation to close them is drafted and submitted to Parliament in the next financial year.

 

The Committee expressed serious concern about the brutal killings of elderly women. It requested the department to develop strong interventions to both protect older persons and put an end to these killings.

 

With regard to the ECD centres, the Committee reiterated its concern that the ECDs are still under resourced with inadequate infrastructure, especially those located in rural areas. It emphasized the need for these centres to be well resourced.

 

In addition to the above mentioned recommendations, the Committee made the following recommendations:

 

·         The budget and the planning process of the department should be aligned with the National Development Plan (NDP).

·         The Minister should ensure that substance abuse evaluation centres are rolled out to all provinces. These centres are important in enabling the practitioners to assess and locate users to appropriate intervention programmes. In addition, there should be an increase in the roll out of in-patient, out-patient and after care programmes. The in-patient facilities should be adequately capacitated and monitored to ensure that they adhere to norms and standards.

·         In relation to the high foster care backlog, the Minister should ensure that the department exercises caution when it sets the targets to increase the number of foster care placements. It should also prioritise interventions aimed at eliminating delays in the applications to extend court orders and placements.

Progress made in implementing the 2012/13 BRRR recommendations

The department made good progress in implementing the recommendations made by the Committee. It made the following achievement:

·         It improved the number of achieved targets from 61% in 2012/ 2013 to 69% in 2013/14. The Monitoring and Evaluation unit implemented an initiative to co-ordinate the department’s self-assessment in terms of the Management Performance Assessment Tool of the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation. Notwithstanding these achievements it would be useful for the department to report to the Committee how it implemented the recommendation to use evidence based planning in setting of its targets. Evidence based on statistics and findings of the national census, community surveys and community profiling of the War Room on Poverty.

 

·         It resumed the process of repealing the Fund Raising Act of 1978 (No. 107). The repeal of this Act will dissolve the Relief Funds, however SASSA will continue to provide relief through its Social Relief of Distress programme. The department should update the committee on the progress made with regard to the discussions it had planned to have with the Department of Defence with regard to the State’s President Fund.

·         It implemented older persons desks in all nine provinces. It also launched the register of persons convicted of abusing older persons in July 2014. It is however amending the Regulations of the Older Persons Act to address the concerns raised by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development that the Regulations were not clear with regard to process to be followed.

·         It developed a draft Early Childhood Development Policy and Comprehensive Package of ECD services. It developed the South African Integrated Programme of Action for ECD. It further conducted a comprehensive audit of 12 526 ECD centres in all the provinces.  

 

·         The department did not report on the progress it made in implementing the Committee’s recommendation of rolling out substance abuse evaluation centres, the in-patient, out-patient, after care programmes and monitoring of the existing ones to ensure adherence to norms and standards.

·         It finalised the drafting of the Children’s Act, which in part will address the administrative and judicial challenges that had caused delays in the applications to extend court orders and placements.

 

4.     Overview and assessment of financial performance

 

4.1.         FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 2013/14  

The department was allocated an amount of R120.5 billion[1] in the 2013/14 financial year which represented a nominal increase of R8.3 billion, or 7.4 per cent, from 2012/13.[2]. However this did not take into account the adjustment. Transfers and Subsidies accounted for R119.8 billion of the available budget and out of this amount the department transferred R30.8 billion, or 25.7 per cent, mainly to households. This meant that as from the first quarter of the year the department had an available budget of R644.8 million for operations. Of this, the department spent R135.5 million, or 21 per cent, the biggest amount was used on compensation of employees and goods and services.

The biggest amount of operational expenditure towards the end of quarter 1 in 2013/14 was R59 million and was spent under the Administration programme mainly on compensation of employees and goods and services. The biggest amount was R40.6 million under the Welfare Services Policy Development and Implementation Support programme, followed by R22.7 million under the Social Policy And Integrated Service Delivery programme, again primarily for compensation of employees and goods and services.

For 2014/15 financial year the department was allocated a budget of R128.8 billion which represented a nominal increase of R10.1 billion, or 8.7 per cent, from 2013/14.[3] Transfers and Subsidies accounted for R128.1 billion of the available budget and of this amount the department transferred R30.5 billion, or 23.8 per cent, mainly to households. This meant that as from the first quarter of the year the department had an available budget of R686.1 million for operations. Of this, the department had spent R160.1 million, or 23.3 per cent, the biggest amount was used on compensation of employees and goods and services.

During the first quarter of 2014/15 financial year the operational expenditure of the department grew at a nominal rate of 18.1 per cent, or R24.6 million, when compared to the same period in the previous financial year. The Rand value expenditure growth was greatest in the Administration programme, mainly driven by increased spending on goods and services. The Social Security Policy and Administration and Welfare Services Policy Development and Implementation Support programmes showed the next highest growths primarily due to increases in spending on goods and services, and compensation of employees respectively. Spending under the Social Policy and Integrated Service Delivery programme decreased mainly due to lower spending on goods and services as well as payments for capital assets.

4.1.2 PERFORMANCE AND EXPENDITURE PER PROGRAMME[4]

 

Expenditure per programme, 2013/14

FIRST QUARTER (APRIL –JUNE 2013/14 and 2014/15)

 The operational expenditure from April to June 2014 on Administration was 47.5 per cent, representing R75.9 million, mainly for compensation of employees and goods and services. Expenditure under this programme had increased by R16.9 million, or 28.7 per cent, when compared with the same period last year (2013/14) primarily due to additional spending on goods and services.

 

The main cost drivers were personnel payments related to the information technology function of the department. Office accommodation leases, audit costs and advertising were the main cost drivers under goods and services. The main increase from last year was due to payment for advertising material for Project Mikondzo which emanated from the previous financial year. The project is aimed at gathering data/information on social development services required at local communities in order to improve service delivery.

Programme 3: Social Security Policy and Administration

Expenditure for the first quarter of 2013/14 was R13.1 million, and a decrease of R1.3 million was highlighted when compared with the same period last year (2012/13) the reasons for this was due to lower spending on goods and services (mainly for venues, facilities, and contractors). However, for the same period in 2014/15 the expenditure of the department was R18.9 million, the biggest amount was spent on compensation of employees and goods and services. Expenditure under this programme increased by R5.8 million, or 44.1 per cent, when compared with the same period last year (2013/14) primarily due to additional spending on these items, with the additional spending under goods and services mainly on business, advisory consultancy services and legal consultancy services.  

The main cost driver was legal fees for adjudication of social grant appeals cases in which outstanding invoices from 2013/14 were settled in April 2014. The increase from last year’s expenditure (2013/14) was also due to the appointment of consultants for the project on linking unemployed youth with economic opportunities and the project on policy proposals for inclusion of informal sector workers in social security.

Programme 4: Welfare Services Policy Development and Implementation Support

Operational expenditure to the end of quarter 1 of 2013/14 was R40.6 million, the majority of which was spent on compensation of employees and goods and services. Expenditure under this programme has increased by R10.3 million.

For quarter 1 of 2014/15 financial year operational expenditure was R43 million, the majority of which was spent on compensation of employees and goods and services. Expenditure under this programme had increased by R2.4 million, or 5.9 per cent, when compared with the same period last year primarily due to additional spending on compensation of employees. This is due to the appointment of retired social workers to operate the newly established command centre for victim empowerment services which is currently being piloted in Gauteng. The command centre provides access for victims of gender based violence to receive immediate telephonic counselling and referrals to other stakeholders such as SAPS and health.    

Programme 5: Social Policy and Integrated Service Delivery

During the end of quarter 1 of 2013/14 expenditure on this programme was R22.7 million, the bulk of which was spent on compensation of employees and goods and services. Expenditure under this programme had increased by R5.6 million compared to the same period in 2012/13 financial year. The main cost drivers were the payment of service providers for projects such as, Review of the NDA, Development of norms and standards for Community Development and Development of Community Development Occupational Framework and Youth camps. The increase was mainly due to outreach programmes such as Training of Community Based Organisation (CBO); Household Profiling; Local Population Development Seminar; and Population Capacity Building Workshop.

For the same period in 2014/15 financial year operational expenditure was R22.2 million, the majority of which was spent on compensation of employees and goods and services.  Expenditure under this programme had decreased by R0.5 million, or 2.4 per cent, when compared with the same period last year (2013/14) primarily due to lower spending on goods and services and payments for capital assets. The main cost driver were personnel payments for the department’s population policy promotion, NPO registration and monitoring functions. The decline in spending from last year was due to delays in planning for the community outreach programmes and dialogues.

SECOND QUARTER (JULY-SEPTEMBER 2013/14)

 

The biggest operational expenditure to the end of quarter 2 in 2013/14 was R133.7 million spent under the Administration programme mainly on compensation of employees and goods and services. The next biggest amount was R91 million under the Welfare Services Policy Development and Implementation Support programme, followed by R53.3 million under the Social Policy and Integrated Service Delivery programme, primarily for goods and services and compensation of employees.

From April to September 43.6 per cent of operational expenditure was on Administration, representing R133.7 million, mainly for compensation of employees and goods and services. Expenditure under Programme 3 decreased by R5.4 million, or 16.2 per cent, when compared with the same period last year primarily due to lower spending on goods and services. The main cost drivers were legal costs for social assistance litigation, travel, subsistence, venues and facilities in support of departmental outreach programmes. The decrease was mainly due to delays in the appointment of service providers for projects such as the Social Security Legislative Review, Service Delivery Survey and Disaster Risk Mitigation Toolkit and the slow submission of invoices by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development related to the adjudication of appeal cases since April 2013. At the end of quarter 2 of 2013/14 the department had transferred R60 billion or 50.9 per cent of the total available budget for transfers.

Additionally, transfers to Non-Profit Organisations to the end of quarter 2 were R29.1 million, the majority of which was for the Lovelife: Prevention of HIV Infection Amongst the Youth transfer. This represents an increase of R1.3 million, or 4.8 per cent, when compared with the same period last year. The majority of this increase was under the FoodBank South Africa: Contribution to Food for All Scheme transfer. Transfers to Households to the end of quarter 2 were R56.5 billion, the majority of which was for the Old Age: Social Assistance transfer, and Child Support: Social Assistance transfer.

 

VIREMENTS

 

At the close of the 2013/14 financial year, the following virements were effected:

Per Main Division:

 

Programme 1 – Administration: R3.7 million

 

An amount of R3.7 million was shifted from Programme 1 to Programme 5 to fund increased expenditure on community outreach activities during Social Development month, household profiling, the provincial NPO roadshows, and the BRICS conference held during the 2013/14 financial year.

 

Programme 3 – Social Security Policy and Administration: R17.4 million

 

An amount of R17.4 million was shifted from Programme 3 to fund increased expenditure under Programme 5.

 

Programme 5 – Social Policy and Integrated Service Delivery: R27.5 million

An amount of R27.5 million was shifted to Programme 5 to fund increased expenditure on community outreach activities during Social Development month, household profiling, provincial NPO roadshows, and the BRICS conference held during the 2013/14 financial year.

 

Per economic classification

Compensation of Employees

An amount of R5.5 million was shifted from Compensation of Employees to fund increased expenditure on Goods and Services for Social Development month activities at the end of the 2013/14 financial year.

 

Goods and Services

An amount of R4 781 million was shifted to Goods and Services to fund increased expenditure on goods and services for community outreach activities during Social Development month, household profiling, provincial NPO roadshows, and the BRICS conference held during the 2013/14 financial year.

Transfers and Subsidies

 

An amount of R705 000 was shifted to Transfers and Subsidies for increased expenditure related to retirement benefits paid to officials who retired during the 2013/14 financial year.

 

5.     OVERVIEW OF THE KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAMME PERFORMANCE

 

Programme 1: Administration

 

The objective of this programme is to provide leadership, management and support services to the department and the Social Development Sector. Out of a total of 60 performance targets set for Programme 1, 17 of the targets (reflecting 29%) were not achieved. This means that 71% targets were achieved. The programme spent 99.4% of its allocated budget. This programme have twelve sub-programmes namely:

International Relations

The department has set itself a target of facilitating its participation in six international bodies. The Department achieved this target by participating among others in the United Nations Commission for Social Development and the negotiation n of five resolutions.

Stakeholder Management

One of the targets under this sub-programme was to form partnerships with eight stakeholders in support of the department’s initiatives and projects. It achieved this target by participating in the Stakeholder Round Table organised by the Deputy Minister’s office. Furthermore, the department also hosted DSD-CONTRALESA and Interfaith summits during the reporting period.

Strategy Development and Business

The department overachieved its target of training 200 rural women in business management, by training 595 women. Furthermore, 203 (target was 200) women participated in the legal rights awareness workshops conducted by the Department in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Northern Cape).

Communication

The department planned to align Co-operative Identity (CI) with that of SASSA, the NDA and LoveLife. The department managed to achieve this target, with the exception of LoveLife due to the fact that the partnership between the department and Love Life ended.

Human Capital Management

The department’s vacancy rate increased to 13% in terms of PERSAL, however it reported that according to its costing model, which also took into account posts which had been approved but had not yet been filled, the vacancy rate was 9%. A total of 138 (18%) officials left the department during the year under review. Furthermore, in terms of employment equity the department had a total number of 13 employees with disabilities. 

Programme 2: Social Assistance

This programme had a total of only 7 performance targets and succeeded in achieving only 3 targets (reflecting a 42.8% achievement and 57.2% non-achievement of the planned targets. The reason for not achieving was the lapsing of grants due to the re-registration project of social grants and lapse of foster care grants because beneficiaries turned 18 years. The programme, however spent 98.7% of its allocated budget. 

Programme 3: Social Security Policy and Administration

This programme achieved four targets (50%) out of eight targets that were set. The department reported that deviation was due to the unforeseen delays by different situations. In programme spent all its allocated budget.

Social Security Policy Development

 

This sub-programme achieved its target of completing the discussion paper on the universalisation of the old age grant. However, it failed to achieve its target of producing the annual survey report on social assistance. The reasons cited for the non-achievement were that (a) bids were invited, but a suitable service provider could not be found, and (b) the process had to be repeated.

 

Programme 4: Welfare Services Policy Development and Implementation

 

Out of a total of 61 targets, this sub-programme only achieved 48 targets resulting in 78.6% of targets achieved and 22.4% not achieved. The overarching challenge cited in this programme was that provinces did not submit their plans on time as expected. However, the programme spent 99.6% of its budget.

 

Older Persons

 

The department met all of its targets in this sub-programme. For example, a total of 94 community-based care services and 109 residential care facilities were assessed for compliance with the norms and standards for services to older persons in accordance with the Older Persons Act, 2006 (Act 13 of 2006).

 

Children

 

Out of a total of fourteen (14) targets set for this sub-programme, one (1) target was not achieved.  A draft Early Childhood Development (ECD) Policy and Comprehensive Package of ECD Services were developed. Additionally, a comprehensive audit of 12 987 ECD centres was conducted in all provinces and completed by end March 2014. Regarding adoptions and international social services, a total of 1 452 adoptions were registered. Of these, 1 240 were national adoptions, while 212 were inter-country adoptions. The target to build HR capacity in the ECD sector was not achieved as the draft HR plan was not finalized. The plans from the other provinces were still outstanding at the time of reporting.

Youth development

This sub-programme had five (5) targets and only one (1) target was not achieved.  A total of 8 080 youths participated in technical, entrepreneurship, life and leadership skills development programmes. A total of 9 786 youths participated in youth dialogues nationally and 1 128 youths attended youth camps. A target to establish three provincial youth forums was not achieved due to delays in the finalization of the concept and lack of provincial support in the Western Cape in particular.

Families

 

This sub-programme had two (2) targets and it achieved them. The department began to undertake various initiatives aimed at achieving the objectives set out in the White Paper, including the development of mediation programmes, family reunification services, an integrated parenting framework, a fatherhood strategy, a programme for the active parenting of teenagers, a marriage enrichment and preparation programme, and a family preservation programme. All nine provinces were capacitated on the White Paper. With regard to the target of building capacity on the Fatherhood Strategy and Active Parenting for Teenagers, the department capacitated five outstanding (four were capacitated in the previous year)  provinces on the Fatherhood Strategy.

 

Substance Abuse

 

All nine provinces were capacitated to implement the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Act (Act No. 70 of 2008), with 408 stakeholders receiving training. Besides this, the Department conducted the festive season anti-substance abuse campaign during November 2013 and March 2014. The campaigns raise awareness about the effects of drug abuse amongst communities. The sub-programme achieved all its four (4) targets.

Programme 5: Social Policy and Integrated Service Delivery

 

This programme identified a total of 40 performance targets and managed to achieve 25 targets (62.5%) and not achieve 15 (37.5%) targets. In contrast the budget expenditure totaled 96%.

 

Special Projects and Innovation

 

The department under this sub-programme exceeded its target of creating 33 307 jobs and 33 504 job opportunities. However, in terms of achieving the target of creating 3 199 Full-Time Equivalents (FETs), the department deviated from this target by only creating 3 065 FETs. The reasons given for this are that the three provinces (Northern Cape, Free State and North-West) did not meet their annual targets due to the late recruitment of Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) participants.

 

Social Policy training

 

There was a deviation of the envisaged target in terms of training officials in social policy and policy analysis. A total of 28 instead of 50 officials were trained in social policy making and analysis. The reasons given for this deviation was that attendance levels by provincial officials were very low.

 

Registration of Non Profit Organisations (NPO)

 

The department received 29 812 applications for NPO registration, and processed 28 798 within two months, amounting to a performance rate of 93%. This marks an over achievement of what the department has set itself for the year under review. Furthermore, a total of 18 162 NPOs were registered in the reporting period, raising the total of NPOs registered since the inception of the NPO Act to 120 441.

 

Community Development

 

This sub-programme had 13 targets and it managed to achieve 11 targets. The targets to approve the policy for amending the NPO Act was not achieved because the policy was not approved and was referred back for amendments by management.  The target to approve the Community Development Occupational Framework was not achieved as the finalisation of the framework was delayed due to a series of consultations with the Health and Welfare Sector Educational Training Authority (HWSETA) and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). Delays in the submission of questionnaires informing the norms and standards by the provinces resulted in the target of facilitating the development of norms and standards for community development not achieved. The target to submit the Draft Community Development Policy Framework to MinMec (Ministers and Members of Executive Councils Meeting) was not achieved. At the time of reporting the framework was still being reviewed by the Social Policy Unit in consultation with broader stakeholders. The target to promote equitable access to food by 300 000 households was not achieved because realigning the Food and Nutrition Security Programme to the government’s approved household food and nutrition took longer than anticipated. This also necessitated amendments to the budget allocations in the adjustment estimates.  

 

Performance Challenges

 

The department reported the following reasons for the non-achievement of targets in the financial year:

 

Office Accommodation:

 

·         Target to conduct a feasibility study on shared offices for the department, SASSA and NDA was not completed. At the time of reporting the department was still consulting with the Department of Public Works for options for a suitable accommodation.

 

Policy Development

 

·         The policy for amending the NPO Act was developed and consulted with NPOs. It was not approved due to extended consultations.

·         The Community Development Occupational framework was not approved due to extended consultations with HWSETA and DHET

 

REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL  

The audit outcome of the portfolio remained unchanged. The department and the four funds (The Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), The Social Relief Fund (SRF), The Refugee Relief Fund (RRF) and The State President Fund (SPF)) sustained their unqualified audit opinion and did not have material findings on non-compliance.[5]

In the AG’s opinion, “the financial statements presented fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Department of Social Development as at 31 March 2014, and its financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with the Departmental financial reporting framework prescribed by the National Treasury and the requirements of the PFMA”. Furthermore, material audit adjustments in the annual performance report were identified during the audit, all of which were corrected by management.[6]

6. OVERVIEW AND ASSESSMENT OF SERVICE DELIVERY PERFORMANCE

A General Overview of Targets and Achievements of the Strategic Priorities

In line with the strategic plan priorities there appears to be some disjuncture between the financial expenditure and service delivery performance with an average expenditure of 98.8%, while only 69% of targets were achieved. Lack of financial resources, and low level of attendance by provincial officials on capacity building trainings have been highlighted as reasons for not achieving some targets envisaged for the year under review. Despite the non-achievement of 31% of the targets, the department managed to increase the number of targets it achieved from 61% in 2012/13 to 69% in 2013/14.

 

The trend analysis of achievement of targets from 2011 – 2014 shows that the department had improved from only achieving 54% targets in 2011/12.  This indicates a 15% improvement. It seems the disjuncture between achievement of targets and actual expenditure of the department will continue to be a challenge as some of the targets the department manages to achieve if partner departments or institutions deliver on their commitments. Intervention is therefore required at government level that will strengthen service delivery integration. Success in implementing the 2014 – 2019 MTSF priority outcome of creating an efficient, effective and development-oriented public service by institutionalizing long term planning, improving inter-departmental coordination and improving service delivery through information technology will put the department in a better situation to obtain significant achievement of its targets.

 

6.2.1 Oversight to the Department of Social Development

 

6.2.1.1 Oversight visit to Gauteng by the previous committee

 

The Committee conducted oversight visit in Gauteng in 2013 to assess the performance of the provincial Department of Social Development, SASSA and the NDA. The oversight visit particularly focused on the alignment of the provincial department and its entities performance to the strategic priorities and policies set by the national department in line with the 2013 State of the Nation Address. These included recognising education as an apex priority, job creation, substance abuse, and fight against violence on women and children and against corruption. The department contributes towards recognising education as an apex priority through the implementation of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme.

 

The Committee found that the strategic priorities and goals set by the Gauteng department were aligned to the priorities of the department’s priorities and government outcomes 1 to 4. With regard to the fight against substance abuse the department was implementing an integrated Anti-substance abuse strategy to reduce or eliminate the incidence of substance abuse in the province.  The strategy involved school holiday initiatives and the ‘Ke Moja’ Drug Prevention Programme. Also, mostly importantly, the department convened a summit to find ways to address the classification of nyaope as an illegal drug. The summit resolved for the establishment of a technical committee to pursue the classification of nyaope as an illegal drug and to conduct a research study on nyaope to establish the extent of the problem associated with this drug and its impact on communities and standardize treatment regimens at all treatment centres.

 

To achieve Outcome 1 to ensure quality education, the department targeted to develop an integrated protection services to children and provision of ECD services to 73 508 children aged 0-4 years. It also intended to increase the number of registered partial care sites and improve capacity of registered partial care sites. It aimed to implement the ECD regulating and funding strategy.

With regard to achieving Outcome 3 to ensure that all people in South Africa are and feel safe, the department aimed to provide an integrated care and services to older persons. The department supported 74 luncheon clubs for older persons managed by NPOs and funded several NPOs to provide services to older persons.

To achieve Outcome 4 which advocated for an integrated childcare and protection services for children, the department implemented interventions focusing on the prevention of child abuse and neglect as well as child trafficking. During the 2013/2014 financial year the department provided funding to 106 Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs) and it would cater for a total of 6 275 children in need of care and protection.

The Committee visited one of the CYCC funded by the department, Walter Sisulu Youth Care Centre. It found that the centre had good intervention programmes and services. These include Individual Development Plans, programme of care, access to educational opportunities and therapeutic services.

One important finding by the Committee which had significant policy implications was that the centre had a challenge of placing children, especially orphans, in foster homes. This made it difficult for the centre to create accommodation for new admissions. This was because there was a lack of alternative placements options. Another challenge was that the staff of the centre were not capacitated or trained to work with children with special needs. The Committee also found that the physical infrastructure of the centre was not conducive for children with disabilities.

 

Another important finding related to the issue of registration of the department’s facilities. The Walter Sisulu Youth Care Centre and the Soweto Old Age Home reported that they had not been fully registered. The CYCC could not be registered because there were delays in obtaining permission for zoning from the local government. The old age home was still waiting to be issued with a health certificate for it to be registered. The problem was that the building plan could not be found and so the home was using a temporary building plan.  

 

The department is in the process of implementing the White Paper on Families. This is a milestone legislative framework in the department’s efforts of improving the lives of people through family oriented interventions. The benefits of such interventions the Committee observed when it visited FAMSA (Families South Africa) Family Preservation Programme in Lenasia, Johannesburg. FAMSA organises support groups for parents (single and married), child headed households, teenage mothers, children, individuals and older people to help them realise their role in the society. Each group is taught life skills, stress coping mechanisms, relationships and family preservation skills. It also raise awareness and educate men on the roles of fatherhood. The Committee found that these family interventions had strengthened families and provided surrounding communities with necessary skills. One important benefit the elder persons told the Committee was that the Senior Survivor Club served as a place where they find a sense of belonging. The members share their experiences, problems and support each other. This clearly illustrates the importance of the White Paper in Families and the positive impact it would have if it is successfully implemented.

 

The department is also implementing the Prevention of and Treatment of Substance Abuse Act and the National Drug Master Plan which are aimed at combating substance abuse in a comprehensive and co-ordinated manner. The Act provides for the treatment and prevention of substance abuse through in-patient, out-patient, aftercare programme and reintegration programmes. During its oversight visits to the SANCA (South African National Council on Alcoholism) satellite office in Eldorado Park, it found that these kind of offices are very useful in ensuring that treatment (particularly out-patient treatment) and prevention services (outreach programmes) are accessible to the public. Furthermore, because they are located close to communities they have a wide outreach. For instance, this particular satellite office had a target outreach of 20 000 beneficiaries and between May and July 2013 it had assessed a total of 130 clients.

 

Despite its success in providing anti substance services, the Committee was formed that the office faced challenges of lack of facility to offer detoxification programmes and many clients are in need of this programme at the start of the treatment programme; limited financial resources affects the needs to expand programmes to reach more people and family members of the users are not always willing to make changes in their own lives and therefore clients often go back to the same circumstances that they were exposed to before they received treatment.

 

To address the above-mentioned challenges, the centre identified interventions that link recovering users to the economic opportunities, such as, the Ennerdale Development Centre, SANCA and the Department of Social Development. This intervention links with the department’s goal of developmental social development. Therefore, it is another area which the department can look into as it implements strategy of linking beneficiaries to economic opportunities.

 

It is thus recommended that the Department of Social Development should consider funding more of these intervention services to complement in-patient treatment programmes (rehabilitation centres). This is because rehabilitation centres are not always accessible to the public because they cannot afford, the number of beds available cannot meet the demand and distances to be travelled by those who do not live nearby. For instance, when the Committee visited SANCA Phoenix House in Johannesburg it was told that the centre receives 47% of income from the Department of Social Development. As a result, it could only treat five in-patients per month and 550 out-patients per annum at both the Sophia Town and Ebony Park out-patient clinics and conduct 40 000 awareness and prevention programmes. The demand for free services exceeded what the entre could provide.

 

6.2.1.2 Committee briefings

 

Gender based violence and violence to children

 

With the alarming increase of violence and murder of women (including older women) and children, the Committee identified this area as a priority focus area for oversight. Its strategy was to first receive research findings on the violence and murder of women and children. Thereafter organise inter-sectoral briefings from departments and stakeholders who render services on gender based violence and murder of women and children.

 

From the briefing made by the Medical Research Council on its research studies on female homicide and child murder the Committee was seriously concerned about the following findings which have implications to the Department of Social Development’s Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP) and Child Protection programme:

 

·         There was a high number of unidentified perpetrators. The Domestic Violence Act Register was not linked to the gender based violence and homicide cases.

·         South Africa has no formal database for intimate and non intimate homicides.

·         Most women who were raped and stabbed to death had high levels of alcohol consumption compared to those gunned to death. Alcohol was not found on latter. This indicates the dangers of alcohol abuse. It has serious implications to the anti substance abuse programmes.

·         South Africa does not have a national survey on child homicide.

Even though the Committee acknowledged the high cost implication of conducting national surveys it felt that these surveys are essential for the country to have them as they serve as critical assessment tools and provide good evidence for policy interventions.

The department can address the above-mentioned findings through its initiative of monitoring incidents of gender based violence. In the annual report the department reported that it established a committee which monitored the provision of immediate integrated collaborative interventions on a 24 hour and seven days a week basis at six sites in Gauteng. In also launched a Command Centre, developed an intersectoral Victim Empowerment Programme strategy and VEP monitoring and evaluation system. These initiatives can be used to develop a database on gender based violence and murder, linking of systems between the departments to track progress and referrals of the cases. The Child Protection Surveillance is also an important tool that the department can use to address the lack of a national database on child homicide.   

 

The Committee also received a briefing from Shukumisa, which raised the following concerns:

·         The 2012 -2015 strategic plan of the department reduced priorities relevant to sexual violence from six (in 2010 – 2015) to four and incorporated gender based violence under anti-substance abuse programme.

·         The launch of the National Gender Based Violence (GBV) Command Centre by the department in partnership with Vodacom duplicates the National “Stop Gender Violence Helpline” which is also funded by the department and the Gauteng Department of Social Development.  The GBV command centre is allocated a budget of R14.3 million, which will increase to R16 million in 2016/17. In contrast the National “Stop Gender Violence Helpline” costs R1.2 million a year and it is run by 23 staff compared to 75 staff of the command centre. The concern of Shukumisa was that a large funding (full funding) is allocated to a private sector company whilst the funding to the NGOs is 75%.

·         There is a potential duplication between the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Gender-based Violence driven by the Department of Social Development and the National Council on Gender-based Violence.

·         Inconsistent funding of NPOs between provinces.

·         The Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) is not appropriately supervised and it is not an appropriate programme to support rape services. This programme is run by volunteers who work long hours.

 

To address the above concerns Shukumisa made the following recommendations:

 

·         The department should not duplicate existing NPO programmes and services as the White Paper on Social Welfare prohibited duplication of services.

·         The funding policy to the NPOs should be reconsidered to reflect value of work in full. The funding model to the provinces should be better standardised.

·         Services must determine funding – not funding determine the services.

·         The Committee should consider organising public hearings around an appropriate approach to funding services, including rape services.

 

The Committee acknowledged the concerns raised by Shukumisa, particularly challenges around inconsistencies in the funding of NPOs and a need for a more coherent funding model. Nevertheless, the challenge of NPO funding cuts across all sectors. It however highlighted that the Department of Social Development is implementing the ECD Action Plan, the White Paper on Families and Mikondzo project. These initiatives seek to improve service delivery of welfare services to address challenges and gaps that had been identified. Through SASSA, the department is in the process of universalising the OAP and the CSG. It also launched a policy initiative that links social grants beneficiaries to economic opportunities. Furthermore, the department is in the process of drafting the Bill on Victim Empowerment Support Services and a Bill on Social Service Practitioners.

The Committee raised a concern that there is still a lack of access of services of the NPO sector in the rural areas. There is a need for country wide expansion of the NPOs foot print in rural areas. Shukumisa explained that it recognised this gap hence it has started working with traditional leaders. The Committee resolved that it will organise public hearings with the NPO sector and these hearings will be preferably held in the provinces.

 

Services to older persons

 

The previous Committee observed the abuse and murder of older persons with serious concern. It was particularly interested in the roll out of older persons help desks to all the provinces. In 2012/13 Annual Report the department reported that it would finalise the process of rolling older persons desks in the 2013/14 financial year.

 

The Older Persons Act (No. 13 of 2006) in Chapter 5 provides specific procedures on the reporting of abuse of older persons and the justice system that should be followed. Most importantly the Act in Section 31 (1) mandates the Minister to keep a register of persons convicted of the abuse of an older person or of any crime or offence. The Act was passed in 2006 and the department only established the register in 2014. With the high rates of abuse of older persons it is critical that the department strengthen its efforts in implementing this chapter of the Act. Similar initiatives such as the Child Protection Surveillance study and child protection quality assurance tool for prevention and early intervention programmes against child abuse, neglect and exploitation can be designed for older persons.

 

The Committee considered and processed the petitioned by civil pensioners that was submitted to Parliament. The Committee noted that the issues raised by the petition are related to citizen rights, family responsibilities and provision of services to older persons. These issues also highlighted the gaps in the implementation of the services to older persons, for example the Indigent Policy. It also noted with concern that most of the older person’s service centres are mainly located in the urban areas. It encouraged the department to focus more on rural areas where most cases of abuse take place. It further noted with concern the lack of integration of services delivered by different government departments. It further noted that the issues raised in the petition revealed a challenge that some older persons lacked information, especially relating to the free basic services and the Grant-in-Aid available to them. Most importantly it was concerned over the minimal adherence of the departments in implementing the provisions of the Older Persons Act.

 

The Committee made the following recommendations to the Minister of Social Development:

 

The department’s reporting on the Older Persons sub-programme gives an impression that the department has thus far been focusing on awareness raising and educational campaigns and registration of residential facilities and minimum focus has been on the substantive service delivery interventions provided for in the Older Persons Act, particularly those that seek to provide protection of older persons. Nevertheless, the Committee notes that the department implemented older persons help desks in all nine provinces. It also welcomes the launch of the Register of persons convicted of abuse of older persons in 2014. It will continue to monitor the impact these two interventions will have in protecting older persons. 

 

6.2.2 Oversight of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA or Agency)

 

Oversight visit to Gauteng

 

The critical focus area that the Committee found during its oversight visit to the regional office related to the challenges the Agency inherited in the aftermath of the demarcation process. The process resulted in some offices and pay points relocated to other provinces and that created inconsistencies in the implementation of business processes and general service delivery. The affected areas included Hammanskraal, Bronkhorspruit and Merafong local offices. These offices are located at the borders of Gauteng and North West; Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces.  The Committee however noted that similar challenges had been encountered in other cross border offices. It then welcomed the progress made by the Agency in implementing the four step standardisation process. It believed this would address the challenge of regions implementing different business processes.

 

The Committee further found that the issues of long queues at pay points and customer care at local offices were still a challenge. The oversight visit to Maponya Mall in Johannesburg and complaints raised by older persons (of the bad attitude of officials at Athlone office) in their petition demonstrated this. In both instances the Committee was informed that SASSA officials treated beneficiaries with disrespect.

 

7.     RELEVANT EXTERNAL RESEARCH ASSESSING PERFORMANCE OF THE DEPARTMENT.

 

This section highlights some of the inputs made by independent institutions on the implementation of services that affect different vulnerable groups.

 

 

In spite of poverty alleviation policies and programmes since 1994, there are still high levels of hunger, poverty, reliance on social grants, unemployment and decrease in food production. A substantial proportion of households remains at risk of hunger or is experiencing hunger. Although the measures and programmes initiated by the South African government appear to be beneficial, they need to be run more effectively to further alleviate food insecurity. [7]

 

 

Recent studies clearly demonstrate the importance of social and economic developmental value of the Child Support Grant (CSG). Access to the CSG, especially in the early years of life, and sustained access throughout childhood mitigates child poverty, significantly improves childhood development, health and education, and reduces risky adolescent behaviour. Studies have also found that despite extensive reach of the grant in 2011, 23.7 per cent (or 2.35 million) of eligible children were not receiving the CSG.[8] However, this number has been reduced as compared to 3.8 million children that were excluded in 2008.[9] 

 

Distance remained the problem for a number of vulnerable households as the current fixed-service footprint is inadequate to meet demand and reach communities living in poverty, especially rural areas and informal settlements.[10] There are still many citizens who are eligible but not receiving grants due mainly to geographic or administrative reasons. Some grants are currently targeted through means testing – like the Child Support Grant (CSG), Older Persons Grant and Care Dependency Grant. There are however, proposals to remove the means test so that each person, by merit of being a citizen, would receive (old age and child support) grants according to their need - and not related to their income or assets. These discussions will be completed during the 2014/15 financial year. [11]

 

The department has taken steps to address the above mentioned gaps. These include the launch of the project Mikondzo which aims to expand the foot print of the department to the 1 300 poorest wards in 23 districts. The department is working in collaboration with its entities (SASSA and the NDA) to provide necessary interventions. Also through Programme 5: Social Policy and Integrated Services, it initiated a Food Nutrition and Security programme to further accelerate the process of ensuring that poor, vulnerable and marginalised individuals and households have access to nutritious food. It also works in partnership with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to develop a Household Food and Nutrition Security Programme Strategy.

 

In addition, the department and SASSA identified the elimination of exclusions in the CSG, Foster Care Grant and the Old Age Pension (OAP) as a priority area. SASSA targeted to increase the CSG uptake rates up to 70% over the medium term period. During 2013/14, it managed to obtain evidence on the demographics and the geographic location of the eligible children who were not accessing the CSG. The department is in the process of amending the Children’s Act to address the administrative challenges linked to the judicial system. The department in collaboration with SASSA will by 2015/16 financial year complete the process of universalising the CSG and the OAP.

 

Substance Abuse

A World Health Organisation (WHO) report show that individual South Africans (15 years and older) consumed an average of 8.2 litres of pure alcohol per annum, well above the African continental average of 6.0 litres. The report also states that latest causal relationships suggested by research findings are those between alcohol consumption and incidences of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. The harmful use of alcohol can also have serious social and economic consequences for individuals other than the drinker and for society at large, states the report. 

The department is addressing substance through the implementation of the Prevention of and Treatment of Substance Abuse Act and the National Drug Master Plan. These are aimed at reducing the demand for, supply of and harm caused by drugs and other substances.

 

 

Concerns were raised related to home-based care, which was important to keep older persons in their communities as long as possible, and to continue with their role in the family and community. It was noted that many of the services for which the department was responsible were actually provided by NGOs, community or faith organisations, which were under-funded, and that many rural areas did not receive these services. Frail care suffered through lack of any single standards and a variation of costing models over different provinces. There were shortages of skilled personnel in this area, and payment problems caused problems in service delivery.

Furthermore, work by the South African Ageing Network (SAAN) highlighted the need for, amongst others, reviewing the Older Persons Act (with a specific focus on Chapter 5 of the Constitution) and the Housing Act in order to include the needs of older persons. There is also need to undertake a national audit on infrastructure available and required to address the needs of older persons’ facilities, mainstreaming of health centres that are older persons friendly. The department is in the process of amending the Older Persons Act to improve services provided to older persons.

 

Another area of abuse of older persons takes the form of pension related elder abuse.[12] The study by HelpAge International found that women are more likely to be victims of this kind of abuse than men. This is because women tend to be more socially disadvantaged and marginalised from public life than older males. Most importantly the study argues that the government’s focus during the twenty years of democracy has largely been on the issues of youth than on those of older persons. It thus recommended that older abuse needs to be recognised as a political issue for it to be mainstreamed in all development processes. It also recommended that there is a need to strengthen advocacy against elder abuse and community awareness. It further recommended that there should be a Commission for Older Persons which will promote a better understanding of intergenerational issues especially those that affect older persons, safeguard and promote their interests.

  

Assessment of the department by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME)[13]

 

DPME conducted an assessment of national and provincial departments’ performance in relation to management practices between 2012 and 2013, published in July 2014. The assessment was done using the Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) which contains 33 standards, arranged into five (5) Key Performance Areas (KPAs). The measured KPAs were Strategic Management (KPA1), Governance and Accountability (2), Human Resource and Systems Management (KPA3), Financial Management (KPA4) and the MPAT Process (KPA 5). Performance results were colour coded as follows:

 

·         Red – non-compliance with legal/regulatory standards

·         Orange – partial compliance

·         Yellow – full compliance

·         Green – full compliance while “doing things smartly”

 

Strategic Management (KPA1)

 

Under this KPA the department was found to be performing in full compliance (yellow) with the Strategic Plan. It was further found to have complied fully and had done things smartly (green) in integration of monitoring and evaluation in performance standard. It was however found not to be compliant on Annual Performance Plan (red) performance standard.

 

Governance and Accountability (KPA2)

 

With regard to this KPA, the department was found to have fully complied and doing things smartly (green) in Risk Management, delegation of powers and responsibilities as prescribed by the Public Service Act (PSA) and the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). It was found to be partially compliant (orange) on management structure, fraud prevention, audit committee and internal audit performance standards. It was found to be non-compliant (red) on Service Delivery Improvement Plan and Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). It was also found to be compliant (yellow) on professional ethics performance standard.

 

Human Resource and Systems Management (KPA3)

 

Under this KPA the department was found to have partially complied (orange) on Human Resource planning, health and wellness, organisational design and pay sheet certification performance standards. The department showed full compliance (yellow) on recruitment and retention of staff and HR development plan. It was found to be non-compliant (red) on management diversity performance standard.  

 

Financial Management (KPA4)

 

Under this KPA the department was found to be in full compliance (yellow) on demand management, acquisition management, logistics management, disposal management, cash flow management and unauthorised expenditure management. It was found to be partially compliant (orange) on payment of suppliers performance standard.

 

Overall performance

 

The DPME also assessed the improvement or changes in levels of standards within the aforementioned KPA of the department between 2012 and 2013. In 2013 the department obtained yellow colour code on strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, Service Delivery Plan, audit committee, internal audit, HR plan, professional ethics, risk management, management diversity and payment of suppliers standards. This means that these levels of standards remained the same between the two years.

 

The department was found to have deteriorated (light and dark blue) on Annual Performance Plan, management structure, fraud prevention and internal audit compared to 2012. It however showed improvement in 2013 in complying with the delegation of powers and responsibilities and management of disciplinary cases requirements of the PFMA and the PSA. It also improved on HR development planning performance standard.

 

8. COMMITTEE Observations  

 

Having considered the briefing by the department the Committee made the following observations:

·         It raised concern over the high non-compliance (33%) of the NPOs to the NPO Act, which requires them to submit their annual reports. The Committee was further concerned that some NPOs do not receive their funding on time. In addition, the Committee pointed out there might be a possibility that the NPOs, particularly the emerging ones, may not have the capacity to compile their annual and financial reports.

The department responded that the NDA was given a task to conduct capacity building of emerging NPOs to assist them to comply with the Act. The department also conducted NPO roadshows to educate NPO of the NPO Act. The approach of the department is to empower NPOs rather than to deregister them due to non-compliance. Despite these efforts the department is concerned by the mobility of social workers in the NPO sector. It therefore plans to review the payment of social workers across the board in order to standardise it.

·         The department has implemented programmes across provinces according to their needs. It welcomed the department’s effort of increasing its foot prints in all provinces, implementing programmes according to the service delivery needs of the provinces.

·         Commended the department for obtaining a clean audit opinion and the good leadership of the Minister and the Director-General.

·         The department managed to increase the number of targets it achieved from 61% in 2012/13 to 69% in 2013/14.

 

9.     OVERVIEW OF THE KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIAL SECURITY AGENCY

SASSA as an entity of the department has a mandate to ensure the provision of comprehensive social security services against vulnerability and poverty within the constitutional and legislative framework. Its budget is allocated from Programme 2 of the department in the form of transfers. For the year under review transfers to SASSA amounted to R111 billion. The voted funds for operation costs was R6.3 billion. It also functions within the policy development framework of Programme 3 of the department.

SASSA strategic priorities for 2013/14

For 2013/14 – 2015/16 financial years, the Agency set to achieve four key priorities, namely; excellent customer care; automation of systems; improving the organizational capacity and promoting good governance. These priorities resonated within the Agency’s four key focus areas, which are:

·         improving the service delivery by making people’s dealings with government easier through better delivery and coordination of services;

·         Improving the organisational efficiency by modernising the agency’s business processes;

·         Developing a new payment system; and

·         Undertaking a diversification process which will position SASSA as payment provider for social security benefits.

 

Performance and Financial Expenditure

 

Financial performance

 

The Agency successfully managed to reach 15 932 473 beneficiaries, extending its social assistance coverage to the previously excluded and marginalised groups as required by the Constitution. It spent 98.7% on the transfers to social assistance, as reflected in budget expenditure of Programme 2 of the department. Similarly, it spent 98% (6.1 billion) of its allocated budget for operation costs.

 

Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure

In terms of Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure, as compared with the last financial year amount of R284 994 49, SASSA reported an amount of R4 429 349 as at 31 March 2014. This amount is made of an opening balance amounting to R1 276 583, claims in respect of damages to hired vehicles of R2 832 314 travel and hotel related no shows of R125 514, interest on late payments of R178 489 and other losses amounting to R16 449. R403 439 was condoned which resulted in R4 025 911 closing balance.

Irregular Expenditure

The amount of irregular expenditure incurred during the 2013/14 financial period was R70 116 768 of which R28 065 682 related to Mikondzo events. This was as a result that SASSA could not finalize the bid award as anticipated whereas urgent service delivery interventions were required by various communities. 

 

Overall performance

 

The performance of SASSA is reported under seven branches, which are outlined below:

 

Branch 1: Grants Administration

 

Out of a total of 17 performance targets set for the branch 1, 6 (35.2%) targets were achieved and 11 (64.8) were not achieved. In terms of expenditure this branch had an over expenditure of 102.7%.

 

The total number of new social grants application target of 1 200 000 million was over achieved by 9%. An over achievement (83 059) 116% instead of 71 879 was also cited in the total number of grants in aid payment. In terms of linking beneficiaries to economic and developmental opportunities, 9 cooperatives were trained and attended SABC training arrangement by SASSA.  However a total number of grants in payment of 16 582 582 target was not achieved. The Agency only achieved 15 932 473 (representing 96%) of the annual target. Reasons cited for this was that grants had lapsed due to failure by beneficiaries to re-register, administration reviews and voluntary cancellation. In terms of total number of disability grants in payment SASSA deviated from its envisage target of 1 179 852 by only achieving 95% (1 120 419).

 

In addition, the Agency did not achieve its 100% target of processing new grant application within 21 days by only achieving 91% of the annual target. This was due to quality improvements in the disability management space regarding the training of doctors to improve assessment quality control measures. This resulted in a decrease in this grant type. SASSA envisaged to complete 100% (2.5 million) backlog reviews, it however failed to achieve this target by only completing 15% (370 765) of the planned target. The reasons for this was that the reviews were suspended on the 2 December 2013. In view of the aforementioned, poor targeting became a pattern that prevented the Agency from meeting its annual targets.

 

Branch 2: Strategy and Business Development

 

This branch had a total of only 6 performance targets and it achieved (50%) of its stated targets. Total expenditure for this programme was 93.5%. It managed to produce four institutional and service delivery reports. Nevertheless, a complete branch report could not be produced as planned. The scientific review part was out-sourced and it would be implemented in 2014/15 financial year.

 

Branch 3: Information and Communication Technology

 

This branch had set four (4) targets and it only achieved one (1) target, constituting 25% of achieved targets.  In terms of budget expenditure the Agency spent 92.2%. The Agency over achieved its target of ICT infrastructure accessibility and accessibility to users and offices. The grant beneficiary biometric system was not implemented as planned. This was due of the re-advertisement of the tender. 

 

 

 

Branch 4: Internal Audit and Risk Management

 

There were minor deviations in this Branch with the exception of internal audit monitoring reports not being produced and re-registration exceptions not being investigated.  Under this Branch, the Agency achieved 6 (75%) of its performance targets (out of 8). An under budget expenditure of 73.4% was recorded for the year under review (2013/14).  It however, exceeded its target of 60% by achieving 90% of identifying fraud cases investigated. The fraud case management system was however implemented in all national fraud management and compliance departments.

 

Branch 5: Corporate Services

 

This branch had set to achieve three (3) targets but managed to only achieve one (1) (33.3%) of all of its performance targets leaving 2 (66.7%) not being achieved. It however had an expenditure of 83 043 (7 %).

 

In terms of infrastructure, the Agency reported that it improved a total number of 116 out of planned 119 local offices and pay points which marks a non-achievement of only three (3) offices and pay points. The deviation was due to cancellation of the tender for the repair and renovations, as a result regions did not undertake any office renovations. Regions were allocated with a baseline budget in order to start the project without delay during the 2014/15 financial year.

 

Branch 6: Finance

 

Out of a total of five (5) performance targets set for this Branch, two (2) (40%) targets were achieved and only three (3) (60%) were not achieved.  In terms of expenditure this Branch has an under expenditure of 7%.

 

The Agency set itself a target of achieving 100% of paying eligible suppliers within 30 days. It was reported that out of a total of 9 667 various suppliers, 83.76% (8067) were paid within 30 days. Furthermore, SASSA set itself 50% of recovering debt from staff as per Acknowledgement of Debt (AoD), however 24% of the debt was not recovered.

 

REPORT OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL

 

SASSA retained its unqualified audit opinion from the AG, for the 2013/14 financial year. The AG highlighted the following findings in terms of Supply chain management (SCM), Human resources and Information technology controls:

 

·         Supply chain management (SCM),

 

Deviation from competitive bidding process as per the Treasury regulations and the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act. The AG recommended that management should review policies in line with applicable regulatory requirements to achieve alignment and implement monitoring controls and appropriate consequent management where necessary.

 

·         Human resources

 

The organisation structure was in place but was not aligned to the strategic and human resource plans. The overall vacancy rate of 54.3% as reported on in the annual report is only an improvement of 1.7% from the prior year which was reported on as a 56% vacancy rate. The AG recommended that competent staff should be appointed in key positions to ensure that adequate monitoring and supervision occurs.

·         Information technology controls

 

The AG found that there were vacancies in IT key positions and policies and recommended that management should compile an IT action plan to address its findings.

10.  OVERVIEW AND ASSESSMENT OF SERVICE DELIVERY PERFORMANCE

A General Overview of Targets and Achievements of the Strategic Priorities

Of the 43 total number of planned targets, 19 were achieved during the year under review. This represents 44.1% of total planned targets that were achieved and 55% (24) were not achieved during the year under review. This was mainly due to the  invalidity of the current payment tender however the Agency has taken some interventions to address this through the new payment tender 2014.

 

11.  COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS

The Committee raised a concern that the Auditor-General identified 11 areas of concern under internal controls out of the total of 14 areas. The majority of these areas are located at management and leadership level. The Agency explained that when it was established in 2006 it inherited some staff members from the Department of Social Development who had limited training and qualifications. These staff members have to be trained to be able to exercise proper oversight and supervision on internal controls. Weaknesses identified in the supply chain management during the awarding of the payment tender were found to have been as a result of staff members who had not been able to use the financial and supply chain system. SASSA is constantly improving on these issues from the time it had received a disclaimer (red audit) to yellow audit (area of concern) report it obtained in 2013/14.  

The Committee reiterated its concern over the illegal deductions from the social grants payments. It wanted to know what progress has the department and SASSA made in addressing this problem. The Agency reported that a task team was established to investigate the deductions from the social grants and the report would be finalised by the end of 2014. The department and SASSA are also working in partnership with BlackSash, the National Credit Regulator (NCR) and other civil organisations to find possible interventions to address this problem. The NCR had already cancelled licenses of companies it found to have been deducting money illegally from the social grants.

 

It further raised a concern over the 53% vacancy rate, with highest rate at senior management and highly skilled positions. The Agency explained that its staff establishment was created in accordance with the provisions of the South African Social Security Agency Act which requires the Agency to perform the grant administration and payment. However, the grant payment has been outsourced to external service providers. Therefore, some of the vacancies have remained as unfunded vacancies. It had however, filled two Executive Manager posts during 2013/14 financial year.    

 

12.  OVERVIEW OF THE KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMEBNT AGENCY

The National Development Agency (NDA), as a public entity established by the National Development Agency Act, (No. 108 of 1998) as amended, reports to Parliament through the Minister for Social Development. It is listed under Schedule 3A of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), (Act No. 1 of 1999). Its primary mandate is to contribute towards the eradication of poverty and its causes by granting funds to civil society organisations (CSOs) to implement development projects in poor communities and strengthen the institutional capacity of CSOs that provide services to poor communities.

NDA strategic priorities for 2013/14

The entity focused on the following programmes in support of the government priority areas on poverty and eradication:

 

12.1 Performance and Financial Expenditure

The overall budget of the NDA for the period under review was R180 million. The Agency aligned all its key performance indicators (IKPI’s) and targets to comply with the National Treasury Framework. When it tabled its 2013/14 Annual Performance Plan to Parliament it had set 34 targets but during the year it realised it would not be able to achieve three (3) targets. It requested the Minister of Social Development to defer these to the next financial year (2014/15) and the request was approved. The three targets that were not achieved were funding to food security, positive rating of NDA brand awareness and ICT framework.

 

Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure

 

In terms of fruitless and wasteful expenditure, NDA reported an amount of R649 123 as at 31 March 2014. This represented an increase on the R602 874 reported in the last financial year. This expenditure comprised of R20 951 for penalties on late payment to SARS and Telkom. In addition R2 298 was for a tender advertising expenditure incurred twice.

 

Statement of Actuals and Budget

 

The actual amount paid to consultants decreased to R2 594 969 compared to R66 006 706 in the 2012/13 financial year. Furthermore the staff cost was R51 080 909 as opposed to R46 660 914 in the last financial year.

 

Programme performance

 

The NDA received a transfer payment of R171 713 million from the Department of Social Development under programme five (5).  It perform its function according to four programmes, which are discussed below:

 

Programme 1: Development Management

 

This programme received a budget allocation of R143 005 million. Out of a total of 13 performance targets, only one (1) target was not achieved. This means that 92% of targets was achieved. It had an under expenditure of R4.2 million. It exceeded by R2.9 million its planned targets of budget allocation to the ECD programme. Reasons cited for this was due to reprioritisation of budget. Hundred and fifty (150) food gardens were established on ECD sites, exceeding the target by 55 sites. The 15 targeted number of ECD sites funded for infrastructure improvement were achieved as planned.  The food and security sub-programme received R15.7 million instead of R20 million. The Agency reported that even though this target was not achieved, the planned programme targets were met with reduced budget. 

 

Programme 2: Research and Development (R&D)

 

A total of R5 125 million was allocated for 2013/14 to this programme. It had an over expenditure of R13 000 and achieved all seven (7) targets.  Out of the total of these targets, the NDA had set itself a target of 66 number of close out evaluation reports on projects produced by the Agency. It exceeded its target by managing to produce 68 close out reports. In addition, the Agency aimed to increase its research capacity by producing five (5) position papers or policy briefs on NDA programme areas. It exceeded this target by achieving six (6) position papers. It further produced four (4) research reports on NDA programmes areas.

 

Programme 3: Civil Society Capacity Strengthening

 

Through this programme the Agency capacitated 2 059 CSOs instead of the planned 239 CSOs in management and technical skills. This target was exceeded due to the funding the NDA received from provincial Departments of Social Development to capacitate their funded NPO’s which were not part of the original NDA target. The Agency has also over-achieved its set target to fund ECD practitioners enrolled in NQF level 4 training.

 

Programme 4: Governance and Administration

 

The strategic objective of this programme is to promote and maintain organisational excellence and sustainability. A total budget of R87 939 was allocated for this programme and an under-spending of R7 218 was recorded. This programme includes the following internally-focussed organisational development sub-programmes:

 

 

 

 

Human resources

 

The Human Resource statement indicated that the Agency’s vacancy rate in 2013/14 was 4.9% beating the target of 5%.   Staff turnover was reported to be 4.92% as at 31 March 2014. The major reasons cited for the staff turnover was resignations and expiry of contracts. A total of R836 346 was spent on learning and development interventions in 2013/14.   Sixty five (65) staff members attended short courses and seminars. In terms of equity targets, 72% of employees of the Agency are females and 28% are males. In addition, the NDA exceeded the government target (2%) of employing people with disability by employing 2.6%.  However the area of concern in HR is the representation of women at the management level.

 

Enhancing NDA visibility and branding

 

The NDA solicited R3.1 million in various electronic and print media platforms for NDA funded projects and the “Adopt an ECD” campaign. However it still has more work to do to improve the awareness of the NDA brand. Internal communication platforms were used to turn NDA staff, especially in the provinces, into brand ambassadors and various publicity platforms were used to showcase the NDA brand to external audiences.

 

REPORT OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL

 

The NDA received an unqualified audit opinion with emphasis of matter in 2013/14 financial year.  Emphasis of matters under Supply Chain Management (SCM) included irregular expenditure incurred, deviation from competitive bidding process, three quotations not received and deviation from competitive bidding process, Supply Chain Management policy was not done according to National Treasury prescripts. With regard to the in Information technology controls, the AG identified weaknesses in access and change controls as a matters of emphasis.

 

13.  COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS

 

 

 

14.  Recommendations

Having deliberated and made observations on the department’s and its entities annual reports, the Committee recommends the following:

 

Department of Social Development

 

·         The Minister should ensure that the department’s intergovernmental relations with its counterparts, in particular those who implement its cross cutting functions, is strengthened to ensure that it manages to achieve its targets. This will ensure that duplication of services by departments and the civil society will be minimised.

 

·         The Minister should ensure that there is consistent service delivery in all the provinces with particular focus on rural areas and other poor areas. In addition, the Minister should ensure that NPOs funded by the department expand their foot print in rural areas by fast tracking the implementation of the Policy on Financial Awards by the provinces to eliminate inconsistencies in the funding model.

 

·         The Minister should ensure that the department strengthens its mechanisms to ensure that NPOs are accountable and comply with the NPO Act.

 

·         The Minister should ensure that the department works in close collaboration with the South African Police Service to further promote protection of older persons.

 

·         The Minister should ensure that the children residential facilities are provided with necessary training, resources and infrastructure to meet the needs of children with special needs. 

 

·         The Minister should ensure that the department expedite the registration of residential facilities of children and older persons.

 

·         The Minister should ensure that the department fast tracks the roll out of Project Mikondzo in all provinces.

 

·         The Minister should lobby the National Treasury to increase funding for food security programmes and public participation in the form of Project Mikondzo. This will ensure that the department reduces virements for public participation.

 

·         The Minister should strengthen the accounting systems of financial management by the end of the current financial year (2014/15).

 

·         The Minister should ensure that the department strengthens its psychosocial support services, especially to the people who are live in abject poverty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

South African Social Security Agency

 

·         The Minister should ensure that SASSA strengthens the provision of the Social Relief of Distress. The provision of the Social Relief of Distress should be provided in a consistent manner according to the circumstances and needs of the people.

 

·         The Minister should ensure that SASSA fills the critical vacant posts during 2014/15 financial year.

·         The Minister should further ensure that SASSA addresses the matters of emphasis raised by the Auditor-General so that it can receive an unqualified audit report with no findings at the end of 2014/15 financial year.

 

National Development Agency

 

·         The Minister should ensure that the National Treasury is engaged to provide more funding to the NDA in the light that the mandate of the NDA has been expanded to provide grant funding to food security and ECD programmes as well as build capacity of the NPOs.

·         The Minister should ensure that the Agency further expands on its role to build capacity of NPOs as the submission by the Shukumisa organisation raised concerns over the lack of funding and support of the NPO sector by the department. 

·         The Minister should ensure that the Agency strengthens and expands its branding and awareness campaigns so that it can reach all communities especially rural communities. 

 

15.  Summary of reporting requests

 

Reporting matter

Action required

Timeframe

·         SASSA to brief the Committee on the steps it has taken to address unlawful withdrawals from social grants.

·         Prior to that it should forward a copy of the 8 point step plan it developed to address the illegal withdrawals

 

Committee briefing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concluding remarks

 

A brief analysis of the department’s and its entities performance with regard to meeting the 2009 – 2014 Government Outcomes shows that they managed to align their priorities to the Government Outcomes. Most importantly alignment of the priorities and targets of the entities indicated an integration of planning processes of the entities to the department, which has a mandate to implement the Government Outcomes. The launch of a re-registration process and subsequent development of a biometric system for social grants payments was in line with the government’s objective of creating an efficient and effective public sector with integrated information technology. The department and the NDA made significant progress in implementing the Government Outcome of improving quality education. They achieved the target to improve the quality of Early Childhood Development. The department further made progress in implementing this outcome by conducting a comprehensive audit of ECD centres and by developing the National Integrated Plan for ECD. The NDA achieved its target of providing capacity building for ECD programme by launching the Adopt an ECD Campaign.

 

In addition, by creating 33 504 job opportunities (exceeding its target of creating 33 307 jobs) through the Special Projects and Innovation the department made significant progress in implementing the Government Outcome of job creation. Similarly, the NDA exceeded its target of allocating R25 million towards income generation programmes and allocated R32 million. The department (in collaboration with its entities) further made strides in achieving Government Outcome on promoting a long and healthy life for all South Africans by achievement its target of expanding its foot print through project Mikondzo and household profiling in 148 wards.  This also indicated department’s progress in implementing Government Outcome of creating a vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities with food security for all.  The NDA also exceeded its target of proving grant funding to food security, ECD and income generation programmes by R10 million – from R65 million to R75 million. Furthermore,

 

16.  Appreciation

 

The Committee wishes to express its appreciation to the Department of Social Development and its entities for their continuous co-operation and for making available all the information the Committee requested. It also wishes to express its gratitude to the office of the Auditor General for availing itself to brief the Committee on its audit report, which proved invaluable when it considered and deliberated on the department and its entities annual reports. It also expresses its appreciation to the support it received from its support staff.  

 

Report to be considered

________________________________________________________________________

Reference list

Auditor General Report (2014), cited in the Department of Social Development 2013/14 Annual Report.

 

Department of National Treasury (2014) Budget 2014: Estimates of National Expenditure. Pretoria.

 

Labadarios, L , June-Rose Mchiza, Z , Steyn, NP , Gericke, G , Maunder, EM , Davids,, YD  & Parker, W (2011) Food security in South Africa: a review of national surveys, Bulletin of the World Health Organization Available http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/12/11-089243/en/ from [03 June  2014].

 

National Treasury, 1st Quarter Expenditure Report 2014/15 Financial Year

 

National Treasury (2013b) Estimate of National Expenditure

Ndabeni, L. Mbandazayo, N. and Hlatshwayo, Z. (undated) A Report on Pension Related Elder Abuse in South Africa: The Case of Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal. A Report Prepared for HelpAge International, Southern Africa Regional Development Centre, Pretoria

 

Pasensie, K. (2012) Early Childhood Development: What’s Government Doing? South African Catholic Bishops’ Conference: Parliamentary Liaison Office. Cape Town.

 

Samson M, Renaud, B Miller, E, McTague, E, Dearsouth, et al, (2011) Feasibility Study on the Universal Provision of the Child Support Grant (CSG)  in South Africa. Pretoria: UNICEF & Department of Social Development, South African Social Security Agency Act 9 of 2004.

 

South African Social Security Agency & UNICEF (2013) Preventing Exclusion from the Child Support Grant: A study of exclusion Errors in Accessing CSG Benefits. Pretoria: UNICEF South Africa

 

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) (2011) General household survey 2010 (Revised version). Stats SA, Pretoria.

 

The Presidency: Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. “Results of the 2013 moderated assessments on the quality of management practices in all 155 national and provincial departments”, Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration and Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation on 17 September 2014, RSA Parliament

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[1] National Treasury (2013 b)

 

[3] National Treasury (2014)

[4] National Treasury (2013 a and 2014)

[5] Audit Committee Report (2014)

[6] Auditor General Report (2014).

[7] Labadarios, (2011)

[8] UNICEF,(2012)

[9] Samson, et al,  2011

[10] ibid

[11] National Treasury (2014:425).

[12] Ndabeni, L. Mbandazayo, N. and Hlatshwayo Z. (undated)

[13] The Presidency: Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation