The mandate of the Department of Social Development (DSD) has always been to serve the poorest and most vulnerable in society. In doing so, it should support the importance of democratic values, human dignity, social justice and equality. Regrettably, the reality on the ground is remarkably different. For decades many social issues have been raised in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Legislature with evidence and proof thereof yet, to date, they continue to occur.
The DA is hopeful that KZN’s newly-installed Social Development MEC, Mbali Shinga, will hold her commitment to address the various issues bearing down on our communities, along with the many social ills women and children face daily. We encourage MEC Shinga to continue to consult with the National Minister of Social Development, Sisisi Tolashe – as she has already begun to in dealing with the many issues plaguing SASSA.
The people of KZN are in crisis. The rising cost of living is bearing down on families leaving many people going to bed hungry.
Our province is facing a mental health crisis which is leading to addiction and substance abuse, tearing families apart and rendering youth with no alternative but to join the life of crime and substance abuse.
Gender-based violence (GBV), child and elder abuse are all on the rise. Women feel unsafe in their own communities and some, even in their own homes.
Apart from the immediate need to fill critical vacancies, KZN’s DSD needs to work to ensure commitment from departments such as Basic Education, Home Affairs, Health, SAPS and the Department of Justice. These different departments need to join forces to fight the scourge of drug and alcohol abuse, GBV and other social ills killing our communities.
The DA has bold solutions that will help lift people out of poverty and assist them on the path to prosperity.
We believe that streamlining disability grants, employing sufficient social workers and providing them with the necessary resources to conduct their jobs productively will make a huge impact on the lives of KZN’s most vulnerable people. On Tuesday, this week there were social workers camped outside the Office of the Premier fighting for outstanding payments and jobs. KZN’s newly-formed government of provincial unity (GPU) needs to look at creating initiatives such as utilising unemployed social workers in places like police stations and victim friendly units and at schools.
There needs to be further support and intervention for local NGO’s who assist communities where government cannot. These are the support structures that communities turn to in times of need, yet some do not even receive government funding. Meanwhile, those that do, do not get paid on time or are even forced to lose a months’ funding due to departmental failings. DSD needs to conduct an audit of KZN’s existing NGOs in order find the ‘ghost’ and corrupt NGO’s. They need to be removed from the system so that the focus is on funding those NGO’s that genuinely need it.
Improved oversight is also needed when it comes to local NGO’s, particularly those that take advantage of the elderly and the disabled. KZN’s DSD also needs to implement greater oversight when it comes to NGO boards and ensure that they hold regular AGM’s and use their finances productively.
These above are just some of the necessary interventions required to provide better social services to communities, and budgets should focus more towards helping improve the lives of KZN’s people.
The DA strongly believes that there is a dire need for safe spaces for women and children who are at risk of abuse. The Department of Public Works and Social Development need to work together to find unutilised spaces for NGO’s and shelters. There is also a desperate need for women empowerment centres, self- defence classes for women and children and more rehabilitation centres to help stop the scourge of substance abuse.
Government needs to ensure that SAPS are adequately trained to deal sensitively with GBV. It needs to develop skills sharing centres where it adopts the “each one, teach one” initiative so that people can share their skills with each other, and in so doing, learn what their individual skills are. We need to develop GBV-based task teams to fight this scourge in KZN.
There is also a desperate need to extend child support grants to pregnant mothers to ensure child nutrition goals. This is to ensure pregnant mothers have the proper nutritional needs for their child during pregnancy. This grant also needs to be extended to children over the age of 18 who are still at school, until they complete their National Senior Certificate (NSC).
Teenage pregnancy is an unspoken crisis in South African schools. There are various factors for the rise in teenage pregnancies. These include poverty, gender inequality, GBV, a lack of adequate sex education and safe sex, and inadequate access to contraception. KZN’s DSD must urgently work with the province’s Departments of Health and Education as joint ventures to deal with teenage pregnancies. We need a whole- of-society approach to avoid teenage pregnancies.
While the DA recognises that there are various projects and initiatives already in place, there is still a long way to go in addressing the needs of society. The DA will continue to hold officials accountable for the failures within social development in our province.