ATC130619: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development on the Oversight visit to Kwazulu-Natal Department of Social Development, South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) Regional Office and its Service Area, National Development Agency (NDA) Projects, Coalition of Non-Government Organisations and Lifeline, dated 18 June 2013

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE OVERSIGHT VISIT TO KWAZULU-NATAL DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIAL SECURITY AGENCY (SASSA) REGIONAL OFFICE AND ITS SERVICE AREA, NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (NDA) PROJECTS, COALITION OF NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS AND LIFELINE, DATED 18 JUNE 2013

Executive summary

The Committee conducted an oversight visit to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development and its entities from 19 – 22 June 2012. It also visited the Children’s courts in Umlazi and Chatsworth, which fall under the ambit of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. This visit to the courts was a follow up from the briefing to the Committee by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Department of Social Development on the implementation of the Child Protection Register on 15 May 2012. It also had engagements with the Coalition of Non-Government Organisations and LifeLine.

The Committee found that the province through the Operation Sukuma Sakhe (OSS) improved on the implementation of its service delivery targets which were in line with the strategic objectives of the national Department of Social Development, the National Outcomes and priorities set by the 2012 State of Nation Address of tackling the triple challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality . The OSS demonstrated the success government can have when it pools resources from different government departments and political heads (Premier, MECs, District Mayors, Local Mayors and Ward Councillors). This close collaboration enabled the province to improve its service delivery as part of implementing the War Room on Poverty. Through the OSS , the province identified and assisted child headed households, ensured that each community has Early Childhood Centre, attended to the needs of older persons (particularly those with mental health problems) and people with disabilities, ensured food security and fight against substance abuse. The Committee, however, found that the province was facing serious challenges with regard to the fight against substance, as it will be discussed later.

The integration of SASSA’s Integrated Community Registration Outreach Programme (ICROP) into OSS enabled SASSA to improve its application turnaround time, provide information and services in a focused fashion, thus eliminating duplications between the two programmes. The Committee, however found that the issue of cross border applications for social grants as a result of double citizenship continues to be a challenge, just it is the case in other provinces bordering our neighbouring countries. It thus recommended that the Department of Social Development, Department of Home Affairs, South African National Defense Force, South African Police Service and SASSA should work together to ensure verification of citizenship and control influx of refugees in the border gates.

The Committee was told of the challenges with regard to the delays in the processing and finalisation of foster care court orders. This is a nationwide problem that the Committee had been calling for the relevant structures to address it. It calls for the Department of Social Development and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to develop a coordinated approach to fast track foster care applications.

The Committee was impressed with the funding model of the NDA in which the established projects assist the emerging projects (or farmers). The Newport project, which the Committee visited, provided the Committee with the first hand experience of the benefits and success of this model. Through the Newport project the benefits of the NDA financial support were able to be extended to small farmers to help them have access to the markets, in that way sustaining themselves. This funding model is therefore a right step towards solving the problem faced by small projects of not being able to access markets.

The visit to the Lungisisa Indlela Village (LIV) provided the Committee with an opportunity to witness the benefits of public-private partnership in implementing government services. LIV provides a combination of services for the benefits of children. It provides cluster foster care, job creation, psychosocial support to families and children, access to education and ECD and food security. It also helps individuals apply for social grants.

Notwithstanding the above findings, the Committee identified areas of concern that needed to be addressed.

• It found that the condition of the entire Newlands rehabilitation centre was not up to standard. The centre was poorly fenced and this compromised its security; windows in the boys ward were not properly closing and the walls were dirty; ablution facility was in a bad state. It had no doors, taps were leaking and seats were broken. The workshop area needed to be cleaned and roofing to be refurbished. There were no air conditioning facilities in all the offices.
• The close proximity of the informal settlement right next to the centre was impediment to the rehabilitation process.
• The Children’s Courts (in Umlazi and in Chatsworth) had challenges referring children who were in need of help to rehabilitation centres because of the shortage of these centres in the province. The Committee was told that the nearest centre, the Newlands rehabilitation centre, had a shortage of Child and Youth Care Workers. The rehabilitation centre run by the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA) was very costly. Its treatment programmes cost approximately R32 000.
• The Older Persons Act does not make provision for services to address the needs of people with disabilities (particularly mental health patients) and frail care.
• There was a lack of norms and standards for services rendered to older persons.

1. Background

The mandate of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development 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 government’s action and that is driven by the ideal of realising a better quality of life for all people of South Africa.

The Committee resolved that its method of work for this Parliamentary term will be more action orientated. It planned to conduct oversight visits that are well informed and respond to the needs of the society and ensure that the executive is accountable to their needs. The Committee thus resolved to conduct oversight to all nine provinces in the country during its term of office. In 2009, it visited the Western Cape South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) offices and service points. In the same year, it conducted oversight in Mpumalanga where it visited the provincial Department of Social Development, SASSA regional office and the NDA. In 2011, it visited the Free State province (as part of People’s Assembly programme) and the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development, SASSA and the National Development Agency (NDA).

In KwaZulu-Natal , the Committee conducted oversight over services rendered by the Department of Social Development in the areas of Umlazi and Chatsworth. The Department of Social Development Umlazi Service Office is situated within the South Central of eThekwini Municipality. Its jurisdiction stretches from ward 76 – 89 with a population size estimated to be 550 000, which reflects an increase of 166 438 from 383 562 as according to the Census 2001 conducted by Statistics South Africa. [1]

Chatsworth has five wards with a population size of 115 422. It consists of the following racial makeup – 85% Indians /Asians population, 14.1% Black population, 0-8% African Coloured and 0.1% White population. Chatsworth has become a fully fledged surburb of Durban and boasts industrial development with strong infrastructure. Area covers 47,05 square kilometres. [2]

1.2 Introduction

The Committee conducted oversight visit to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development and its entities from 19 – 22 June 2012. It also visited the Children’s courts in Umlazi and Chatsworth, which fall under the ambit of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. This visit to the courts was a follow up from the briefing to the Committee by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Department of Social Development on the implementation of the Child Protection Register on 15 May 2012. It also had engagements with the Coalition of Non-Government Organisations and LifeLine.

1.3 Objectives of the oversight visit

One of the objectives of the oversight visit was 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’s performance to the strategic priorities and policies set by the national department in line with the 2012 State of the Nation Address. These included eradication of poverty and job creation, implementation of the services stipulated in the Children’s Act and the Old Age Act, fight against substance abuse and interventions to child headed households.

Another objective of the oversight visit was to engage with the coalition of the NGOs/NPOs. The aim of the engagement was for the Committee to be briefed on the challenges encountered by this sector as well as the successes the sector has had in rendering the statutory services.

The Committee also wanted to assess the performance of the regional SASSA and the NDA. Of particular interest to the Committee was to get first-hand experience on the re-registration of social grants beneficiaries and the benefits associated with it in eradicating crime and fraud in the system. Regarding the performance of the NDA, the Committee aimed at assessing the successes or impact the NDA funded projects have had in the lives of the beneficiaries, particularly in eradication of poverty and job creation.

2. Delegation

Members of Parliament

Hon Botha,Y R ANC (Chairperson)

Hon Tshwete, P ANC

Hon Mafolo M V ANC

Hon Masilo, J M ANC

Hon Magagula, V V ANC

Hon Waters M DA

Hon Gcume, N P COPE

Hon Bhoola R MF

Parliamentary staff

Ms Ntsabo L Committee Secretary

Ms Nogenga Y Content Adviser

Ms Koyana S Researcher

Ms Mnyovu N Committee Assistant

Ms Phetlhe I Administration Assistant to Hon Masilo

3. Briefing at the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in Pietermaritzburg

3.1 Opening remarks by the MEC

In her opening remarks, the MEC, Ms WG Thusi, explained that the oversight visit by the Portfolio Committee on Social Development presented the provincial department an opportunity to do self examination on its performance. She explained that KwaZulu-Natal (hereafter referred to as “KZN”) is predominately rural and so service delivery mainly focuses on rural areas. In response to the objectives set in the 2012 State of the Nation Address and the National Outcomes, the provincial department launched an integrated Early Childhood Development (ECD) campaign – between the departments of Social Development, Health and Basic Education - that ensured that each community should have an ECD centre; a substance abuse programme to educate users about the dangers of substance abuse; expanded the luncheon clubs for elderly, which work closely with the older persons forums to educate elderly people about mental illness (e.g. dementia and Alzheimer) and developed a monitoring tool to monitor the work of the NGOs and conducting training. To effectively monitor the work of the NGOs, the department embarked on a process of disintegrating organisations according to the sectors they rendered services for. This was done in order to align the budget allocated to the NGOs and the services they render. Regarding the fight against substance abuse, a Provincial Substance Abuse Forum was launched.

The Premier of KZN, Dr Zweli Mkhize, launched the Operation Sukuma Sakhe campaign (hereafter referred to as “ OSS ) to speed up service delivery in the province. The MECs (as political heads) and the Heads of Departments (HODs) are the champions of the OSS . The operation is part of the implementation of the War Rooms on Poverty announced in the 2008 State of the Nation Address. The operation also uses the services of volunteers, youth ambassadors and traditional leaders. Youth ambassadors and volunteers conduct household profiling to identify the needs of each household, such as access to social grants, issues pertaining to disability, child headed households, women empowerment, older persons, food security and unemployment. The province has 4 000 youth ambassadors.

Despite the aforementioned achievements, the MEC noted with concern the delays and high backlog in the processing and finalisation of the Child Foster Care court orders and limited resources available for social work professionals.

3.2 Remarks by the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development, Hon Y R Botha

Hon Botha explained that the purpose of the oversight visit was to assess the performance of the provincial department in delivering services and meeting its strategic plan and objectives in-line with the priorities set by the national department. The visit afforded the Committee with an opportunity to identify challenges and areas of intervention. The Committee would then forwards these to the Minister of Social Development for her intervention. She commended the province for focusing on mental health, particularly in elderly people, and tackling substance abuse.

3.3 Presentation by the Provincial Department of Social Development on service delivery

The provincial department changed designation from Social Welfare and Population Development to Social Development. This was done with the objectives to reduce poverty; promote social integration and promote Batho Pele principles of service delivery. The province launched the OSS programme to address the Triple Challenges of Poverty identified by the 2012 State of the Nation Address. It does this through a three pronged intervention - food security packs, job creation and living conditions.

The department also developed and adopted a Ten Point Plan as a blueprint for a transformation path. To implement the 12 National Outcomes, the department operates within the national and provincial policy framework. The provincial framework includes KZN Provincial Growth and Development Strategy; Operation Sukuma Sakhe and the Department of Social Development Service Delivery Improvement Plan. The OSS employs the services of the Community Development Workers and Youth Ambassadors. The work of these cadres is centrally co-ordinated from the Premier’s Office, that is, they do not belong to any individual departments (Department of Social Development or Department of Health). However, their training is co-ordinated between the two departments. At political level, oversight over the OSS is conducted by the Premier, MECs, District Mayor, Local Mayor and Ward Councillors.

2011/2012 Budget allocation

The table below shows the budget allocation of the provincial department. The Professional and Administrative Support and Child Care and Protection Services sub-programmes accounted for the largest budget allocation, R549 432 and R489 903 respectively.

PROGRAMME	SUB-PRGRAMME	ALLOCATION
Administration	Administration	394 185
	SUB-TOTAL	394 185
Social Welfare Services	Professional and Administrative Support	549 432
	Substance Abuse, Prevention & rehabilitation	44 043
	Care & Services to Older Persons and Rehabilitation	107 692
	Crime Prevention and Protection Services	78 209
	Services to Persons with Disabilities	78 112
	Child Care and Protection Services	489 903
	Victim Empowerment	8 087
	HIV & AIDS	102 258
	Social relief	11 727
	Care & Support to Families	5 462
	SUB-TOTAL	1 474 925
Development & Research	Professional & Administrative Support	136 029
	Youth Development	13 898
	Sustainable Livelihood	15 179
	Institutional Capacity Building & Support	10 475
	Research & Dermography	1 438
	Population Capacity Development & Advocacy	1 638
	SUB-TOTAL	178 702
	GRAND TOTAL	2 047 812

Issues emanating from the deliberations

The following were the responses to the questions that were raised by the delegation:

• Impact of monitoring and evaluation of NGOs: the department acknowledged that there were still some weaknesses when it came to the monitoring of the NGOs. It was in the process of strengthening the monitoring tool.
• Community care services for elderly: the province initiated an interdepartmental approach between the departments of Health, Social Development and Basic Education (through Adult Education and Training (AET)) to support and provide services to older persons.
• Enrolment of children with disabilities in ECD: an integrated ECD programme focused on enrolling children with “less severe” forms of disabilities in the mainstream ECD centres. The province however did not have facilities designed to accommodate children with “extreme” forms of disabilities.
• Support for social workers: the department was going to improve the supervision of social workers by creating positions of supervising social workers. These were going to be trained through the University of South Africa (UNISA). The department would also launch a Social Worker Indaba, which would provide a platform for social workers to share their views and concerns.
• Budget allocation for Development and Research programme: this programme received a budget allocation of R3 121. (see table above) The budget was allocated from a contribution from the provincial Department of Social Development (DSD) towards an integrated funding system between Office of the Premier and other relevant departments.
• Unpacking of the newly enacted legislation: this process had not yet been done. A meeting was scheduled by the national department on 21 and 22 June 2012 to finalise this process.
• Food security: the province was moving towards implementing a One Home One Garden campaign, which would eventually be expanded to community gardens.

4. Presentation by the KZN South African Social Security Agency (SASSA)

Ms S Setlaba, General Manager took the Committee through the presentation. KZN province has SASSA regional office in Pietermaritzburg and four district offices covering ten district municipalities and four satellite offices. SASSA renders services on a full time basis at four Thusong centres namely, Mbazwana, Impendle, Bhamshela and Dukuza. The province had 2 449 755 beneficiaries - 2 943 506 children; 426 539 old age, 150 469 old age over 75 years; 109 war veteran; 244 460 permanent disability and 78 839 temporary disability. Applications for these grants are finalized within 1 to 21 days. SASSA embarked on a process of refurbishing its offices. It received 550 computers and 74 laptops from the national office. It appointed 374 grant administration staff. Out of this number 73 were contract workers and 54 were Extended Public Works Programme workers

SASSA contracted and trained 73 doctors on the new disability model for improved assessment for applications for disability grants. To improve access to SASSA services an Integrated Community Registration Outreach Programme (ICROP) was implemented and integrated into the OSS Programme. The integrated nature of the program enabled SASSA to provide information and services in a focused fashion. The main objective of the programme is to improve social grant application turnaround time. The package of services of ICROP includes application for all social grants, reviews and life certificates with a special focus to over 75 year old beneficiaries, enquires and complaints, social relief of distress and internal reconsideration and appeals. The outreach plan includes services of Thusong Centres, One Stop Development Centres, Provincial Poorest Wards and satellite service centres.

SASSA has 1 754 pay points throughout the province and the 2012/13 provincial target is to improve 60 pay points. The Agency had since April 2012 managed to migrate from the South African Post Office pay points to community halls close to the beneficiaries.

Challenges affecting the core business

The regional office faced challenges regarding the implementation of the Social Assistant Regulation 11(1) that allows alternative proof of prescribed documents. It encountered difficulties in detecting duplicate applications on the system, where people used different names when they applied. Another challenge had been that beneficiaries would lodge new applications when the Identity Document had been issued and not cancel the application that was made using the alternative proof of identification.

Refugees

· Delays in the issuing of Refugee Identity Documents delayed access to social assistance to those who qualify. At some stages it took up to two years before the Identity Document was granted.

Foster Care

· Delays in foster placement resulted in care givers opting for Child Support Grants

· Lack of uniformity on formats of Foster Care Court Orders issued by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. This opened up a loop hole for fraudulent court orders.

Issues emanating from the deliberations

The Committee welcomed the integration of the Agency’s initiatives to the Sukuma Sakhe programme as this would eliminate duplication of programmes.

The Committee expressed its concern over the delays in the processing and finalisation of Foster Care applications. This in turn delayed applicants from receiving the Foster Care Grant.

The Committee was also concerned over the lack of monitoring measures in cross border applications. It felt that this has an impact in the services rendered by the department and SASSA. Some people hold double citizenship and they cross over to South Africa to receive grants and they thereafter go back to their countries.

It observed that there was still lack of standardization of processes in the Agency. It suggested that in order to eliminate the challenges pertaining to fraud and other systematic processes, the Agency should consider to standardize its processes across the province.

Recommendations

The Committee recommended that the Department of Social Development and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development should develop a coordinated approach to fast track Foster Care applications.

The issue of cross boarder application was discussed in great length and the Committee suggested that there should be joint operation between the Department of Social Development, Department Home Affairs, South African National Defense Force, South African Police Services, and SASSA to ensure verification of citizenship, and control the influx of the refugees in the boarder gates.

5. Oversight visits

5.1 Visit to the National Development Agency (NDA) Newport project

This project adopted a model whereby established projects assist emerging projects (or farmers) to have access to market. Newport project collects, packages and sells vegetables on behalf of the emerging farmers, especially those from rural areas. It was started in February 2011 with a funding of R3.5 million from the NDA. The funding was for the project to open the outlet (shop), buy a truck and stock, which is phase one of the project. The funding was paid in installments of 10%. The project employed 16 workers. In 2011, in had a turnover of R3.2 million and at the time of the oversight visit, it had already generated R4 million turnover. Also at the time of the oversight visit, the project was in the process of completing phase 2, which will be a wholesale that will sell vegetables to the vendors.

Challenge

The project only has one truck that it uses to collect produce from the farmers across the province. Therefore, some of the farmers are not accessed on time.

5.2 Visit to the Lungisisa Indlela Village (LIV) – DSD funded project

LIV provides a holistic residential care for vulnerable children with the core vision “to rescue a child - re store a life - raise a leader - release a star”. It is a form of a public-private partnership between the church, government (provincial Department of Social Development) and business. It was established out of the Indlela NPO, a registered NPO that oversees Fairhaven ’s Babies Home, a registered transition/crisis home for neglected and abandoned babies, and Door of Hope that runs a life skills program in the Amaoti 1 and Amaoti 3 schools.

To further sustain itself, the village owns and runs a LIV Business (Pty) Ltd. The business is a broad based economic empowerment. The beneficiaries of all the businesses are the mothers and children on the villages. The business provides job creation in these adventures: two clothing factories; LIV Flowers; LIV Eggs; LIV Clean, a cleaning business which cleans commercial buildings; building business, which is building houses on the village; a finance company; agriculture; an architectural business; an Equity fund and Compass Waste (which deals with hospital waste). It employed in excess of 500 people in the first 18 months of its initiation and it hoped to increase this number to 1000 people by end 2012. With the funds raised (in excess of R100 million) the village at the time of the oversight visit was being expanded by building the first residential village. It was hoped that the village will be completed by the first quarter of 2013.

It has served the Amaoti community since 2001. The village can be described as a foster cluster care as its aim is to look after the orphaned and vulnerable children. These children are put into homes with foster mothers to take care of them. The Lungisani Indlela employed 20 previously unemployed members of the Amaoti community, who had been trained to manage the day to day running of the projects. These include the following projects:

Back-To-School

The Back-To-School has over 600 children sponsored by individuals and companies and is run by youth workers who visit the schools daily to follow the children’s progress. They also run two holiday clubs annually, weekly youth clubs and After Care for identified children at risk. They work closely with the Lungisani Indlela Children and Family Support Project staff.

Teenage Empowerment Program (TEP)

This is a life skills programme run by youth workers in two high schools. Their main focus is to help young people to make better choices for their lives and includes leadership training and basic counseling, identifying child headed homes and others in crisis. They work alongside the staff of the LIV Children and Family Support.

Early Childhood Development Project

The Early Childhood Development Project supports 32 existing crèches in the community with equipment, teacher training and support, classroom upgrading/building and feeding of the children daily. The feeding scheme is a joint venture between Indlela and Lungisani Indlela.

Children and Family Support Project

This Project is managed by a volunteer social worker and assistants from the community. They visit families in crisis and work closely with the local Department of Social Development. They identify children who are or had been abused, report the cases to the police and to the department and make follow ups. They also distribute monthly food parcels to families who have no form of income, especially child headed homes and assist then to obtain the necessary documents to receive social grants. In 2009, a house was purchased, in Phoenix , to set up an AIDS crisis centre where counsel and training is given.

Challenges

The village, over the years had received an increasing number of children who had been neglected and abused from as young as six months old. The challenge has been that the village does not have a place of safety to take these children. It has however, made progress in some cases where the department had managed to find other alternatives and extended families and neighbors had taken in orphans and neglected /abandoned children. These families face a challenge of lack of space and finances to support these children. There had been instances where extended families who receive grants for the children but the children remain neglected and abused.

5.3 Visit to the Bartel Arts Trust Centre (BAT)

The project was started in December 2011 and was funded by the NDA with an amount of R1.5 million. It provides training and capacity building in creative arts for youth who cannot afford to enter tertiary institutions. At the time of the oversight visit the centre had 80 students. Some students had managed to self sustain themselves by establishing clientele during art exhibition events, such as during the 2011 Climate Change Summit that was held in Durban.

5.4 Visit to the Aryan Benevolent Old Age Home

The home is a registered welfare organization with branches in KZN, Western Cape and Gauteng . It provides services to the needy and indigent including those who are physically or mentally disabled regardless of age, race or religion. The association was established in 1921 but the building in Aryan was established in 1982. All the residents in the home receive social grants. The home provides these services - occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech therapy. The medical practitioners visit the resident three times a week. It also has nurses, home based care workers, occupational therapists and speech therapists.

Challenges

The Committee was informed that Older Persons Act does not make provisions for services to address the needs of people with disabilities (particularly mental health) and frail care. The great challenge with caring for these people is the high unit cost, which is 20% higher than an able bodied person. Another challenge raised was that some of the patients were abandoned by their families and as a resulted the home in cases of death had to organize their burial.

Findings of the Committee

The Committee was greatly concerned over the lack of norms and standards for services rendered to older persons.

5.5 Visit to the Chatsworth and Umlazi Children’s Courts

The Chatsworth children’s court has offices for domestic violence and it uses services of NICRO for legal representation and counseling to the victims. NICRO visits the court once a week. Each district in the province has a specialized court which deals with matters related with child sexual abuse.

Challenges facing the Chatsworth Children’s Court

The following were challenges that were reported to the delegation:

· Growing drug abuse by under age children;

· Lack of waiting area for children who have to testify on a case;

· The court had no space to keep children who have been abused;

· There is no local rehabilitation centre where the court can refer the children who need help to. The nearest centre is in Newlands but it has a challenge of shortage of Child and Youth Care Workers. The nearest rehabilitation centre is run by the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence ( SANCA) and it is very costly. Its treatment programmes cost approximately R32 000. However, in some instances social workers were able to negotiate for a waiver.

· There is no nearby Legal Aid Board. The nearest Board is in Pinetown and therefore not accessible to local people.

· The court had a challenge of appointing care workers to deal with children.

The delegation visited the Umlazi Children’s court. It was informed that Umlazi areas had experienced an escalating rate of drug abuse. The area does not have a nearby rehabilitation centre and transportation to a rehabilitation centre was costly. The court had made permanent appointment of 36 children’s clerks.

The court has a family advocate, who represents the best interests of children in civil litigation, such as, disputes regarding parental responsibilities and rights, certain domestic violence and maintenance cases. According to the law, the Family Advocate may appoint a Family Counsellor who is a Social Worker or a Psychologist to assist him/her with certain expertise in cases.

The functions of the Family Advocate were extended by the Children’s Act (Act 38 of 2005) to include help to parties to draft parental responsibilities and rights agreements, to assist parties to draft parental plans, to register parenting plans and parental responsibilities, and to conduct enquiries and make recommendations to court as to what is in the best interest of the child.

The delegation was taken on a tour to see how the intermediary court functions. The Committee was impressed by the facilities.

Recommendation

The delegation recommended that the Department of Social Development and SANCA should review their Service Level Agreement to enable children’s courts to refer children to them at no fee or minimal fee. Hon Bhoola was requested to make a follow up on the recommendation.

5.6 Meeting with the KZN Welfare Social Services and Development Forum

The KZN Welfare Social Services & Development Forum is a representative body of civil organisations and individuals working for a just and accessible developmental social welfare system for all. It runs five programmes, namely:

• Policy engagement: aims to ensure public participation in the formulation of social service, welfare and developmental policies. The forum’s goal is not to act directly as a representative for civil society organisations but rather to facilitate and promote direct representation by members through a process of coordination and capacity development.
• Capacity building: provides relevant and appropriate training to NGOs, CBOs and FBOs to equip them to deliver quality services and adapt to changing conditions and demands.
• Human rights advocacy: promotes awareness of the rights and responsibilities enshrined in the Constitution and advocates for the protection of human rights through social policies.
• Wellness: provides a holistic response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic and thus focuses on supporting and improving existing programmes and initiatives that reduce infections, promote treatment, support and care for the people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.
• Membership: aims to ensure broad civil society participation in the work of the forum.

5.6.1 Older persons

In 2009, a National Task Team for Frail Care was set by the Older Persons Forum to investigate challenges faced by older persons and provide recommendations. The findings and recommendations of the task team were as follows:

· There was high rate of frail care and minimal placement;

· Frail care is expensive, labour intensive and therefore makes the operational costs very expensive;

· Compliance to Older Persons Act was very expensive;

· There is a need to review the costing model for old age homes. Budget allocation is based on the means test and not on the number of beds. The task team recommended that the budget allocation should be based on subsidy per bed;

· The Department of Health should subsidise nursing component and provision of surgical sundries;

· The costing of the Older Persons Act has not been implemented;

· There has been an increasing number of older persons living in urban areas. There is therefore a need to shift funding and focus on urban areas. Due to this increase there is a need to provide infrastructure suitable for older persons;

· The subsidy paid by the Department of Social Development is below the inflation rate and it does not cover all the costs required to attend to older persons.

5.6.2 Children’s rights

The presentation highlighted the demographic profile and service delivery challenges affecting children in KwaZulu-Natal . It was reported that KZN has the largest number of children in the country receiving the Child Support Grant, the Foster Care Grant and the Care Dependency Grant. The province has the highest proportion of children, with a total of over 4 million (23%) in the country. Sixty nine percent (69%) of these children live in dire poverty. KZN also has the highest HIV prevalence in children under 15 years (4.1%). Less than 16% of children have access to any form of ECD.

It was further reported that in 2009, only 46.1% of children in the province were living in households with adequate water; only 57.7% lived in households with basic sanitation; close to 830 000 children were living in households with reported child hunger and almost 23% of children under 5 years were stunted through malnutrition.

5.6.3 Children with disabilities

The presentation highlighted a number of concerns and challenges experienced by NGOs who deal with children with disabilities. They are:

· KwaZulu-Natal has no place of safety which specifically accommodates children with disabilities. The existing places of safety are not accessible and staff has not been trained to care for children with disabilities.

· The existing children’s homes for children with disabilities have limited funding, capacity and staff resources. These homes mostly accommodate children with mild or mental disabilities.

· In 2009, the National Association of Child Care Workers reviewed the Isibindi pilot project which specifically focused on children affected by HIV and AIDS. This was in response to child care workers seeing an increase of children with disabilities in child headed households and the link of HIV infection and other infectious diseases. With the funding sourced from private donors and the Department of Social Development, the project was expanded and the Durban Child and Youth Care Centre was converted to accommodate only four children with disabilities. A concerned was raised that only four children can be accommodated in the centre.

· It takes a long period of time to secure a placement of children with disabilities. As a result, most times children are either left in abusive homes or kept in hospitals.

Recommendations

The presentation made the following recommendations to address the aforementioned concerns:

· All social workers and other professionals involved in the care and protection of children with disabilities should be sensitized and trained on disability. Specific training should be done on the South African Sign Language.

· Funding for statutory workers in the field of disability should be created and subsidized by the Department of Social Development.

· Clear guidelines should be negotiated and provided by the government on who should be responsible for statutory work for children with disabilities as there is reluctance from the child welfare organisations and certain specialist organisations due to lack of resources and capacity.

· Immediate action should be undertaken by the Department of Social Development to make places of safety and children’s homes accessible and available to children with disabilities.

· The Departments of Social Development, Health, Basic Education and SASSA, should develop a partnership to monitor and evaluate the number of children with disabilities receiving social grants, being educated, stimulated and receiving medical care.

5.6.4 Critical issues facing the NGO sector in KZN

The last presentation by the KZN Welfare Social Services & Development Forum outlined challenges faced by the NGOs in all social service sector in KZN. Some of the issues raised are as follows:

· There was no proper consultation of the NGOs by the provincial Department of Social Development on the Policy on Financial Awards to Service Providers. On 23 August 2011, the Joint Strategic Committee (JSC) made a presentation on the Policy to the Portfolio Committee on Social Development. During that meeting the department suggested that a broader consultative structure should be established to jointly work on the Policy document. This was however never coordinated by or acted upon by the department. The JSC made a follow up with a letter to Dr Mabetoa but no response was received.

· Partnerships between government and the NGOs were not formally recognized and lack consistent and uniform consultation.

· There was a breakdown of relationship between the provincial department, the KZN Welfare Forum and the KZN Network of Directors. This had impacted negatively on the service delivery, manpower and resources of the NGO sector.

· The funding of NGO sector is through the process of subsidization and availability of funds not on programme and actual costs. This contradicts the terms of the Service Level Agreements which talk to programme funding.

· There was still late payment of subsidies to NGOs.

· There was not equal pay for equal work between social work professionals working for government and those employed in the NGO sector, with state social workers paid higher salaries.

· The Draft Recruitment and Retention Strategy of the department only focuses exclusively on the public sector and very few references are made to the working conditions, remuneration and solutions of social workers in the NGOs.

· The monitoring and evaluation visits to the NGOs by the provincial department were often times cancelled on the day they were scheduled to take place or the department staff did not arrive and no explanation would be given. When the visits did happen they would be carried out by junior staff members who had neither expertise nor the relevant knowledge of the services of the NGO sector.

Issues emanating from the deliberations

The following are the responses to the questions that were raised by the delegation:

• Breakdown of relationship between the provincial department and the NGO forum: It was explained that the last open dialogue between the provincial department and the Welfare Liaison Committee Structures was in 2008. This could be attributed to the lack of consultation on the Policy on Financial Awards.
• Training on the implementation of the Older Persons Act: The NGOs sector had had occasional presentations from the department on the roles of the stakeholders. However, it was pointed out that the norms and standards of the Act are silent about training of the service providers. It was also indicated that there was still a serious gap on the roles of departments in terms of the implementation of the Act. The NGO sector welcomed the suggestion by the Chairperson of the Committee to train its members on the Act.
• Provision and access to other services offered by other spheres of government, such as Indigent Policy: It was reported that there are no clear guidelines in terms of the responsibilities of the different spheres of government and their services.
• Mental illness: The Older Persons Act is silent about frail care and mental health.
• Financial expenditure: The NGO sector spends 60% of its budget on salaries and administration and operational costs share the remaining 40%. There is a shortfall of about R3000 per person per month between the funding provided by the department and fees paid by services users. In relation to this, the delegation was informed that the main challenge pertaining to providing frail care is meeting the operational costs, as frail care is very expensive. Private donors in most instances do not fund operational costs but purchase equipments.
• The presentation lacked focus on the performance of the NGO sector (achievements and expenditure of funds): The representatives undertook to compile a comprehensive report on the above and forward it to the Committee.
• Monitoring children with disabilities receiving social grants: SASSA acknowledged that there has been oversight when it comes to children with disabilities. It then undertook to make a follow on this issue and ensure that these children are enrolled in schools. It will submit a list of the beneficiaries (children with disabilities) to the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Health and request them to confirm enrolment and provision and access to health care.

Response from the Department of Social Development

The provincial department representatives assured the delegation that they will forward all issues raised to the Executive Committee and feedback would be forwarded to the Committee. They however explained that the NGO provincial forum was disbanded because the MEC for Social Development felt that the forum did not include all NGOs, especially the small NGOs.

Recommendations

The delegation made the following recommendations:

· The provincial Department of Social Development and the NGO sector should meet and discuss the issues raised during the discussions. The national department should make a follow up on the issues raised pertaining to lack of consultation on the Policy on Financial Awards to NPOs.

· The Older Persons Act needs to be amended to include frail care and mental health.

5.8 Meeting with the LifeLine – briefing on Thubalethu project

The Thubalethu project provides psychosocial support to sex workers in Ethekwini district. Its objectives was to do the following:

• Design, implement a support and evidence behavioural intervention plan for sex workers to reduce the prevalence of HIV and AIDS, gender based violence, substance abuse and sexual risk behaviours and ultimately building communities;

• Reduce secondary trauma to commercial sex workers through provision of trauma containment and counselling services;
• Equip youth at risk with support, life skills and income generating skills in order to facilitate positive change in their lives;
• Develop infrastructure and build relationships with stakeholders and
• Capacitate project staff in order to provide a quality service and adherence to deliverables.

The project team comprises of the Project Manager, Social Worker, Project Coordinator, Site Coordinator, three Team Leaders and 20 Peer Educators. The project identifies sites where sex workers operate; conduct need assessments and build relationship with the population group. The project is carried out through night and day outreach programmes. The programmes provide education on prevention against sexual and drug related risks; condom demonstration and distribution; rehabilitation and reunification back to families when necessary. The project also provides training in life skills.

Recommendation

The delegation recommended that the provincial Department of Social Development should assist to expand the project to reach areas beyond the Ethekwini district.

5.9 Visit to the Newlands Park Centre (substance abuse rehabilitation centre)

Ms F Z Makaula, the Facility Manager reported that the facility was established in 1990. The facility has five components namely: detoxification (medical), social work, care officers, occupational therapy and administration. It provides life skills programme to the patients to help them cope with challenges of life, to re-affirm old skills e.g learning skills, concentration and learning to love themselves. Patients are required to bring a pre-admission letter in order to be accepted in the facility. An orientation is arranged to familiarize the patients with the new place of stay. The patients stay in the facility for a period of three months. The centre has a library and a workshop. During the day patients work in the workshop as part of therapy. It was reported that from April to June 2012 the centre had admitted 160 patients.

Findings of the Committee

The Committee found that the condition of the entire facility was not up to standard and highlighted the following

· Poor fencing of the centre, which compromised its security;

· Windows in the boys ward were not properly closing and the walls were dirty;

· Ablution facility was in a bad state. It had no doors, taps were leaking and seats were broken;

· The workshop area needed to be cleaned and roofing be refurbished;

· No air conditioning facilities in all the offices;

· The close proximity of the informal settlement right next to the centre was an impediment to the rehabilitation process.

5.10 Visit tothe KZN Food Bank Hub

The delegation was briefly given an outlined of the Food Bank South Africa . It is a registered non-profit organization and the largest food rescue and distribution initiative in the country. It has hubs in Cape Town , Durban , Johannesburg , Tshwane, Polokwane and Port Elizabeth . The government recognizes it as the premier national food banking network feeding the hungry and realizing each citizen’s constitutional right to have access to sufficient food.

It has three trucks nationwide which collect food from various food suppliers. Food Bank coordinates access to and distribution of available food to poor, hunger-stricken communities. The Department of Social Development intends to open a Food Bank in Bethlem before end of October 2012.

The delegation advised the department to work closely with district offices to assist in identifying families in need.

Recommendation

The delegation recommended that the Minister of Social Development should ensure that the department develops an integrated approach to link the poverty alleviation programmes, such as the Sukuma Sakhe programme with Food Bank South Africa .

5.11 Visit to the child headed households

Visit to the Mbili child headed household

This is a family of four children, aged 22, 19, 11, and 8 years. It is a very destitute family which up until the intervention by the provincial department had been living off from the money the eldest girl (19 years) was given by the father of her child. The children did not have birth certificates and therefore they were not receiving Child Support Grant. The family lives in a corrugated structure that was built by the Ward Councillor on 16 June 2012, after their house was damaged by floods. This household was referred to the social worker by Philisizwe NGO on 18 June 2012. Therefore, at the time of the oversight, the department had just started arranging services for the household.

The attending social worker reported that the youngest child who has a form of disability (slow learner) was going to be taken to Mzamo NGO that was going to assess her disability so that she could be placed in a special school. The young children were going be placed under foster care under their sister. The household was also going to be placed under Sukuma Sakhe programme. The children will be assisted to apply for social grants by applying Regulation 11 (1) that allows for a sworn statement or an affidavit to be used to apply for a social grant when the applicant does not have enabling documents (birth certificate and identity document).

Recommendations

The delegation recommended that the provincial department should arrange parenting skills for the eldest sister who acts as a care giver. The household also needs to be put under the Isibindi Model.

Visit to the Mdladla child headed household

This family is made up of seven siblings and is headed by a 30 old woman who have three children of her own. They live in a 5 roomed informal dwelling. All the children were born out of wedlock and their mother died in 2010.

The 30 year old sister is unemployed and she receives Child Support Grant for her three children. One of the siblings who lives with relatives receives Foster Care Grant. The department informed the Committee that an application was made for Foster Care Grant to be received by the eldest sibling. The court date for the foster care application was 27 June 2012.

Visit to the Nkomo child headed household

The household was referred to the social worker by Siza NGO. It receives food voucher every month. However, at the time of the oversight visit the delegation found that the household had no food because the food voucher for June had not be delivered. It was still waiting to be signed by the older brother who was at college when the social worker had visited the household. The household had applied for foster care grant but there were delays in finalizing the application because the eldest brother who applied lives in rural areas.

Recommendations

The delegation recommended that the eldest brother who applied for foster care grant be advised to allow the younger brother to take over the application for foster care. The department should rectify the signing for the food voucher and enable the older brother to sign for it even when he is at college.

Visit to the Mabhida child headed household

This household is made up of three siblings and is headed by a 19 year old boy. He lives with his younger siblings (twins) who are 17 years old. Their mother passed away in 2008. They are all still at school. The household was referred by the Siza Community Care Centre to the department for Social Relief of Distress. The family received the first food parcel in February 2012 when the MEC had visited Umlazi and they received any food parcels thereafter. Previously they were assisted with food parcels by an NGO.

Only the younger have ID documents. The department reported that an application for an ID had been made. It was further reported that a social worker had been assigned to assist the family in applying for Foster Care and obtaining an ID for the elder brother.

Observations

· The Committee expressed grave concern on the minimal role played by the department and SASSA in assisting the family around the Foster Care Grant and the Child Support Grant for the young children.

· It was also concerned that the family had only received the food parcel once.

6. Conclusion

The Committee’s oversight visit to KwaZulu-Natal was yet another way of the Committee implementing its strategic resolution to visit all nine provinces during its term of office, thus fulfilling its constitutional mandate to conduct oversight over the Department of Social Development and its entities. The involvement of the provincial department and its entities in the OSS enabled them to make significant progress in improving their service delivery in line with the strategic objectives of the national department, National Outcomes and 2012 State of the Nation Address. Challenges in foster care, fight against substance abuse and cross border applications for social grants need to be urgently addressed. The Committee recognizes that these are challenges that require to be addressed at an inter-ministerial level. It thus recommends for such an intervention.

Report to be considered

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Reference list:

Department of Social Development: Province of KwaZulu-Natal . Reports on Umlazi, Wentworth and Chatsworth. Undated