Annual Reports: Residents increasingly prefer WC Social Development services over SASSA
18 October 2022
In tabling its 2021/2022 annual report, the Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) has once again demonstrated its unwavering commitment to serving the Western Cape’s citizens with dignity.
The results contained in the report paint a picture of a Department which has risen to and overcome the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the draconian lockdown regulations instituted by national government, which persisted throughout 2021 in spite of significant evidence that such regulations had become ineffective. The lockdown regulations resulted in social workers being forced to refrain from visiting schools and old-age homes; vital training for NPOs had to be halted or postponed, and rehabilitation projects had to be scaled down. This, at a time when demand for social services increased.
Despite this, the provincial Department of Social Development went above and beyond to respond to the needs of its citizens, overachieving in a number of key areas in the process. According to the report, the past financial year saw the Department experience an increased preference for its services over SASSA’s services. The annual report notes that the department did not achieve its targeted number of referrals to SASSA due to the fact that clients expressed a preference to be served by the Western Cape’s DSD rather than the national government’s social security agency. This demonstrates that Western Cape DSD’s efficiency is having a noticeable, real-world impact on the ground.
Among other successes, the Department’s work also ensured that the Western Cape became the only province in South Africa to successfully convert properties transferred by the national Department of Public Works and Infrastructure into dedicated GBV shelters, with six currently operating in the Province. The Department also increased its funding and transfer of subsidies to facilities which provide care to older persons and persons with disabilities, as these population groups were some of the hardest hit by the pandemic.
As has become the norm for Western Cape Government Departments, the Western Cape Department of Social Development received a clean audit, showing the good governance, efficient service delivery, and sound financial management which DA-led governments have become known for.
MPP Dan Plato says: “Like everyone, the Western Cape Department of Social Development has been forced to make the best out of the bad situation of national government’s repressive and unnecessary lockdown measures, which covered almost the entirety of the reported period. However, the annual report demonstrates beyond doubt that the Department has risen to the occasion, and has been there for our citizens as they navigated these most difficult of times. I congratulate the Department on another year of quality service delivery despite the challenges which it has faced, especially given our citizens’ clear recognition of the DSD’s excellence.”
Issued by Dan Plato, DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Social Development, 18 October 2022
