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HIV/Aids battle draining state's welfare resources
Sipho Khumalo, The Mercury
2006-03-30

With the payment of social grants like pensions having been taken over by the South African Social Security Agency, the department's budget had been slashed from more than R13 billion to R834.5 million in the 2006/07 financial year.

Now the core function of the department is to provide social welfare services to the poor and vulnerable, including measures and projects to help people deal with the effects of poverty and HIV/Aids.

Briefing the committee about the challenges facing the department, Ngubane noted that illness and death of parents due to HIV/Aids-
related illnesses meant that more children needed foster care and children's homes.

"Social workers are required to provide extra services in terms of placement of these children, supervision of the placement once finalised, as well as the provision of counselling and support services to bereaved children and the families concerned," said Ngubane.

He said the other challenge faced by his department was the funding of private organisations.

"This is particularly so in the area of salaries of social workers appointed by these organisations because of the ongoing exodus of these workers into the private sector and other departments," he said, adding that his department was developing a retention strategy to address the issue.

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