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 The National Welfare Forum (NWF) and the National Coalition for Social Services (NACOSS) represent the majority of subsidised social welfare NPOs in the country, along with many unsubsidised organisations, and in partnership work together to address social service delivery provision in South Africa as the Joint Strategic Committee (JSC), we request your assistance as Minister of Finance to provide critical emergency funding to the sector through the Adjustment Appropriation Bill.
On 28 August 2009, marches and other actions by provincial structures associated with our organisations took place in almost all provinces in our country, with strong support from trade unions in some regions. In all cases, the call was for a new dispensation for the funding of essential social services delivered by non-profit organisations (NPOs), on which Government is reliant for the delivery of most of the country’s social services.
Memoranda were delivered to provincial Premiers, MECs for Finance and MECs for Social Development, describing the financial crisis in which this sector finds itself. Currently, many organisations countrywide are threatened with closure or with having to terminate or cut back essential services that are required by the Constitution and numerous laws and policies. Such a situation clearly undermines the fundamental rights of the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society, as can be seen from the attached outline of the sector remit.
A feature of the crisis is a continuous and massive loss of staff by
NPOs, resulting from the huge gap between salaries earned by social
service practitioners and support staff in their employ, and those
earned by their counterparts in the public service. In addition to
being fundamentally unjust, this gap has a catastrophic impact on the
ability of the NPOs to deliver effectively. Hence, a central call was
for funding increases to allow for equal pay for equal work.
The NWF, on behalf of the JSC, calls on the National Treasury to use
the Adjustment Appropriation Bill to provide for an urgent allocation
of additional ring-fenced funds to every province to afford immediate
relief to social welfare NPOs as an interim measure, while a new, just
and realistic funding dispensation is developed. The subsidy framework
which is in place in Limpopo, and which is far in advance of those in
the rest of the country, would be a logical basis for calculating this
interim allocation.
We thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Beulah Lumkwana, Chairperson, NWF
For and on behalf of the Joint Strategic Committee
CONSTITUTIONAL, POLICY and LEGAL REMIT of the SOCIAL SERVICES SECTOR
South Africa’s constitution, its laws and its progressive policies
require developmental social services that are properly funded and
staffed by people who are decently paid. Government depends on NPOs for
the actualisation of a wide range of constitutional rights of people in
South Africa.
Bill of Rights
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Implementing bodies
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- Right to life [s11]
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Right to human dignity [s10]
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Right to freedom and security of the person [s12]
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- NGOs,
CBOs and FBOs serving orphans and vulnerable children and destitute
people. Community-based and residential facilities for vulnerable
elderly people. Crisis and trauma services for victims of crime
including rape and domestic violence. Enabling and empowering services
for people with physical and intellectual disabilities and people with
chronic physical and mental illnesses. Community development services
in impoverished communities. Organisations working in crime prevention,
the reintegration of offenders, restorative justice and assistance to
families of offenders. Organisations addressing drug and alcohol abuse.
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- Right to freedom from slavery, servitude and forced labour [s13]
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- Organisations assisting people caught up in trafficking, children on the street, and child prostitutes.
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- Child’s
right to family or parental care; basic nutrition, shelter and social
services; protection from abuse, neglect, maltreatment or degradation;
protection from exploitative, inappropriate or hazardous work or labour
[s28 (1)]
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- Child and family
welfare organisations delivering preventive education services, family
support services, child protective services, and foster care and
adoption services. Organisations running children’s homes; shelters for
children on the street. Drop-in centres and outreach services.
Organisations working in crime prevention, the reintegration of
offenders and restorative justice.
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- Child’s right not to be detained, or to be detained only as a last resort and then in suitable conditions [s28 (1)]
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Right to education [s29]
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- ECD services; skills development and capacity-building programmes.
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Government policies and programmes, which cannot be carried out
effectively without increased social welfare service capacity, include:
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The National Children’s Rights Programme and its provincial component
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The National Policy Framework and Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Management of Child Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation
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The National Family Policy
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The Child Labour Action Plan
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Various strategies relating to Early Childhood Development
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The National Policy for Older Persons
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The National Strategy for Older Persons
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The Integrated Strategy on Disability
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The National Drug Master Plan
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The Victim Empowerment Programme
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The Expanded Public Works Programme.
Current laws, which require social welfare services of various kinds for their implementation, include the following:
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The Child Care Act – about to be replaced by the much more far-reaching Children’s Act.
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The Older Persons Act
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The Child Justice Act (not yet promulgated but its basic approach is already in operation)
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The Domestic Violence Act
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The Criminal Procedures (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act
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The Mental Health Care Act
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The Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse Act
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The Divorce Matters Act and the Maintenance Act
The following international instruments also require NPO services - or,
failing this, direct services by government - for their implementation:
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: provisions on
child survival, protection, development and participation, and Optional
Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Pornography
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African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child: parallel provisions
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ILO Conventions on Minimum Age and Worst Forms of Child Labour
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Hague Conventions on Intercountry Adoption and International Abduction of Children
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Declaration and Agenda for Action against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
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UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice
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UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty
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UN Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency
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Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children
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UN and AU agreements and guidelines on the treatment of refugees
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Plan of Action on the African Decade for Disabled People
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UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
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World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons
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UN Millennium Declaration
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Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing
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