1. Hon. Members, DSD is supposed to care for the most vulnerable in normal circumstances, can you imagine what happens to this cohort and others during a disaster like a health pandemic.
2. This department clearly from our budget hearings, had been given sufficient money but some officials chose to “make hay while the sun shines”, are real concerns, Hon. Speaker.
3. DSD deals with basic needs like blankets and food parcels for vulnerable people.
4. Poor planning, new staffing needs, indicators for co-operatives not costed for , which should then not be in DSD and rather remain in EDTEA, overseen by the Premiers office, are some issues requiring attention.
5. The food parcel debacle is tragic and the MF believes that Cabinet should urgently have sight of the departments Hybrid model to ensure that officials with relevant project management skills, intervene and get food to people who are still hankering for the R350 from SASSA which is like a faulty car engine that needs to be kickstarted all the time.
6. DSD had underspent in the third and fourth quarters in the previous financial year by less than 25%, therefore during this crisis there is a dire need for the M&E officials to diligently follow this adjusted budget to ensure its appropriate usage.
7. The 88 000 food parcels at a cost of R25 million, for a 3 month distribution only accounts for 60 000, so what happened to the 18 000 food parcels where some districts were not covered by the remaining three SRD clusters.
8. The MF after a very long time. Hon. Members became exasperated during a budget hearing because in these times social development reverts to the cornerstone of being social welfare. The Hon. MEC and our people needs support, Hon. Premier, hence the MF supports this budget.
9. Thank you.

Hon. S. Thakur-Rajbansi