Since the beginning of March 2022, the Department of Social Development (DSD) has not distributed a single food parcel to the destitute in the Buffalo City or Nelson Mandela Bay Metros. While the Department has not given any explanation as to why they have not done so, the problem is clearly not due to a lack of funds. Earlier this year, the DA revealed that R67 million provided in grant …


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Nearly two months into the new financial year and the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development has still not distributed the controversial bank cards to needy beneficiaries. Where are the bank cards MEC, and who are the beneficiaries? Show us the list! The Department decided to issue people in the province with bank cards pre-loaded with R1 500 cash, after failing to spend more than R141 million entrusted to them …


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The Eastern Cape Department of Social Development is failing to meet the needs of a growing elderly population in the province, leaving many old and frail individuals destitute and without care. Statistics released last month by Stats SA show that the province’s population of individuals 60 years and older has grown significantly over the past five years, from 708 000 (10.6%) in 2015 to 771 000 (11.4%) in 2020. The …


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The failing ANC-led Provincial Government has decided to issue people in the province with bank cards pre-loaded with R1 500 cash, after failing to spend the money entrusted to them by the National Government to provide relief to those in distress. After failing to spend more than 86% of the R164 million in grant funding given to the Department of Social Development to assist families in dire need, the Department …


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Ten months into the current financial year and the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) has spent less than 14% of the funds meant to assist those people in distress in the province. While tens of thousands of people have had their livelihoods destroyed in this province by Covid-19 and the subsequently enforced lockdown, while children have been starving, this incompetent Department has been sitting on millions of rand …


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World Homeless Day [10 October 2020] is a fresh opportunity for the Eastern Cape Government to revisit the plight of the homeless and tackle some of the complex issues affecting these marginalised individuals. During the national lockdown, the Department of Social Development in the Eastern Cape opened nine temporary homeless shelters in five districts in the Eastern Cape. This presented the perfect opportunity to assist individuals with needs such as …


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More than 60% of Non-Profit Organisations in the Eastern Cape did not receive a single cent of their 2020/2021 subsidy payments from the Department of Social Development (DSD). In a very delayed response to a parliamentary question from the DA, Social Development MEC, Siphokazi Mani-Lusithi has now confirmed that of the 2661 department-funded NPOs in the province, by July, 1611 NPOs had still not received any subsidy payments for the …


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Hundreds of Non-Profit Organisations (NPO) are battling to keep their doors open as private funding dries up under the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent enforced lockdown. Fundraising initiatives, many of which require face to face interactions, have all but ground to a halt, while corporate funding has also been severely affected, with funds being redirected to Covid-19 relief measures. In the face of these challenges, NPOs, which …


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The Eastern Cape Department of Social Development has admitted that the current budget available for food parcels for distribution to families in need due to the current Coronavirus outbreak in the province, is “very insufficient”. In response to a letter I wrote to the MEC for Social Development, Siphokazi Mani-Lusithi, last week, the Department has confirmed that the Provincial SASSA funding allocation for the 2020/2021 financial year, totalling R45,5 million, …


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