Strategic Planning For Department of Welfare Policy

1. Welfare Reform Process

The public comment on the discussion document summarized below ended on 28 July 1995. At this stage, the Department of Welfare is editing the report to reflect the 150 public submissions and the comments made at the National Welfare Conference. The Department of Welfare is currently developing a White Paper on Welfare that will be sent to Cabinet for their approval within one month. It will be published in the Government Gazette before the end of the year. I will keep an eye out for the White Paper and let you know as soon as it is available. Once it is published, there will be some time for additional public comment.

Early next year, the Department expects to submit a major welfare bill to the National Parliament to amend the National Welfare Act #100 of 1978. I will get a copy of the current statute and review its contents. Although we have missed the initial consultation deadline, there will be several opportunities to comment on these proposals. In 7 of the 9 provinces, Health and Welfare are located within the same department. This should make it easier for regional coordinators to follow the debate at that level.

2. Summary of Discussion Document

Towards a New Social Welfare Policy and Strategy for South Africa, released by the Ministry of Social Welfare and Population Development, 5 June 1995 represents the Department's vision for social security and welfare programmes in South Africa.

A. Current Situation

As most people are aware, the current welfare system is failing to meet the needs of the majority of South Africans. White South Africans earn considerable more income per month than other racial groups. Whites earn 3 times more than Indians, 5 times more than Coloureds, and 10 times more than Africans. In addition, unemployment and illiteracy are very high among Africans. One-third of all South Africans are unemployed or working in the informal sector. More than 60 percent of Africans living in rural areas are illiterate. These statistics are attributed to a 1994 DBSA report on human development.

The current spending priorities of the Department of Welfare only perpetuate these inequalities. Nationally, the Department spent R 13.4 billion in 1995 representing 8.7 percent of the budget and 2.7 percent of the GDP. The majority of welfare spending pays for social security payments to the elderly and disabled. Only R 12 out of every R 100 of the welfare budget pay for social welfare services that are directed at prevention, alleviation or elimination of social problems of individuals, groups, and communities in order to enhance their social functioning.

B. Vision for National Social Welfare Policy

The basic principles set out to guide the development of the new welfare system are listed below:

• Every citizen has the right to secure basic social security and social welfare services.
• Resources should be equitably distributed to eliminate racial, gender, geographic, and sectoral differences.
• Non-discrimination against women, physically or mentally disabled, offenders, people with AIDS, the elderly, or sexual orientation should become departmental policy.
• Democratic participation of the public and all welfare constituencies should occur in all decisions which affect them.
• The new system should uphold human rights according to the Interim Constitution Bill of Rights.
• The new system should be financially sustainable, cost-efficient, and effective.
• All services should be of high quality.
• Both public and private welfare organisations should be transparent and accountable.
• All institutions should be accessible and responsive to people's needs.
• Programmes, methods and approaches should be appropriate for people's social, cultural and economic conditions.
• "Ubuntu ungamnstu ngabanye abanyu." People are people through other people.

C. Structural and Institutional Issues The document stresses the need for active collaboration between the public and private sectors. Their vision is for close cooperation between the national and provincial welfare sector. The national level will be responsible for coordination; national policy and planning; setting norms and standards; legislative review; revision and coordination; human resources development; financing; and information systems development. The provincial level also will perform many of these functions, but most importantly, it will be the level of service delivery. Although they claim to be in favour of decentralisation, the current plan does not immediately devolve welfare services to the local level. {This is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently. Discussions around the DHAs could be an useful model for them.}

The Department wants to build a partnership with all the role players in civil society. They have outlined specific guidelines for this partnership. "Organisations in civil society will implement projects while government will play a facilitative role. Organisations in civil society will be responsible for direct service delivery, advocacy, information systems, accountability, and participation. There will be cooperation in operational research."

D. The Delivery System

They plan to restructure the social security payment system to make it more accessible to individuals in need. Social security should be linked to the RDP and other anti-poverty programmes in an intersectoral approach. Each of the four categories of social security payments need to be reviewed and transformed based on the new principles listed above.

The document outlines several themes that the Department will prioritise to enhance social integration. It will:

• focus on reducing poverty
• create developmental social welfare programmes
• use the life-cycle approach
• employ a range of interventions
• consult role players, and
• encourage active participation.

3. Opportunities for NPPHCN

• Indigenous development workers are defined as "Participants in community based organisations and consumers of human service programmes who are directly involved in some aspects of service delivery, and who have not been professionally trained to deliver or administer such services. An indigenous worker may be a volunteer or a paid staff member." In many respects, this definition sounds similar to our conceptualization of CHWs. This document is not clear on the number, training or payment of these workers, but this looks more hopeful than the Department of Health's position.
• Reorientation of personnel in developmental approaches -- "A balance will be established between preventative, curative, promotive, and developmental perspectives in the planning and management of human resources. Training programmes will also be specifically designed to reorient existing personnel towards developmental approaches. Some of these will be in-house programmes, other will be provided by both governmental and non-governmental organisations. Negotiations will be undertaken with training institutions to provide a range of capacity-building programmes."
• Facilitation of intersectoral collaboration -- "Mechanisms will be designed to facilitate intersectoral policy formulation, planning, monitoring and evaluation, coordination, and the definition of functions and responsibilities ... Such policies will be negotiated by government departments and other relevant stakeholders." NPPHCN could facilitate this process in civil society through the RDP Council or other structures.
• Analysis/identification of resources in the NGO sector -- "No accurate statistics of the numbers of organisations in civil society which currently deliver social services and development programmes exist. It is estimated that there are up to 10,000 organisations in civil society which have a welfare and development focus. . . A substantial non-governmental (NGO sector has developed in South Africa, with its roots in the anti-apartheid movement. These organisations pioneered people-centred development strategies, identified gaps in the delivery system, which they attempted to fill, and lobbied for policies to effect fundamental social, economic and political changes." NPPHCN could submit a proposal to compile this information for the Department and use it to increase our membership.

4. Comments on Discussion Document

On first glance, this report sets forth a very progressive vision for welfare in South Africa. It is comprehensive, people-centred, intersectoral, developmental, and equitable. There are, however, a few points that need further examination. Welfare seems well behind Health in the decentralisation of control to the local level. This decision may undercut some of the otherwise progressive thinking in the report. More troubling is the fact that this document does not offer many concrete recommendations for changing the existing system. It is still operating at a very theoretical level. After reading this report, I am not clear how this vision will be translated into services on the ground. They are far from passing legislation and changing the delivery system.

5. Summary/Way Forward

In conclusion, I think that NPPHCN can play two important roles in the welfare debate. It can submit proposals to fill in some of the gaps mentioned in the report and it can lobby the Department on their policy direction. The Department appears to be moving in the right direction albeit slowly. They profess a commitment to work with NGOs and they recognize the need for help to transform the welfare system. I recommend that we begin to develop a relationship with the Welfare departments nationally and provincially to discuss areas of potential collaboration. To move forward, we should set up introductory meetings with the National Department of Welfare. Once we have clearer sense of their vision, we can develop specific proposals around one or all of the issues highlighted above to help them implement it.

Beyond collaboration, we will need to analyze the White Paper when it is released in late December to ensure that their plans are in line with this progressive vision. Public comment is expected to extend from December 1995 to February 1996. Then we must monitor their legislative proposals as they reach Parliament and express our views. Based on these analyses and NPPHCN's policy statements, we should determine our 2-3 most important issues to focus on. From this initial analysis, the role of the "indigenous workers" and the decentralisation of services are two issues that stand out. Within the Department of Welfare's policy process, we have an opportunity to work intersectorally to begin to address the socio-economic causes of ill health.

For more information on this document, please contact:

Dr Patel, Consultant to the Department of Welfare (012) 312-7778

Mr P Long, NPPHCN, (021) 696-4873, or e-mail at phila@wn.apc.org

Last updated: 02/02/00
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