In line with its developmental mandate, the Department of Social Development will conduct a week-long NPO compliance outreach programme in the Eastern Cape Province. Tailored for the NPO sector, the aim of this outreach programme is to bring the Department’s support services on the doorsteps of local NPOs to enable them to comply with the requirements of the Non-Profit Organisations Act (Act No. 71 of 1997, as amended by General laws Amendment Act).

As recently announced, the Department has begun the implementation of the phased-in approach for the de-registration of non-compliant Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs). As part of its decisions to put South Africa on the grey list, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) found that NPOs have a medium exposure to terror financing and money laundering. Social Development, as the registrar and custodian of the NPO Act was tasked to develop and implement the NPO Terror Funding Risk Assessment.

The outreach programme forms part of the Department’s ongoing national efforts to enhance the NPO compliance and implement FATF recommendations ahead of its review of South Africa’s progress early next year.

The NPO sector play a very important role in the social and economic well-being of communities across South Africa. In addition to providing the much-needed essential services to many vulnerable communities across the country, the latest Quarterly Labour Force Suvey shows that as the private sector scales back on employment, the NPO sector continues to create employment opportunities, particularly for women and young people.

During the outreach programme, the NPOs will be taken through the NPO Act that regulates registration and compliance issues in the sector, measures currently underway to strengthen the legislative and institutional frameworks for combating money laundering and financing of terrorism in South Africa using a risk-based approach, as well as Recommendation 8 on the NPO sector from FATF. The NPOs will have an opportunity to check and update their compliance status or request voluntary de-registration.

Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the NPO compliance outreach programme planned as follows:

Date: Tuesday, 26 November

Time: 09h00 - 16h00

Venue:          NU10 Community Hall - Mdantsane

Date: Wednesday, 27 November

Time: 09h00 -16h00

Venue: Ginsberg Community Hall, King William’s Town

Date: Thursday, 28 November 2024 

Time: 09h00 -16h00

Venue: Step Ahead ECD, Nkomazi Place, Amalinda

Media can RSVP by contacting Ms Nomfundo Xulu-Lentsoane on 066 480 6845 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Media enquiries may be forwarded to Mr Bathembu Futshane on 071 162 1154 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Monday, 04 November 2024 | Lagoon Beach Hotel, Cape Town

_________________________________________________________________________

Programme Director, Mr Jabbar Cassiem Mohamed;

Western Cape MEC of Social Development, Mr Jaco Londt;

Senior officials from national and provincial departments here present;

Representatives of civil society and community-based organisations;

Ladies and Gentlemen, friends and colleagues.

1.       Good morning. It is my great pleasure to join you all of you here today for the handover of the report that contains inputs gathered during the public hearings on the Draft Policy on Social Development Services for Persons with Disabilities. I am pleased to hand the first of the nine provincial reports here in the Western Cape, my home province. The report contains key issues that were raised by individuals and organisations representing persons with disabilities during the public hearings on the development of the Draft Policy on Social Development Services to Persons with Disabilities.

2.       The Minister of Social Development has delegated the disability function to me as part of my responsibilities in the Department of Social Development. I therefore welcome the opportunity to meet and interact with you here today. I look forward to working with many of you in the sector over the next five years in bringing this Policy to life, as well as in addressing many of the issues that are raised in this report. 

3.       The Policy reinforces the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and reaffirms our Department’s commitments to provide a range of services that support independent living and inclusion in society on an equal basis with others. Persons with disabilities themselves and their representative organisations have been central to the development of the Policy and I thank all of you for your contributions to this process.

4.       The Policy intends to mainstream disability issues in all programmes in order to qualitatively improve the lives of persons with disabilities by rendering community-based services to address stigma and discrimination of persons with disabilities and strengthening families and communities as the first of line of response in protecting and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities; and break the barriers which segregate people with disabilities and force them to the margins of society.

5.       Ladies and Gentlemen, it is timely that we hand over this report here today just a day after the official launch of the National Disability Rights Awareness Month under the theme: “Celebrating 30 years of Democracy, creating a disability inclusive society for a better quality of life and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities”. Since 2013, South Africa has been annually commemorating the National Disability Rights Awareness Month (DRAM) from 3 November - 3 December to promote the human and socio-economic rights of persons with disabilities.

6.       The purpose of commemorating the National Disability Rights Awareness Month is to educate the public about disability issues, to take stock of progress and to celebrate the many and varied contributions of persons with disabilities in South Africa. According to the 2022 Census, sex variations showed that disability was more prevalent among females compared to males, a pattern consistent in both Censuses 2011 and 2022. 

7.       Currently, the national disability prevalence rate in South Africa is at 7,5%. Disability is more prevalent among females compared to males (8,3% and 6,5% respectively). Persons with disabilities increase with age. More than half (53,2%) of persons aged 85+ reported having a disability. Over the period 2011–2022, the black African and coloured populations recorded a decline in disability prevalence.

8.       Western Cape is the only province that experienced a slight increase in 2022 in terms of disability prevalence compared to all other provinces, from 5,3% in 2011 to 5,4% in 2022. The 2022 results indicated a decrease in the use of all assistive devices compared to 2011, with the exception of prosthesis/artificial limb which was not one of the assistive devices measured in Census 2011.

9.       Ladies and Gentlemen, persons with disabilities occupy a very special place in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, which enjoins us to do all that we can to create an enabling environment to protect and promote the human and socio-economic rights of persons with disabilities, as well as create an enabling environment to ensure their full and equal participation in all spheres of our national life. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act No. 108 of1996) provides that everyone is equal before the law and has equal protection and benefit of the law.

10.      The Constitution further provides that everyone has the right to have their dignity respected and protected. And that is why we deemed it fit to come back here in the Western Cape to hand over this report, which contains the concerns and aspirations of persons with disabilities. When we conduct public hearings, as our legislative processes so requires of us, we do not do it with malicious intent, but we do so genuinely to hear the voices and lived experiences of those that our laws are made to benefit.

11.      South Africa has ratified several international conventions that require the extension of social security to specific categories of the population including the right to social security for all children. Social protection plays a key role in realising the rights of persons with disabilities of all ages: providing them with an adequate standard of living, a basic level of income security; thus, reducing levels of extreme poverty and vulnerability.

12.      Our social assistance programme is designed to address challenges faced by persons with disability across the lifecycle: there is a Care Dependency Grant for children with disabilities, a Disability Grant for those aged between 18 and 59 years, and an Old Age Grant for those aged 60 years and above. In addition, recipients of the Disability and Old Age Grant can access the Grant-in-Aid for caregivers who provide care and support.

13.      The report and high-level action that we are handing over to MEC Jaco Londt here today seek to build on the successes we have registered thus far and ensure the full participation of persons with disabilities in the social life of their families and communities. The report specifically calls for access to mainstream, inclusivity and accessibility for persons with disabilities.

14.      The report argues, strongly and convincingly, for investment in educational, capacity building, skills development, employment and funding opportunities to ensure the full participation of persons with disabilities in the social life of their families and communities. It further calls for the provision of assistive devices, including wheelchairs and hearing aids

15.      The high-level action will be published and fully accessible. Progress will be monitored regularly and we will all be held accountable for our pledges. It is my believe that the high-level action plan from this report once implemented will ensure inclusion and full participation of persons with disabilities. Ensuring full inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of national life is a journey, not a destination. As the Deputy Minister of Social Development, I stand ready to walk this journey with you and all MECs in their respective provinces to implement the high-level action in the coming months.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is now my pleasure to officially handover this report to the MEC of Social Development in the Western Cape, Mr Jaco Londt.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Warm regards,

Internal Communication

As part of the build-up activities for the Presidential District Development Model Oversight visit to the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, the Deputy Minister of Social Development, Mr Ganief Hendricks and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial MEC of Social Development, Ms Mbali Shinga will, on Thursday, 07 November handover humanitarian relief assistance to disaster-stricken households in Inanda, eThekwini Metro.

This is done in collaboration with the International We LoveU Foundation, a global NPO that focuses on addressing poverty, humanitarian relief and building global peace in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The Foundation has been working with the Department of Social Development since 2020 to improve the well-being of vulnerable groups such as children, women, older persons citizens, persons with disabilities, disaster victims and refugees.

The Province of KwaZulu-Natal was hit by devastating disasters and a tornado that left families displaced and destitute. The Inanda area was one of the hardest hit areas under eThekwini Metro.  The generous donation from the International We LoveU Foundation will benefit about 400 families as they recover and rebuild their lives.

Deputy Minister Hendricks and MEC Shinga’s visit to Inanda is planned as follows:

Date:            Thursday, 07 November 2024 

Venue:          Sakhisizwe Old Age Home, Ward 42 Inanda-eThekwini Metro

Time:            10h00-11h30

Warm regards

Internal Communication

Following the outcomes of the 13th Bi-National Commission (BNC) between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Republic of Namibia held in Windhoek, Namibia in 2023, the Department of Social Development, will from 4-6 November 2024, host a Namibian delegation on a learning visit to South Africa.

The learning visit, comprised of senior officials from the Namibian Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, the University of Namibia and Project Hope, will focus on South Africa’s child protection system, with particular interest on the role of social auxiliary workers and child care workers. 

The visiting delegation seeks to learn about South Africa’s harmonisation of data collection and reporting systems such as the Child Protection Register.

The learning visit presents an opportunity for the delegations to consolidate and further enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the field of social development, as well as follow up on progress made in the finalisation of the new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) since the last BNC held in 2023.

This MOU incorporates new areas of cooperation in amongst others, substance abuse, services to older persons and persons with disabilities, strengthening social service professions, poverty eradication and sustainable livelihoods, child care protection and trafficking in persons and gender-based violence and femicide.

The strong diplomatic and political relations between South Africa and Namibia were forged during their common struggle against colonialism and apartheid. One of the key issues currently in the cooperation agreement between the two countries is social security, particularly grants administration in what is known as the Walvis Bay Agreement.

As part South Africa's transition to freedom and democracy in 1994, both countries agreed that South Africa will continue to provide health and welfare benefits to South African citizens in Walvis Bay, which had been under apartheid South Africa’s control. In line with this agreement, the South African Social Security Agency,  currently pays about 532 beneficiaries of the Old Age Grant in Namibia.

During the BNC held last year, it was agreed that the Department, through SASSA, will no longer accept new social grants applications, but will continue with existing beneficiaries who will be phased out over time through natural attrition.

The Namibian delegation’s three-day learning programme will include interaction with the South African Council for Social Services Professions (SACSSP) and a site visit to a child and youth care centre around Gauteng Province.

Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the Namibian delegation’s learning visit to South Africa planned as follows:  

Date:            Monday, 4 November 2024 

Time:            09h00

Venue:          134 HSRC Building, corner Pretorius and Bosman Streets, Pretoria

Media can RSVP by contacting Ms Nomfundo Xulu-Lentsoane on 066 480 6845 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Media enquiries may be forwarded to Mr Bathembu Futshane on 071 162 1154 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.