community is still living in a hall in the Western Cape.

In every branch of the state, we must put the family first and stop undermining the family. In every committee I serve on Health, Education and even Social Development, the state is undermining the family. We can never have enough money ... [Interjections.]

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr MLDNtombela): Excuse me, hon member. The ICT, could you please mute hon Mary Pietersen. Sorry about that, hon member, you may continue. Mrs MESUKERS: Wenever have enough money to replace the role of the family, and we must make the rebuilding of the family a national priority. The second strong foundation that we need to build on is community. The community is closest to problems, and we must allow and empower the community to solve them themselves. The real measure of success of the DSD is not how many of our people it helps, but how many people it impacts who no longer needs its services, and in this we are failing dismally. I thank you.

Mr A MSHAIK EMAM: Hon House Chairperson, the National Freedom Party will support the report tabled here, but above that we would like to congratulate the department on getting an unqualified audit opinion which is an improvement from the previous one. Whilst we talk about children and women particularly and the conditions under which they live, let us not forget the plight of the women and children in Gaza and other parts of Palestine, many of whom are dying of hunger and thirst because of the atrocities committed by the apartheid Zionist state of Israel to such an extent that they will not allow access to water and food through the checkpoints. These are major concerns that they face. Having said that I also want to say that I hear some negative comments about the Department of Social Development. Is it not the responsibility of each and every one of us to apply our minds to what is happening on the ground? The reason why I am going to this is because we recently passed a Bill on Basic Education and one of it is that children must be at school. In full view of us right here in the City of Cape Town, I can take you right now and tomorrow during school hours, hundreds of them are standing all over in street corners and not at school. So, you pass the Bill and then ignore it and do nothing about it. You don't do anything about it because you don't care about those children. You don't care about those children because they are not your class. This is basically what it is.

Why don't you get off your backsides and go there and make sure that those children are in school? That is the least that you can actually do. Don't come here and say you care, and you will do this, because you don't care. Right in front of here at the intersection when you come out of that house of yours that taxpayers and paying for and go and have a look and see exactly what is happening. You will not do it, but you will come here and criticise the others ... [Time expired.] The NFP supports this report tabled here. Mr MGEHENDRICKS: Hon House Chair, I hope you are not going to feel sorry for me, I have been married to a social worker for 50 years. If that was not the case, I would have been a delinquent. So, we support the report. We had a Minister of Social Development who was a fighter, I hear we have fighters today, they are nowhere near the fighters we had during the days of the liberation struggle. So, our Minister fought for our freedom and now she is fighting for the poor and vulnerable. Al Jama- ah supports the report. Thank you very much.

Ms N Q MVANA: House Chair, greetings to hon members. Chief Whip, I am very happy when I hear that other organizations and other hon members are witnessing that we have fought for this country as Social Development. Yes, there are challenges and hiccups here and there, but we are correcting each and everything that we have done wrong.

Chairperson, the ANC has long envisaged a South Africa where social justice reigns supreme, poverty is broken, and everyone's dignity is respected. It is therefore against this background that the ANC supports the budget of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development. It is surprising for those ones that are also sitting in the committee and today they are just rejecting the budget. We are encouraged by the department's clean audit outcome and its efforts in implementing the findings of the Auditor-General. We also commend the consequences