Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini,
MEC for Social Development in KZN, Ms Weziwe Thusi,
Members of the Provincial Legislature,
Mayor of Nkandla Local Municipality, Cllr, Thamsanqa Ntuli,
Traditional Leaders,
Members of the civil society and NGO formations,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It gives me pleasure this morning to be part of this important occasion of celebrating the ten years of the establishment of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), a Social Development entity which provides social assistance to, among others, senior citizens, orphaned and vulnerable children as well as people with disabilities.  

The Department of Social Development has a mandate of providing care and support to the poor and vulnerable people in South Africa. This mandate basically means that Social Development is the heartbeat of government as it is well positioned to tackle the triple challenges of Poverty, Unemployment and Inequality.

To achieve this mandate, over the past twenty two years; government has through the Department of Social Development extended social services to all eligible South Africans. 

The provision of these services is made possible through cooperation between the department and its entity, SASSA – which is celebrating ten years this year.   

We also believe that the provision of social services is a constitutional right which must be accessed by all poor South Africans.

You may be aware that prior to 1994, black people, who constitute the majority of the population, were deprived access to most rights and privileges such as the social grant income. 

When the movement of the people, the African National Congress (ANC) took over in 1994; uTata Nelson Mandela taught us about the importance of sharing and living together as a nation despite our racial and other differences. 
 
This era did not only serve as the birth of a democracy but the dawn of what we defined as a rainbow nation.  

Addressing poverty, hunger and inequality was at the heart of the new democratic government, which sought to reverse the conditions of abject deprivation that apartheid had condemned us to for many years. 

To address inequalities in South Africa; government has over the years reviewed, introduced and amended various pieces of legislation.

The promulgation of the Social Assistance Act 13 of 2004 led to the establishment of SASSA - a Social Development entity which aims at providing care, support and overall comprehensive social security services to poor and vulnerable South Africans.

During the ten years of SASSA’s  existence, government has contributed largely in breaking the cycle of poverty, through the provision of Social Relief of Distress (SRDs).

These include the provision of school uniforms to children from the most impoverished families and poor households throughout the country.  

We are proud to mention that these school uniforms are produced by local women-owned cooperatives which create work opportunities for women in various communities.

The department also procures most of its basic services such as food, directly from women-owned cooperatives in the rural communities.  

Empowerment of cooperatives is in line with the Nine Point Plan, which I pronounced during the 2015 State of the Nation Address (SONA) in February 2015.   

We came up with the Nine Point Plan to respond to the sluggish economic growth in the country.  

Amongst the key elements of the Nine Point Plan I highlighted the need for “Unlocking the potential of SMME, cooperatives, township and rural enterprises”. 

This is indeed one of the initiatives which seek to improve the living conditions of the poor and the unemployed South Africans, and ensure that they are directly linked to economic opportunities.         
 
This is made possible through Social Development’s Outreach Programmes to communities which help with addressing social ills through Project Mikondzo.  

Project Mikondzo is a Social Development service delivery initiative which seeks to increase the Social Development footprint in the most impoverished communities of South Africa.

However, it is unfortunate that in some areas; Social Development has been labelled as a department which is used by the ruling party to buy votes from the poor through what most people call food parcels.

This is people who have never tasted how it feels like to be poor, and how it feels like to go to bed in an empty stomach and therefore they cannot understand these interventions.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to take this opportunity and correct that myth because actually Social Development doesn’t provide food parcels but Social Relief of Distress (SRD) to the poor.  

As a build-up to departmental community outreach programmes, the department deploys a team which works directly with people on the ground.  

This process gives the department an opportunity to directly engage and find out about community issues and concerns.

It is during such community engagements that the Social Development team also conduct household profiling to assess the overall needs and living conditions of our people. 

It is based on the information gathered during household profiling that the department determines if families qualify to receive Social Relief of Distress (SRD).  

Social Relief of Distress is a temporary provision of assistance intended for persons in such dire material need that they are unable to meet their or their families' most basic needs.

SRD is paid to South African citizens who have insufficient means of survival and meet one or more of the following criteria:

. When they are awaiting payment of an approved social grant;
. When applicants have been found medically unfit to undertake  remunerative work for a period of less than 6 months;
. When there is no maintenance received from parent, child or spouse obliged in law to pay maintenance, and proof is furnished that efforts made to obtain maintenance have been unsuccessful;
. In cases where the bread winner is deceased and an application is made within three months of the date of death;
. It is also considered in cases where the bread winner of that person`s family has been admitted to an institution funded by the state (prison, psychiatric hospital, state home for older persons, treatment centre for substance abuse or child and youth care centre);
. When the applicant has been affected by a disaster as defined in the Disaster Management Act or the Fund Raising Act of 1978;
. When the person is not receiving assistance from any other organization, or;
. And also in cases where refusal of the application for social relief of distress will cause undue hardships.

Another important factor is that government makes provision of a monthly Social Relief of Distress for a maximum period of three months.  

Based on exceptional cases; an extension with further three months may be granted.

It is also important to indicate that no person who is in receipt of a social grant may receive the grant and social relief of distress simultaneously.

Any person who may be receiving both social relief and grant at the same time must be liable to repay the value of the social relief of distress received. 

However, on instances where social grant recipients also receive DSD as a result of a disaster; there is an exception and that amount will not be recovered.

Fellow South Africans,

Recent social grant statistics revealed that more than seventeen million South Africans are receiving social grants from SASSA, which helps with addressing the triple challenges of Poverty, Unemployment and Inequality.

Today, we are here in eQhudeni to continue the celebrations for the milestone achievements of the Department of Social Development, its entity – SASSA, stakeholders, including community members and social grant beneficiaries of the ten years celebrations of SASSA’s existence. 

These ten year celebrations were successfully launched at Dan Qeqe Stadium in Zwide in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape Province, and the plan is to celebrate with South Africans from all nine provinces.

SASSA spends more than Eleven Billion, Two Hundred and Eighty Three Million, Seven Hundred and Nine Thousand and Seventy Five Rand (R11 283 709 075) monthly to improve the living conditions of the poor.  

Nineteen year old social grant beneficiaries who are still studying also qualify for Child Support Grant extension and more than 11 million children currently benefit from Child Support Grant.

The department has also been able to reach more than ten million people with disabilities.

Two hundred and thirty War Veterans as well as more than Three Million older persons, who are now receiving social grants.  

More than Four Hundred and Ninety Three thousand children are under foster care grant system.    

Despite all these achievements, we still maintain that social grant income must be used in a responsible manner.  

No one is allowed to misuse social grant income which is intended to improve the living conditions of intended beneficiaries.

We also call upon our people to refrain from giving their SASSA cards to loan sharks who charge exorbitant interest on repayments.

We call upon community members to continue working with government and report those who abuse social grants to the nearest SASSA offices.

As patriotic people of South Africa, you are all witnesses to the fact that the government has done a lot to improve the lives of the people, particularly the poorest of the poor among us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SASSA, MAY YOU LIVE AND EXCEL TO SEE MANY MORE YEARS TO COME!

I thank you.