Note to editors: Please find the attached English soundbite by Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL.
The Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD) continues to underspend its budget for social welfare services. Consequently, NPOs like the Tembisa Self Help Association of the Disabled (T-SHAD) are facing challenges in providing adequate services due to a lack of funding. The poor and vulnerable in Gauteng suffer as a result.
According to the annual report for the 2023/2024 financial year, the department underspent its social welfare budget of R888,535,000 million under Programme 2 by R41,499,000.
This includes unutilised funds amounting to:
- R1,064,000 for older persons, resulting in 3040 elderly people not having access to community-based care and support services such as luncheon clubs.
- R8,680,000 for persons with disabilities.
- R31,755,000 for people living with HIV and AIDS which resulted in beneficiaries not accessing food and psychosocial services.
See the full report here.
The unspent funds could have been used to support T-SHAD’s efforts to identify and enhance livelihood opportunities for people with disabilities, such as teaching them farming skills and helping to break the cycle of poverty. The failure to use these funds demonstrates the cruelty and disregard for the poor and vulnerable by the GDSD – a phenomenon that has sadly become a norm.
The failure to fill open positions, coupled with unused NPO funds due to failure to adhere to municipal regulations, cannot be considered a valid excuse for the shortfall in spending when the elderly are going hungry; the disabled are missing out on socio-economic opportunities; and HIV and AIDS programmes are allowed to collapse.
What is concerning is that the circumstances remain the same regardless of this department’s leadership change. While former MEC Mbali Hlophe oversaw a period of “reprioritisation” – a term used to mask the deplorable decision to cut funding for Older Persons, Persons with Disabilities, Children, and HIV/AIDS programmes, the current MEC for GDSD, Faith Mazibuko, refuses to release the NPO adjudication report which she has already confirmed was a sham. The question is: What is she hiding?
The DA has already requested that the Portfolio Committee of Social Development commission an inquiry into the Gauteng Department of Social Development’s mismanagement of funds during the 2023/24 annual period. The Committee has agreed to this step, and we are currently waiting for the terms of reference to be drafted by its legal advisors. One of the essential steps that must be included in the terms of reference is for MEC Faith Mazibuko to appear before the committee. She needs to clarify the actions her department will take to ensure that it effectively spends its allocated budget and addresses financial mismanagement for the benefit of vulnerable residents in Gauteng.
Under a DA-led Gauteng Provincial Government, the GDSD would prioritise optimal financial management to utilise the available budget while minimising waste and corruption. The department would also be encouraged to ensure that quarterly budgets are planned and aligned with quarterly commitments so that by the end of the financial year, expenditures are in line with departmental targets and excessive underspending is avoided.
The DA will continue to hold this department accountable and ensure it spends the money allocated for each of its five programmes and meets its targets. It cannot be that the vulnerable people of Gauteng continue to suffer because of inadequate planning and poor financial management within this department.