The DA in the Western Cape welcomes the provincial Department of Social Development’s ongoing efforts to mitigate the effects of Covid-19 on vulnerable people as revealed today in the Standing Committee on Social Development at Provincial Parliament, and encourages residents to make use of the food relief helpline at 0800 220 250, as part of this ongoing effort.
Despite the hard work by the provincial department and its commitment to Covid-19 mitigation strategies for the vulnerable, the National Department is still dragging its feet – SASSA has yet to deliver on the report they promised to give to the committee fortnightly, and has failed to work timeously on its current backlog.
MPP Gillion Bosman comments, “SASSA has continued to delay the tabling of their status update report to the Standing Committee on Social Development as promised, and have also sent an apology to the standing committee for our scheduled meeting today indicating that they will not be in attendance due to Minister Zulu’s Pre-SONA roadshow in the Western Cape.
Nonetheless, since March 2020, the Department provided food relief interventions to those who have been hardest hit by the pandemic along with impact of the prolonged lockdown restrictions on livelihoods. Funding was made available to NGOs, community-based food kitchens and NPOs to assist in providing meals to those who require it within communities and extended this support to the homeless, respectively.
Furthermore, the 2020/2021 budget has shown R164 177 00 allocated to support programmes for persons with disabilities which include residential facilities, protective workshops, social service organisations and special care centres.
I look forward to the #WCSOPA2021 for updates from the provincial government in this regard.”
The DA-led Government remains committed at ensuring we look after the vulnerable in the province.
