The Annual Report of the Department of Social Development was tabled in Parliament on 19 October 2004, along with a letter from the Minister of Social Development explaining why the Report had not been tabled within the prescribed period. The letter from the Minister indicates that over the last year several vacancies in senior management in the Department had arisen, with the result that the remaining management staff had to shoulder responsibilities that are normally part of different line functions. In addition, the establishment of the South African Social Security Agency has placed significant pressure on senior staff involved in social assistance. Thirdly, the management crisis at the National Development Agency (NDA) has resulted in senior managers being deployed to the NDA temporarily.

This paper will summarise the 2003/04 Annual Report, and highlight some of the issues on which the Department may be asked to elaborate. It will also attempt to explore whether the current reporting format is geared to providing the Portfolio Committee with an adequate view of performance in terms of programmatic work.

The Department reports that it had prioritised the development of social assistance policies within the parameters of the Social Assistance Act. The Report also notes that new social assistance legislation was passed by Parliament in February 2004. However, no indication is given of whether any work has been done with regard to the regulations to the Act. As the regulations provide the detail of eligibility for social assistance as well as application procedures, this is a critical performance area.

In terms of policy for social benefits to children and families, the Report notes that a preliminary study on the nature, causes and needs of child headed households has been completed. In addition, progress has been made with regard to completing policy on social relief of distress, and it appears that the new policies have been costed. The target of completing the policy and preparing for the implementation thereof has, however, not been met. Similarly, the target set for the completion of an assessment tool for disability grants has not been completed. This causes concern, as provinces are reporting that the increase in take-up of disability grants is becoming unaffordable. It is therefore critical that this tool be in place to assist provinces – and the Agency in future – to ensure that those persons on the beneficiary list are in fact eligible for the grant. Equally important is the question of a training manual aimed at ensuring that staff in provinces are equipped to handle applications for disability grants.

The Report indicates that a draft policy on the old age grant as well as policy on deductions from grants was completed in 2003. However, the Report does not indicate what the status of these policies is, and to what extent the policies would necessitate amendments to the social assistance legislation passed in 2004. The Department has also conducted an assessment of the social and economic impact of social security grants, and the outcome of this study would be of particular interest to the Portfolio Committee.

• What have been the core findings of the assessment of the social and economic impact of social security grants carried out by the Department during the year under review?
• On what basis is social relief of distress currently provided in the provinces? Is the same policy applied equally in all provinces?
• Was any review of beneficiaries in receipt of a disability grant undertaken in any of the provinces during 2003/04? If so, what has been the outcome of this review?
• What have been the results of the study done on child-headed households? What social assistance provision is currently available for child-headed households? What policy processes does the Department envisage to emanate from the study?

The Child Support Grant (CSG) was successfully extended to under 9's from 1 April 2003. A total of 884, 016 children between 7 and 9 and 3, 245,340 under 7 years of age were in receipt of the CSG as at March 2004. The extension of the CSG was accompanies by a registration drive with regard to all other grants. The Department had targeted reducing the average application processing cycle time of 54 days by 20% to 43 days by April 2004. However, it was reported that the turnaround time varied from province to province, with the national average being 90 days from the receipt of application to payment. In addition, an optimal delivery infrastructure network model was supposed to have been developed and consulted by August 2003, but the Annual Report does not reflect whether this target has been met. This is a crucial area in light of the fact that this model would have to inform the establishment of the provincial infrastructure for the Social Security Agency.

The replacement of the SOCPEN system has been ongoing for a number of years. Although the Department reports that the integrity of data on the system has been improved, the Report does not indicate whether the feasibility study for a new payment system has been completed, as envisaged. With regard to the implementation of a strategy to detect and prevent fraud, the Report notes that 1 audit has been completed for each of the provinces, and that the fraud hotline has been launched nationally. However, the Report also notes that there is a lack of adequate funding to perform extensive monitoring and evaluation exercises, and that the fragmented approach in the efforts to reduce fraud and corruption in the social security system makes the actions proposed and taken much less effective.

In terms of the conditional grants transferred to provinces for the extension of the CSG, the Department reports that some provinces used more than the amounts allocated, while other provinces underspent on their grants. The Departments of Social Development in Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga have over-spent on the allocated amounts. The main reason is the unexpected increases in the number of eligible children, above the initial targets. Gauteng, for example, registered more than double the number of children it had targeted, while the Eastern Cape registered nearly 70 000 fewer children than its target.

The reasons for the underspending by those provinces that had the highest percentage of their grant unspent is summarised as follows:

The late start of the project in terms of current financial year and difficulties experienced with the registration of children as a result of a lack of birth certificates.

The manual process required for the reconciliation of social grant payments was reported to be the main cause of underspending. Despite this underspending, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) reported registering 16 000 more children for the CSG than had been targeted.

The delays in the re-registration of previously suspended beneficiaries was reported to be the main reason for the underspending in this province.

The late start of the project in terms of current financial year and difficulties experienced with the registration of children as a result of a lack of birth certificates.

The Department notes that it put certain measures in place to address the operational issues related to the extension of the CSG. This included the establishment of a CSG Extension Task Team that assessed the conditions under which provinces are operating, led workshops with provincial officials, and provided the platform for the launch of a Provincial Coordinating Committee, which is comprised of the nine provincial project managers and Financial Officials, National Treasury, Policy Unit, Monitoring and Evaluation unit, Finance and Grants Administration. The purpose of this Coordinating Committee is to monitor compliance, review progress made and discuss challenges experienced on a monthly basis and make recommendations on possible solutions and actions to be taken. In addition, dedicated Provincial Project Managers were appointed to lead the programme, while a dedicated National Project Manager was appointed to coordinate implementation of the project. However, despite efforts at ensuring provinces are able to comply with reporting requirements attached to the conditional grants, the Annual Report indicates that this area remained a challenge.

• Is the policy with regard to the extension of the CSG being applied uniformly in the provinces? What have been the biggest challenges in this process?
• To what extent have the difficulties in registering children for the CSG as experienced by the Eastern Cape been addressed?
• How was the shortfall in the budget for the extension of the CSG dealt with in Gauteng?
• The Report notes that there is still a fragmented approach to preventing social assistance fraud in different provinces. Has the Department made any progress with implementing a unitary fraud prevention strategy?
• In a 2001 report on the administration of social grants, the Auditor-General identified the lack of interface between different information systems as one of the major causes of social assistance fraud. Has any progress been made in reconciling the information held by SOCPEN with databases such as the Government Employees Pension Fund or the registers of the Department of Home Affairs?

While the 1997 White Paper on Social Welfare envisages that the state would take the lead in offering a wide range of developmental social welfare services, resource constraints over the last ten years have severely hampered the implementation of the vision spelt out in the White Paper. Issues such as completing policy around services to families and children, completing a service model and a policy for the funding of services and strengthening the budgetary allocations to social welfare services have been ongoing concerns for the Department.

The 2003/04 Annual Report states that the development of norms and standards for welfare services, due for completion by March 2004, has not been completed, although a draft document on minimum standards for service provision to persons with disabilities has been completed. Similarly, the costing model for the funding of services, which was due to be finalised in December 2003, had not been completed in time. A draft financing policy was submitted to MinMEC only in October 2004, and the status of this policy has not been confirmed yet. This remains a matter of concern in light of the difficulties service organisations are experiencing in obtaining adequate funding for their services. The Department had also undertaken an audit of social welfare facilities in all the provinces, only 40% of which had been completed by the end of the year under review.

With regard to probation services, the Department had intended to develop a curriculum for probation officers as well as launching a training programme for probation officers. Although the Report notes that the target for this training programme had been exceeded, indications from the provinces are that there are still significant gaps in, for example, the assessment of children in trouble with the law. In addition, the Department had aimed at establishing 18 additional diversion and 7 additional home-based supervision programmes by March 2004; however, the Report does not indicate whether this target has been reached. This issue draws attention to the fact that while policies may be in place at national level, the challenges of implementation at provincial level are not always reflected in the report provided to Parliament by the national Department.

The Department in the current financial year is giving priority to supporting early childhood development facilities as part of the Expanded Public Works programme (EPW). In this regard, it had intended to have guidelines to regulate the operation of such facilities approved by December 2003. The Report only notes that the guidelines have been developed for further refinement and alignment with the integrated strategy on Early Childhood Development, but does not indicate whether the process has been completed or whether the target date of December 2003 was met. It is therefore not clear what the 0% deviation from target means.

With regard to community-based services to older persons, the Annual Report states that the guidelines have not been completed due to a lack of human resources in the Department. This raises the question of whether the Department has addressed the matter, and when it is expected that the broad policy and programmes to protect and support older persons will be completed. It could be argued, for example, that the policy process should have preceded the tabling of new legislation that should give effect to the principles contained in the policy and the programmes emanating from the vision it encapsulates.

The section in the Report that deals with services to disabled persons suggests that there is severe lack of capacity in the Department. It had been envisaged that the transformation of workshops for disabled persons would have been completed by March 2004; however, this has not taken place. Similarly, the strategy for the delivery of social services to the disabled has not been completed, although the target date for completion was March 2004. Although the Report indicates that this was due to a lack of capacity, the Department would have to indicate what the current status of these processes is, and whether new target dates have been set. Because of the delays in finalising the policy, the Department has also had to report that it has been unable to train any staff members and volunteers, as set out in the measurable objectives.

The Annual Report suggests that the Department is not able to exercise its responsibilities with regard to the prevention and treatment of substance abuse. The expansion of a treatment programme for youth addicts in child and youth care centres, for example, did not take place because the model was not ready. In addition, the review of the Prevention and Treatment of Drug Dependency Act did not take place.

• An issue that has not been reported on in detail is the question of a strategy to combat child abuse, neglect and exploitation, which was to have been developed by August 2003. The Report indicates that a final draft has been developed for consideration by stakeholders, but it does not state whether this process has been concluded, and therefore what the status of that strategy is.
• What is the status of guidelines for the operation of early childhood development facilities? When does the Department intend implementing them? To what extent has there been interaction with the Department of Education in this regard?
• The Department reports that an audit on existing services and facilities for people with disabilities has been conducted, and the draft Resource Directory has been presented for internal approval and final distribution. What have been the most salient findings of this audit? How has the Department used this information?
• Social workers continually point out that despite their willingness to embark on programmatic community development work, they have such enormous statutory work caseloads that it makes it impossible to shift their focus. What is the position of the department in this regard?
• How does the Department intend addressing the conditions of employment for social workers, in light of the serious shortage of social workers in both private practice and in government employment?
• The South African Council for Social Service Professions received R750 for the 2003/04 financial year. Is the Department satisfied that this Council is performing adequately on its mandate? If not, what are the main challenges in this area?
• The Department has repeatedly indicated that it has relied significantly on the assistance of faith-based organisations for the implementation of several of its programmes. To what extent have the relationships with churches been formalised, and how does this relate to the funding regime for social services?
• Does the Department have statistics with regard to the percentage of children in trouble with the law that are assessed as required by the Probation Services Act?
• One of the comments with regard to the Older Persons Bill is that its focus is still significantly weighted in favour of institutional care, rather than the development of community-based programmes for older persons. Completed policy with regard to such community-based services could have a bearing on the manner in which the Bill is passed by Parliament. Can the Department give an indication of when this policy process will be completed?
• Is the Department able to give the Committee details of the policy with regard to early childhood development centres?
• The Report indicates that the Department s working on a new Drug Master Plan. What is the status of the Drug Master Plan adopted in 1999? Are any elements of that plan being implemented while the new plan is being developed?
• How does the work towards a new drug master plan relate to the work of the Central Drug Authority (CDA)?
• What are the reasons for the deviation from the targets as far as the review of drug dependency legislation is concerned? Has this been addressed?
• Has a model for the treatment of young addicts in care centres been completed? Has this model been implemented in any of the provinces, and what is the role of the CDA in this process?

One of the main areas of focus in this programme is the eradication of poverty. However, according to the 2003/04 Annual Report, very few of the targets set in this regard have been met. The draft anti-poverty strategy that was supposed to have been completed by March 2004 has not been completed. A poverty relief impact assessment has also not been done because of lack of capacity in the Department. In addition, the Department has not managed to ensure that 2% of the participants in poverty relief projects are disabled persons. What the report does not reflect on is the range of projects supported in 2003/04, or how this support was managed. It is also difficult to understand whether an allocation of R71 million that was distributed among 343 projects could have made a sustainable impact. Yet, the Department indicates that it had successfully met the objectives set for the programme. An impact assessment is crucial in light of the fact that the 2003/04 financial year was the last year in which the special allocation for poverty relief was made, and the Department could be expected to reflect on the manner in which these projects were envisaged to survive beyond the financial year, and to indicate whether any of the projects funded would be sustainable without funding from the Department.

The Department reports that it embarked on capacity building interventions in respect of 100 poverty relief projects. Given the apparent lack of capacity in the Department, it is not clear whether the list of interactions and interventions, which includes fostering entrepreneurial activities and the building of social infrastructure, are appropriate interventions for this Department to undertake. The Report does not indicate whether targets have been reached satisfactorily, or whether the partnerships with other government Departments or service provides have been successful.

From the Report it is clear that the Department’s activities in the community development area have become much more complex over the period under review. The Report mentions interventions such as capacity assessment of all municipal Integrated Development Plans of nodal areas and the integration of social finance in poverty relief projects, but does not indicate to what extent the Department has delivered in these areas. While the format of the Annual Report might not be ideal for reporting on these issues, the Committee might have to request a full briefing from the Department on this programme area.

Reporting on the implementation of the food emergency programme does not follow the format of the rest of the Report because it had not originally formed part of the measurable objectives set for 2003/04. However, the Department reports that the first two transfers for the Food Emergency Relief Grant were delayed, in consultation with the National Treasury as prescribed, due to the low spending rate. An amount of R12 million of the R400 million allocated for the Social Development Food Emergency Programme was retained by the National Department. This amount was retained to make provision for the funding of the compensation of the contract appointments to manage and administer the Programme in the National and Provincial Departments of Social Development, and for operational costs related to the Project management, coordination of inputs as well as the monitoring and evaluation of the programme at national level. The R388 million was utilised for the distribution of food parcels, the provision of food supplements to targeted households and supporting drop-in centres or soup kitchens.

There have been indications that although the programme has brought short-term relief for many poor households, the Department had also experienced serious challenges in this area. Press reports have suggested that the programme has been used as a political tool in some provinces, while it has also become clear that the crucial second phase of the programme, namely the establishment of food gardens, has not been implemented widely. However, the Annual Report does not reflect on these issues. A matter of concern in the Report is the fact that in some provinces there were significant delays in spending the money allocated, as the procedures for setting the programme in motion took a long time to complete. Gauteng, notably, had only spent approximately 15% of its allocation for the financial year. In addition, neither KwaZulu-Natal not North-West were able to spend any of the money allocated for the provision of food supplements, meant to reach 16 000 households, reportedly because of the absence of guidelines regarding the assessment of beneficiaries who would qualify for the assistance.

With regard to HIV and AIDS related programmes, the Department reports that an integrated strategy document on HIV and AIDS has been completed. 421 home and community-based care projects were supported. In addition, training manuals on home community-based care and Childcare Forums have been finalised, while the training of trainers had started in Kwazulu-Natal. The Department has also facilitated the establishment of 212 Child Care Forums. These forums must assist service providers in assessing the situation within their community, identify orphaned and vulnerable children, and determine the number of orphaned and vulnerable children. In addition, they must assist in the identification of who the caretakers of the children are and how are they living, identify and facilitate appropriate services to vulnerable children and families within each community and refer children and families in need to agencies able to provide them with services and resources that they need. 9 787 child-headed households were identified in 2003/04. However, policy on coordinated measures to protect orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV and AIDS has not been completed, while the Department’s awareness-raising and preventative campaigns reached only approximately 50% of the vulnerable population. Notably only 40 of the projected 200 youth peer counsellors for had been trained in the period under review.

The Annual Report suggests that the Directorate Non-Profit Organisations has been successful in reaching most of the targets set for 2003/04, in that it exceeded its targets for the issuing registration certificates to non-profit organisations as well as reaching significant numbers of rural-based organisations with training in compliance with the Non-Profit Organisations (NPO) Act. However, the fact that 90% of workshop participants were from community-based rural organisations does not tell whether the workshops have in fact reached 60% of community-based organisations in rural areas. The Report also does not indicate why the process of assessing the NPO Act had not taken off. An area of concern is also the fact that the planned assessment of the functioning of national councils has not taken place, despite the fact that these councils received R4.2 million from the Department in 2003/04.

• Does the Department still intend carrying out an impact study with regard to poverty relief projects? If so, when is this expected to take place?
• The Department indicates that the introduction of the food emergency programme placed such pressure on officials that monitoring of poverty relief projects could not be carried out adequately. Have any attempts been made to address this matter, or has the assessment of poverty relief projects been discarded altogether? What has been the role of the IDT in providing support to projects?
• The Report notes that the approach to disabled beneficiaries of poverty relief projects has changed. What did this change entail, and what was the motivation behind it? To what extent are disabled persons currently included in the Department’s contribution to the EPWP?
• 2003/04 saw the first full year of implementing the emergency food relief provisions. R400 million was allocated for this purpose, of which R388 million was transferred to provinces. What have been the biggest challenges? Has the Department been able to ensure that the second phase of the programme kick in?
• The amount transferred to provinces for the emergency food programme was R388. However, the Annual Report indicates that a total of R495 was spent on the programme. Where were the additional funds obtained from?

The 2003/04 Annual Report notes that one of the major focus areas of the programme was the implementation of the UNFPA Country Programme (2002 2006). Projects have been identified for implementation in eight of the ten identified ISRDP nodes in the three selected provinces. A report on the five-year review of the implementation of the population policy was completed, and presented to the heads of Social Development in March 2004, with the aim of submitting it to the MinMEC later in 2004.

The Annual Report notes that the State of South Africa's Population Report 2001/02 on HIV and AIDS, population and development was not officially published and launched in view of paradigm changes in the government's HIV and AIDS strategy. However, the first volume of HIV/Aids case studies research commissioned by the Department was released by the Minister at a seminar on 27 June 2003.

National and provincial World Population Day (11 July) commemorations were held throughout the country, in partnership with the UNFPA and seven provinces. The focus was on youth issues in sustainable development, and culminated in a national youth workshop in October 2003. A report was developed in collaboration with CEDPA, the World Bank and the UNFPA.

A large volume of research activities was undertaken during 2003/04 to support policy development, monitoring and evaluation in the Department, and government generally. Research projects related to the development of the new family policy; child abuse; the impact of the NPO Act on the NPO sector; urban policy development (Department of Provincial & Local Government); HV/AIDS research undertaken by the Department of Correctional Services; Working for Water Projects in the Eastern Cape (Department of Water Affairs & Forestry); the development of the Older Persons Policy and associated legislation; and needs assessment regarding information technology services in the Department. Surveys were undertaken to evaluate the impact of the Flagship Programme in five communities. The research report was delivered, containing findings for all five community surveys. Two case studies on population, environment and development were undertaken in two focal points of the Spatial Development Initiatives Programme, namely Coega (Port Elizabeth) and St Lucia (Lubombo SDI).

Research on children to support the National Integrated Plan for Children Infected and Affected by HIV and AIDS in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu/Natal was completed, and feedback on the findings was given to the two provinces. Research in Limpopo was delayed because UNICEF was not able to fully fund their original commitment for the research. The appraisal of Home-and Community-Based Care projects in the country was completed. A comprehensive study on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the services of the Department has not started yet, as the DFID country project on HIV/Aids has not been finalised yet.

• Has the report on the implementation of population policy in South Africa been submitted to MinMEC?
• The programme reports on a number of research activities in support of other line functions in the Department. However, a significant number of the policy process that this research should support, have not been completed. The issue that arises is whether delays in completing the research projects has had an impact on the ability of other directorates to complete their policy-writing processes.

The NDA is a statutory funding agency established in terms of the National Development Agency Act, 1998 (Act No. 108 of 1998). The main functions of the NDA are to:

• act as a key conduit for funding from the Government of South Africa, foreign governments and other national and international donors for development work to be carried out by civil society organisations;
• develop, conduct and co-ordinate policy relevant to its objects referred to in section 3 of the National Development Agency Act, 1998;
• contribute towards building the capacity of civil society organisations to enable them to carry out development work effectively; and
• create and maintain a database on civil society organisations, including, but not limited to, the scope and subject matter of their work and their geographical distribution, and share the information in that database with relevant organs of state and other stakeholders.

A board, representing both Government and civil society, governs the NDA and the Chief Executive Officer is the Accounting Officer. Its primary source of income is an allocation from the Department of Social Development. The Department transferred R103,283 million (2002/03: R96,745 million) to National Development Agency (NDA) in the 2003/04 financial year. This was an increase of about 6,7% over the amount transferred to NDA in 2002/03.

The Agency faced a number of management challenges in the 2003/04 financial year resulting from the resignation of a number of senior financial management officials and the suspension of the Chief Executive Officer. This led to the late submission of financial statements for the Agency and a qualified audit opinion. The Minister of Social Development intervened and sent in an interim management team lead by the Department's Chief Financial Officer. Subsequently Cabinet appointed a new Board of the NDA. The interim management team presented the new Board with a turnaround plan that was approved by the Board. Furthermore a reputable accounting firm, KPMG, was appointed to assist the management in addressing financial management challenges including the clearance of previous year's audit queries.

The purpose of this fund is to assist persons, organisations and bodies who or which suffer damage or loss caused by a disaster. An amount of R10 million was transferred to the Disaster Relief Fund, while an additional amount of R60 million was transferred for drought relief. R25.3 million was disbursed to victims of natural disasters. The Report does not indicate, however, why the balance of approximately R45 million had not been spent.

The purpose of this fund is to render assistance to refugees, as the Board may deem fair and reasonable. There were no disbursements from this fund for 2003/04.

The Social Relief Fund is used to render assistance to persons with psychosocial problems and other social relief of distress as the Board may deem fair and reasonable to members of the community that, in the opinion of the Board, are victims of violence. There were no disbursements from this fund for 2003/04.

The purpose of this fund is to render assistance to the victims of any act of terrorism in respect of their medical treatment and rehabilitation and to the victims and their dependants who suffer financial hardship or financial distress caused directly or indirectly by any act of terrorism. During the 2003/04 financial year, financial assistance was rendered to the children of the woman who died in a bomb blast in Soweto during the previous financial year to the value of R10 000.

The Auditor-General’s delivered an unqualified report on the financial statements of the Department of Social Development for 2003/04. However, attention was drawn to the fact that there are serious difficulties at provincial level with the spending of conditional grants. An amount of R1.65 billion was transferred to the provinces as conditional grants; the Auditor-General points out that there were nine cases amounting to approximately R231 million, where the actual spending by certain provinces on certain grants was less than 90 percent of the grants, in spite of the steps management had taken to ensure compliance with the grant agreements and the Division of Revenue Act, 2003 (Act No. 7 of 2003).

• Has the Department been able to address the difficulties provinces have with regard to spending conditional grants? What steps have been taken in this regard?

The Annual Report of the Department of Social Development provides a detailed overview of the work of the Department in 2003/04. The Report suggests that the policy-making and monitoring role of the Department is chronically hampered by a lack of capacity. Programme targets are therefore repeatedly pushed back, and it appears in some cases that there is little progress in completing policy processes. The manner in which the Department reports on some programmes does not always provide a clear sense of whether measurable objectives have been achieved. In some cases, the Report does not indicate the percentage variance from the target set, while in other cases the information seems to be somewhat unclear. The Committee would, therefore, in its response to the tabling of the Annual Report, have to consider what manner of information it would find useful, and track the specific information provided against the objectives set out in the Estimates of National Expenditure for the year under review. It would also be important to compare the programme performance to the strategic objectives set out in the Strategic Plan 2003/2007 of the Department.

Annual Report of the Department of social Development 2003/04

Estimates of National Expenditure 2003

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