WC Social Development appoints service provider to assist with ECD Stimulus Relief Fund payments

The Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) has welcomed the appointment of a service provider to assist with the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Stimulus Relief Fund payments to those eligible ECD centres that are still waiting to receive funding.

The appointment of a service provider by the DSD comes after the decision by the National Department of Social Development to hand over the entire responsibility of verifying the details of ECD centres and processing the respective payments of the ECD Stimulus Relief Fund to all provincial DSDs.

The ongoing delays in the ECD Stimulus Relief Fund payments are due to the National Department of Social Development (DSD)’s failure and inability to implement a functional system capable of adequately verifying the details of all ECD programmes and services that applied for the ECD Stimulus Relief Fund.

“We recognise that thousands of ECD centres across the Province are desperate for the financial support that was promised to them by the National government. As such, the Department is meeting with the appointed service provider this week to discuss the arrangements that need to be made to ensure that the remaining payments take place as swiftly and effectively as possible.

We wish to assure the ECD sector that the payments of the ECD Stimulus Relief Fund will extend beyond the current financial year and will not be impacted by the ECD migration from Social Development to the Department of Basic Education on the 1st of April 2022,” said the Western Cape Minister for Social Development, Sharna Fernandez.

The Western Cape government has received R53 million as part of the ECD Stimulus Relief Fund.

To date:

• Total amount paid out: R 25,727,156.00 (48% of the total batch value)
• Total applications: 3143.
• Applications processed to date by National Department of Social Development = 1426
• Applications paid out = 5888 staff at 1353
• Not paid = 73 (Funds returned due to accounts closed; no banking details)
• Unprocessed = 1717

Source