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Response to article: Welfare alleviating and causing misery
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Speeches and Media Releases
 Welfare

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MEDIA RELEASE
 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR'S PAGE.

RESPONSE TO AN ARTICLE HEADLINED:
WELFARE ALLEVIATING AND CAUSING MISERY:
DAILY DISPATCH 18 JANUARY 2000.

We respond to the above article, which we are convinced is aimed at nothing other that to demonise and destroy the character of the 
Department and its staff as irresponsible group of inefficient and uncaring administrators and bureaucrats. The opposite is true.

The people of South Africa who know the history of this country should stand up and be counted when arm chair critics portray an image that 
they know the problems of our people better than the government of the day.

Nobody could dispute the fact that we are a Department at work for a better life for our target market, the elderly, the disabled, the 
orphaned and the children in conflict with the law.

All this is done against the backdrop of the glaring lack of physical infrastructure both human and financial resources and the endemic 
cancer of fraud and corruption. In the face of such a hostile environment, we are our proud to say that steadily the dark clouds of despair 
are lifting giving way to our season of hope.

The task and the challenge of reconstructing and developing our societies into ones that guarantee human dignity faces the entirety of our 
nation and her people. That enormous responsibility could not be made the sole preserve of the Eastern Cape government.

In partnership with our people through their organisations – political and civic, religious communities, traditional leaders, welfare 
forums and everyone else, we are guided by the vision of creating a caring society.

In that crusade of creating a caring society we conduct our business not on the basis of the colour and racial orientation of our 
beneficiaries as the article does. Non -racialism is the name of the game.

We want to draw the public’s attention to the following:

* The Department of Welfare is plotting a strategy of bringing into our system all those genuine beneficiaries who lost their grants 
erroneously. The success of these projects hinges on the usage of the natural light storm, which we hope to put in place with our 
colleagues in the National Department as a matter of urgency.
* There is an ongoing campaign to encourage those of our beneficiaries closer to financial institution to open bank accounts. The out-
sourcing of the payment of pensions is paramount in the Department's strategies.
* We are a Department in the government at work for a better life for our clientele hence we do not have time to organise "waiting games."
* The Department has been transparent about its constraints and challenges with a view to getting fair comment and advice from the public 
about how to better the situation. However, it was not our intentions to open that avenue to abuse rather for constructive engagement.
* Our strategies and tactics to annihilate fraud and corruption in our midst speak for themselves. Recently our Provincial government 
hosted an Anti-Corruption Summit on this very same topic in East London City Hall. What more should we do to demonstrate that we abhor 
fraud and corruption?

* It is untrue that we are running out of funds as the author of the article fantacises or professes.
* We do not have a programme to take away people’s rights except a sharpened and focussed campaign to fight fraud, corruption and other 
irregularities.
* Welfare Forums are being established in various parts of the Province to realise partnerships with the Department and be our eyes and 
ears in their areas.
* The Department of Welfare knows of no rules in place to change the rules governing disability grants. We take this statement in a serious 
light as it is geared towards giving false impression and confuse civil society.

* The Department is seriously engaged in the re-registration of old age, foster care, State Maintenance and Child Support Grants. We do not 
believe that the matter warrants public hearings. It is our belief that no reasonable citizen would oppose the endeavors of this nature.
* It is an untruth that the processing of new application will be delayed during the re-registration process. On the contrary every effort 
is made to process applications as speedily as possible.
In conclusion, we are of the view that continuous negative publicity does not do any one any good.

It is time for more action and less publicity stances in self-appraisal.

We therefore, echo the words of our President Thabo Mbeki "to invite all those (people) in our society who occupy positions of authority 
and power to join us in this new way of doing things, by engaging people whom we serve and lead in the common effort to transform all of us 
into a people at work for a better South Africa."

We make the same call to the people of our Province to help us make things happen by creating a caring Welfare Department guided by the 
Batho Pele principles..

The end result would be a winning Eastern Cape Provincial government and its people.

Ends.
 Issued by
Mamkeli Ngam
 Communication Services
 Welfare Department

BISHO



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