DSD REPORTS STRONG START TO FINANCIAL YEAR

By Precious Mupenzi.

• The Department of Social Development told the Parliamentary portfolio on social development it is committed to strengthening accountability and ensuring that corrective measures are taken where it falls short.
• The department delivered its quarter 1 performance to the committee.
• The department reported an 82% achievement of its set targets for the first quarter (April – June 2025), reflecting progress against its annual performance plan.

The Department of Social Development presented its quarter 1 performance to the Parliamentary portfolio committee this week, with the department’s chief director for monitoring and evaluation, Thabani Buthelezi, noting it demonstrated the department’s commitment to strengthening accountability and ensuring that corrective measures are taken if falls short.

“We are determined to sustain this trajectory and achieve even higher levels of performance by year-end,” Buthelezi said.

The presentation to the committee on 17 September 2025 was led by director-general, Peter Netshipale, with the report jointly delivered by Buthelezi and the Chief Financial Officer, Thandeka Ngcobo, who provided detailed insights on the financial aspects.

The department reported an 82% achievement of its set targets for the first quarter (April – June 2025), reflecting progress against its annual performance plan.

Improvements included redesigned performance reporting systems and alignment with the department of planning, monitoring, and evaluation’s guidelines.

Buthelezi noted that ongoing engagement with internal and external auditors had helped the department stay ahead of potential audit risks. The report was also presented to the risk and audit committees before submission to the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

Challenges and underperformance

Despite the positive trajectory, the department acknowledged shortfalls such as:

• Comprehensive social security, with only one of two capacity-building workshops was delivered due to scheduling issues.
• Older persons and social services: with the commemoration of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day shifted from the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape due to urgent gender-based violence and femicide concerns.
• Social crime prevention: with the accreditation of diversion system not being monitored, as access was denied by a provincial office.
• Youth development, with monitoring completed in one province instead of three, with outstanding provinces to be covered in the next quarter.
• Non-profit organisation registration, with 652 applications registered within the statutory timeframe, and a technical miscalculation led to the target being flagged as unmet.

Expenditure insights

By the end of June 2025, the department had spent 24.03% of its total budget, while operational spending – excluding major transfers – stood slightly higher at 26.04%. This level of expenditure is in line with first quarter projections and reflects the department’s drive to maintain service delivery momentum early in the financial year.

According to Ngcobo, much of the expenditure was driven by compensation of employees, goods and services, and programme-related activities.

Compensation accounted for a significant share, funding core staff across programmes to ensure stability in the department’s service delivery chain.

Within the administration department alone, R57 million (24%) was spent on salaries for 332 posts, underscoring the department’s reliance on skilled personnel to execute its mandate.

Goods and services expenditure was equally critical.

Key cost drivers included mandatory services such as security and cleaning contracts, IT systems maintenance, fleet management, and audit fees.

In addition, programme branches incurred spending on venues, travel, and consultants to support strategic policy work and oversight functions. For example:

• In social security policy and administration (programme 3), costs were linked to consultative workshops on basic income support, training on the child support grant top-up, and the adjudication of social grant appeals by the Independent Tribunal.
• In welfare services policy development and implementation support (programme 4), spending covered capacity-building workshops, national forums such as the National Child Care and Protection Forum, and advocacy campaigns including promotional material for commemorative events.
• In social policy and integrated service delivery (programme 5), funds went towards training 660 officials in food safety and quality assurance, developing a policy to link beneficiaries to sustainable livelihoods, and convening community development consultations across provinces.

Ngcobo added that some invoices, particularly for consultants and venue costs, were only received at the end of the quarter and will therefore reflect in the second quarter’s expenditure figures. This timing difference explains why some cost categories appear lower than anticipated at mid-year, despite the activities having already taken place.

Importantly, the department emphasised that these expenditure patterns are not merely about keeping the lights on, but about laying the groundwork for long-term efficiency and accountability.

Investments in IT systems will reduce downtime and improve service reliability, while training initiatives are equipping frontline officials with the skills needed to deliver services more effectively.

Similarly, consultative workshops and policy development processes are ensuring that South Africa’s social protection framework remains responsive to emerging needs.

These are strategic commitments designed to strengthen the department’s capacity to safeguard the country’s most vulnerable citizens.