BACKGROUND

The idea of a Welfare summit in Gauteng arose in about 1998, after tensions arose between the then MEC for Social Services and Population Development, Ignatius Jacobs, and the Greater Johannesburg Welfare, Social Service and Development Forum (GJWSSDF), over problematic draft provincial legislation and related issues. It was put to the MEC that agreement had never been reached about the interpretation of key aspects of the White Paper for Social Welfare, and that there was a need to unpack these issues so as to reach consensus on the way forward. MEC Jacobs broached the idea of a Summit to address these issues, and a joint steering committee was set up comprising official of the Department and representatives of civil society organisations. Among the issues flagged for attention were the question of what constituted the core business of the sector (government was e.g. calling on the NPOs to focus intensively on job creation), the balance between the different types of service delivered by the sector, the dispensation for financing, the nature of the partnership between government and civil society for service delivery, and communication between government and NPOs. Papers were drafted and workshops held as part of the preparatory process. Unfortunately the MEC soon afterwards moved to a different portfolio, and soon afterwards the Summit process was dropped. But the GJWSSDF and, after its relaunch in 2004, the Gauteng Forum, continued to call for a Welfare Summit as the best way to begin finding solutions to the growing problems of the sector.

Tensions continued to escalate, particularly in relation to shrinking government funding and to differing interpretations of the requirements of transformation, and what many organisations regarded as unjustified and overgeneralised criticisms leveled against them as regards their performance in this regard. These problems escalated to new levels in 2005, peaking with the announcement by the then MEC of a likely 25% across-the-board subsidy cut. This huge threat pulled the NPO sector together to an unprecedented degree and a Crisis Committee with representation from all major networks was set up. A mass meeting was convened, a media campaign was launched, marches took place in Johannesburg and Pretoria, and memoranda were delivered to the Premier and the MEC. Subsequently the Committee met with the Premier and made a presentation which included an outline of the major human rights commitments and developmental challenges facing the province on which delivery was not possible without the contribution of the NPOs. Contact was also made with the Provincial Portfolio Committee on Social Development. Both that Committee and the Premier’s office played a facilitative role in re-establishing communication between the Crisis Committee and the Department, and with their encouragement the MEC agreed to two key demands of the Crisis Committee, i.e. for a Social Audit to determine the extent of the social welfare service needs of the province, and a Welfare Summit to reach consensus on a framework for partnership between government and NPOs in service delivery. Menber bodes of the Crisis Committee in due course decided to disband as an entity in its own right and that the GWSSDF would pursue its agenda from then on.

WELFARE SUMMIT PROCESS

A joint Steering Committee was once again set up comprising representatives of the Gauteng Department of Social Development. This time around the GWSSDF coordinated the civil society component. Work progressed in fits and starts, with officials and NPO representatives from time to time having major differences as to the purpose and format of the Summit and the associated process. A basic approach was agreed upon, this being that focus groups would be set up to produce discussion papers on key issues, each of then involving representatives of the DSD and the GWSSDF. These would then be workshopped and refined, and then tables at the summit where, it was hoped, a high degree of consensus as to the way forward for partnerships in the sector would be achieved. It was agreed that there would be an interim event in October to mark Welfare Month, amd the main Summit event would take place in March 2007.

After the Focus Groups had begun their work, the Department late in July submitted a project proposal to newly-appointed MEC Kgoagelo Legkoro for approval. He took political ownership of the whole process, and ordered that the Summit be held in October instead of March. He also reduced the planned number of discussion papers from seven to five, and gave instructions as to the themes. Fortunately it was possible to integrate the issues already identified into those on which he had decided what they should be, and in fact the number was subsequently reduced to four. The Forum expressed concern about the lack of time to complete the workshopping and consensus-building process as originally envisaged. The HOD suggested that we see the Summit as the beginning rather than the end of the process, and we adopted this perspective. The Forum was alert to the fact that the MEC’s active role was potentially a very positive factor but also that we need to assert our own vision for the Summit so that it would not just become one more Welfare Month event in which the original intentions might be lost.

After months of preparation by the Gauteng Department of Social Development (DSD) and the Gauteng Welfare, Social Service and Development Forum, the Welfare Summit, officially hosted by MEC Kgaogelo Lekgoro, took place on 26-7 October at the Grace Bible Church in Pimville. The Department had catered for 1 500 participants, and 800 had confirmed, but 3 000 arrived, which made for a certain amount of chaos on the first day, including long queues for tea and lunch in the sun during a heat wave, plus a serious shortage of food. All this was particularly unfortunate given that the crowd included numerous elderly people from luncheon clubs around the province who were in great discomfort. On the upside, this was certainly a major show of support for the Summit.

The first day’s proceedings included a comprehensive presentation of the province’s recently-launched intersectoral Social Development Strategy. This is designed to operate through nine Strategic Levers, namely (1) social cohesion, (2) human resource development, (3) local economic development (incorporating the national Expanded Public Works Programme); (4) primary health services; (5) an expanded HIV/AIDS programme; (6) the building of sustainable development; (7) a social crime prevention and safety strategy; (8) a series of strategies for the most vulnerable in society including children, people with disabilities and older persons; and (9) integrated poverty alleviation. These levers require the involvement of the whole of government and its partners, but there are clear roles for the social development sector in all of them. The SDS presentation was followed by an explanation of the national Department of Social Development’s Integrated Service Delivery Model, through with the Department sets out what its responsibilities and those of its civil society partners are now that the management of the entire system of social grants and pensions has “migrated” to the SA Social Security Agency.

The first day’s proceedings also included addresses by the HOD and the MEC, as well as a perspective from the Forum as to how the Summit process had come about and the hopes that rested on this event from the point of view of the NPOs.  Comprehensive presentations were delivered on Gauteng’s recently-launched intersectoral Social Development Strategy and the national DSD’s Integrated Service Delivery Model. The latter document clarifies the responsibilities of the DSD and its civil society partners now that the management of social grants and pensions has “migrated” to the SA Social Security Agency, and it sets out a broad framework within which developmental social welfare services should operate.

The remainder of the Summit was focussed on the presentation of four discussion papers, followed by deliberations in commissions which were set up to examine the points raised in them. The papers provided government and civil society perspectives on (1) the Integrated Service Delivery Model, (2) the financing of services, (3) public-private partnerships for service delivery and (3) the transformation of the sector. Each group came up with recommendations and resolutions, and the final session was intended to produce consensus on the resolutions and to finalise their adoption. Unfortunately this session was rushed and many were not satisfied that the resolutions properly incorporated all the points raised. The Steering Committee which organised the Summit is looking at ways of producing a document which will fully reflect the decisions in the commissions and clarify the way forward.

Major achievements of the Summit are: (a) the fact that a much-needed debate has been started about key issues which have been obstructing progress in service delivery, and (b) a big improvement in understanding and levels of trust between departmental officials and civil society organisations, who cooperated in every aspect of the planning and implementation of the Summit and must continue to do so in its aftermath.

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