United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

There’s broad acknowledgement that anti –poverty measures have reduced poverty since 1994.The conditions of the poor have progressively been improving and overall poverty has fallen steadily until 2006 when the global financial crisis hit.However, despite governments’ concerted efforts to fight poverty and under development through its various programs, many households continue to suffer. In fact 43% of people are still trapped in poverty.

The Ten Year Review document pointed out that there’s no comprehensive national antipoverty strategy country wide strategy and that a new approach is necessary as the current mode was adhoc, unaligned and uncoordinated. The review document further posits that there was no comprehensive & credible information about the conditions of the extremely poor. There was no mechanism to gauge the progress and graduation of poor households from extreme poverty. This was also happening amid rising inequalities especially among black people.

Community development to a great extent is premised on credible information about households hence the implementation of the Balelapa Household Profiling Project.

In 2008, the government of South Africa embarked on an anti poverty campaign of profiling the poorest households and providing them with government services. The main aim of the program is to provide integrated government services in the most deprived wards over the next five years (2009-2014).
Based on the Northern Cape Provincial Index on Multiple Deprivation (PIMD) focus is on:
 5 Districts
 19 Local Municipalities
 61 wards
 53 741 Households
 268 705 individuals
The intensification of the War on Poverty Program culminated in the development of the Balelapa Household profiling Project (that include the rest of the other 126 wards) which stemmed from an EXCO decision to profile all households in the Northern Cape Province.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
The Department was requested by Cabinet to develop a comprehensive database of information at household level. The database will contain a profile of each household within the province, their skills levels and indication of existing services being delivered as well as identify service delivery gaps. The program is also aimed at skills development by training and utilizing (616)unemployed young people to conduct the door-to-door study and to capture the information for the purpose of establishing a system from which people living in abject poverty can be identified and receive the necessary services.  233 992 household profiles have been completed to date  Municipal Analysis Reports were completed for four (4) municipalities Renosterberg, Mier, Kamiesberg and Phokwane.  The Provincial War Room and five District War Rooms have been established and are operational  275 households received immediate Food Relief (food parcels) assistance.  Current community food gardens are assisting 100 households  60 households were assisted with establishing household food gardens in the war on poverty areas.  3 Community food gardens established  53 Community Development Centres and Soup Kitchens serving over 5 000 people in the war on poverty area.  4 Youth Service Centres supported and serving 4800 youth through amongst others NYS program.  18 young people linked to business opportunities  40 young people were linked to a drivers license program  40 Community Development Practitioners (CDP) and Community Development Workers (CDWs) trained on WOP Program( Profiling, Quality Assurers, Referrals)  40 School Uniforms: issued to children by Provincial Treasury  20 NPOs trained to increase their implementing capacity  50 houses allocated to date 10 delivered  Other households have been confirmed on municipal lists to get houses and others are in process.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
In the Northern Cape, the provincial/political champion of the WOP/Balelapa Household Profiling Project is the Premiers’ Office, however, the lead department dedicated to the co ordination of the Program is the Northern Cape Department of Social Development. Buy in was obtained from all stakeholders through various consultations including workshops/meetings with district and local municipalities. The provincial war room (PWR) was established comprising of provincial and national departments (present in the province).The War Room will constitutes of two (2) focal persons per department for service referrals. In order to deliver on the mandates of both national and provincial, the provincial Department of Social Development has entered into partnerships with the SETAs to harness the energy of the youth in order for them to contribute positively to their communities. A number of learnerships have been secured to enhance youth employability, ensure steady income and skills transfer. The learnership allocations are as follows; Health & Welfare SETA - 110 ETDP SETA- 150 Services SETA -250 MerSETA - 106 The task of these learners is to conduct the door to door household profiles and from draw out service referrals that are sent to departments and state owned enterprises (SOEs) for the delivery of services. The service referrals are dealt with at an interdepartmental structure (War Rooms) and progress is reported with respect to the individual referrals. Non Governmental Organizations form an important part of the War Rooms in terms of community mobilization.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The project has been adopted at MINMEC as best practice model and all provinces envisage replicating the program. The Free State Province has already launched their project. The innovation is the establishment of the up-to-date electronic information system with information on each and every household within Northern Cape Province. The system is able to identify per household: household members, social participation, access to government services, household income and unemployed youth are utilized to conduct profiling.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
War on Poverty program consultations commences with district road shows District Road show on WOP commences in conjunction with Office The Premier, Corporative Governance Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs and Statistics South Africa Building Healthy Lifestyle Program( 500 Families’ Project) concluded in December 2009 Provincial Cabinet assigned DSD to lead and co-ordinate Balelapa HH profiling Project Consultation with SETA CEOs with Political principals Seta engagements concluded, four [4] SETAs formalised the Balelapa Household Profiling Project partnership Consultations with Municipalities and Intergovernmental Relation fora MOU signed between provincial and national Department of Social Development on customisation of NISIS(National Integrated Social Information System) Renosterberg Local Municipality Analysis Report is endorsed by EXCO and published for public consumption Institutional arrangements established: Provincial and district war rooms Service Referrals are generated and attended to War on Poverty: Director General Mbongwa addresses Northern Cape : HODs Forum Presented WOP and Renosterberg Local Municipality Analysis Report to Technical Cluster Deputy President Motlanthe visits province to gauge progress Provincial DSD initiates alignment with Department of Rural Development ( Rural CRDP sites & NARYSEC)

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
The high learner drop-out is a major challenge. From the original six hundred and sixteen (616) learners, only four hundred and eighty-two (482) are still in the program - initially the project was planned for a 1 000 learners, currently there are only 482. This might delay the completion of the profiling phase of the project. The project was implemented without any additional resources [budget and staff] therefore programs have had to reprioritise their own budget in order to meet program objectives. Transportation of learners to complete profiling in the rural areas (especially in and around farms). The prolonged time it takes for completing municipal analysis reports in areas where profiles have been completed. The high number of referrals generated from the profiles versus the capacity of government departments and local authorities to deal and address the issues. Poor service referral completion Integration and Reporting Exit strategy for learners Mitigation  The Department of Social Development undertook to augment the number of volunteers per by recruiting additional volunteers in every district to assist with profiling, quality control and capturing.  Constant reprioritisation of resources.  The Department utilises its computer training room for backlog capturing.  Where possible, learners are transported to rural areas on the goods and services budget of Social Development.  The Department of Social Development does its utmost best to complete analysis reports as areas are profiled, quality assured and captured.  Different Government Departments are requested to prioritize household in most need of services via the Provincial and District War Rooms.  Report on War on Poverty (progress with referrals) to Heads of Departments at HODs Forum quarterly  Joint profiling operations with Department of Agriculture Land Reform &Rural Development  Second tier economic report for sustainability and employment linked to the PGDS lead by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism  Developed Concept Exit Strategy for endorsement by EXCO

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
As mentioned previously, the Balelapa Household Profiling Project was to be implemented without any additional resources. As a result reprioritization of the departmental budgets and resources had to take place. Within the Department of Social Development, a program was reorganized and dedicated to Balelapa Household Profiling Project. To this end, a program budget of R 8,268 000.00 was dedicated to the profiling project. The Seta( all four SETAs combined) allocations stands at R 18 014 860.00 with R 9,372, 000.00 (allocated for Seta stipends of the 616 learners at R 1 000.00 amount for 18 months) and R 8 642 860.00 towards training fees. Additionally, to augment the numbers of learners who had to profile households an additional R 2 million were allocated to speed up profiling. To contribute towards the customization of the NISIS database, the provincial departments were requested to commit R 5 million of which R 1,9m has been transferred and R 3,1m is outstanding.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
In no more than 500 words, describe how the initiative is being sustained (for example in terms of financial, social and economic, cultural, environmental, institutional and regulatory sustainability). Describe whether the initiative is being replicated or disseminated throughout the public service at the national and/or international levels and/or how it could be replicated. As mentioned earlier, this project has been adopted by the Social Development MINMEC as a way of enhancing service delivery of government based on sound information with a view to improve the quality and pace of public services. Free State provincial department has already adopted this program and Kwazulu Natal has requested a concept document with a view to adapt it to their provincial peculiarities. As a mechanism to share experience and best practice numerous articles and write ups have been done on the program including article in the local and national media. Other platforms have been used to articulate the progress of the Balelapa Household Profiling Project at local, provincial and national levels. The project is highly replicable and adaptable to suit most settings.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The implementation of the War on Poverty /Balelapa Household program heralded a new approach to service delivery. It relies on credible information about households and then targeted programs are designed based on empirical evidence such that any interventions that occur are evidence based. Implementation of the program has created synergies in the way government works because through the provincial and district war rooms co ordinated action and focus is enhanced and therefore impact on the lives of people especially the poor is maximized. Key lessons learned in implementing the program have been - Political leadership and support - Enabling environment for innovation - Requisite institutional arrangements -Technological support As key outcomes for implementing WOP/Balelapa HH Profiling the Northern Cape provincial government has ;  a comprehensive set of information on the household profiles of every household in the province.  been able to enhance skills development through a SETA Accredited Training Program or full learnership for young people.  a system in place from which people living in abject poverty can be identified to receive the necessary services.  improved the delivery of integrated services to community especially the poor based on sound evidence.  been able to ensure integrated planning across all 3 spheres of government as a result of analysis reports generated from household questionnaires


Institution Name:		Department of Social Development :Northern Cape
Institution Type:		Government Department
Contact Person:		Elizabeth Botes
Title:		Ms
Telephone/ Fax:		053 874 9100
Institution's / Project's Website:
E-mail:		ebotes@ncpg.gov.za
Address:		Private Bag X5042
Postal Code:		8301
City:		Kimberley
State/Province:		Northern Cape
Country:		South Africa

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information