Vulnerable need more help - Davies
|Published
Trade and Industry minister Rob Davies. Trade and Industry minister Rob Davies.
KwaDukuza - Vulnerable South Africans need to be provided with assistance to help them cope in times of economic crisis and nature disasters, said the Department of Trade and Industry.
“Efforts should be doubled to assist the vulnerable South Africans,” said South African Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies during a visit to Child Welfare South Africa in KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal on Monday.
Child Welfare South Africa, a project that has received R962 000 in funds from the National Lotteries Commission seeks to provide a range of services to children, families and communities who are at risk in KwaDukuza and the outlying areas. The project provides assistance to over 8 000 beneficiaries.
The National Lotteries Commission has provided about R8 million in funds to various projects and organisations over the past 16 years
Davies said vulnerable South Africans needed assistance especially in times of economic uncertainty and the current drought crisis.
He said more work needs to be done to help non-governmental organisations to “improve their governance structures and compliance” which would enable them to secure future funding from donor organisations.
This, he said, would enable these organisations to better carry out the work they were doing in giving hope and a future to vulnerable South Africans and more effectively address the socio-economic challenges the country faces.
Child Welfare runs a Domestic Workers Empowerment Programme. Senior manager Bongani Ndlovu said the programme “was established to skill the unemployed women and men in home and office management, cooking, domestic work, waitressing, child welfare, office assistance and petrol attendance.”
More than 3 800 domestic workers have graduated from the programme. “We have seen our graduates getting employment and turning their lives around,” Ndlovu said.
Davies applauded the work the National Lotteries Commission, and said the commission “has had a positive impact on thousands of South Africans” and continues to make a difference.
AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY