Page 12 - DSD ANNUAL REPORT 2022-2

PART A: GENERAL INFORMATION

5 REPORT OF THE ACCOUNTING OFFICER

vehicles were damaged. As a result, the vulnerable people could
not access services.

Interim measures were put in place to ensure minimal impact on
the delivery of services. These included among others, deployment
of officials to the nearest service points. Communication to clients
and communities on where to access services via the nearest offices
was done through posters being placed in the offices as well as
with all the local stakeholders such as the councillors and through
social media.

The Department could not fill all its vacancies during the reporting
period. The filling of posts was largely influenced by the process the
Department embarked on to review its strategy informed by various
roundtable discussions and current policy and research. Secondly,
the Department had to fill critical posts first due to the reduction
in its budget for the compensation of employees. This had to be
done through continuous prioritisation processes to ensure that the
compensation budget ceiling is adhered to and that there is no
overspending.
While there is an increase in demand for the services offered by
the Department and the Social Development Sector as a whole, the
Department continues to improve its delivery systems in carrying
out its functions. It continues to re-invent itself to be able to deliver
Overview of the operations of the Department on its mandate of providing social protection services. To this end,
the Annual Report captures in detail the work of the Department
during the past financial year.
The Social Development Sector provides social protection services
and leads government efforts to forge partnerships through which Some of the key interventions undertaken in the 2021/22 financial
vulnerable individuals, groups and communities become capable year are as follows.
and self-reliant participants in their development. The Department
continues to deliver its services in an environment marked by • Overseeing the management and administration of social
high levels of poverty, unemployment and inequality. These triple grants by SASSA. The Department remained accountable for
challenges were compounded by the outbreak of COVID-19 and the R224 billion received for the payment of social grants.
the subsequent nationwide lockdown which impacted economic • Employment of 3 473 social workers on contract by the
activities in the country and resulted in the loss of jobs and income provincial departments of social development to continue
for millions of South Africans.
providing psychosocial support to those affected and infected
by COVID-19.
The operations of the Department and the Social Development • Development of a Social Development Sector Strategic Plan to
Portfolio were disrupted due to the public violence and unrest align all the Annual Performance Plans (APPs) to the sector’s
experienced in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July 2021. The public shared vision, mission, impact and outcomes. This Plan will
violence occurred at the time when South Africa was experiencing give effect to the realisation of the concurrent functions with
the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the government had provincial departments and entities.
instituted level 4 lockdown restrictions. The unrest happened at a • Development of the Sector-Wide Electronic Monitoring and
time when many people were already in receipt of the Social Relief Evaluation System. Once completed, the system will enable
of Distress and Special COVID-19 Social Relief Grant due to socio- the routine collection of service delivery performance data
economic conditions following the lockdown restrictions.
at district and provincial levels as well as improved data
management, to inform timely decision-making using an
The unrest, which led to disruption of services and looting of both automated standardised and centralised database.
businesses and government offices in various areas, resulted in • Development of the DSD Stakeholder and Donor Management
the vandalising of some of the DSD and SASSA Offices as well as Strategy, to guide the management of donor coordination and
Post Offices. Some of the DSD and SASSA Offices were burnt and stakeholders in the Department.
clients’ files were destroyed. Vehicles and computers were also • Development of the Strategy for the Employment of Social
damaged while others were stolen. The destruction of SASSA and Service Professions. The strategy is intended to address the
DSD offices, mostly those in KZN, disrupted the routine delivery employment of Social Service Professionals by articulating
of social protection services as office equipment was stolen and

12 DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL REPORT 2021/22