Child welfare underfunded by 49%
Government is dismally failing in their duty by providing a little over half the funding of what is needed
Member of Parliament Mike Waters, has said that Child Welfare SA – Edenvale is underfunded by 49 percent.
MP Waters now intends to write to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) with regards to the situation faced by the organisation.
In a Parliamentary reply to questions asked by MP Waters, it was stated that the total cost to the Edenvale organisation for providing statutory services for the 2014/2015 financial year is R921 075.
“Government is obliged by law to provide the services to vulnerable children. It has however, only provided R473 059 or 51.36 percent of the funds needed for the organisation to provide services to the community,” said MP Water.
He added that government has an obligation under the Constitution and the Children’s Act to ensure that all children are taken care of.
“They are dismally failing in their duty by providing a little over half the funding of what is needed,” he said.
According to MP Waters, the government is failing children by not funding vital services and which it expects other organisations to provide on its behalf.
“Government is supposed to ensure that laws are backed up with the necessary funding or what is the point of having laws that only appear on paper but are not backed up with the funding,” he asked.
“I will be asking the SAHRC to investigate whether the gross underfunding to Edenvale Child Welfare is indeed undermining children’s rights and whether the government is being derelict in its responsibilities towards children in need,” said MP Waters.
