R15bn welfare money missing

2004-02-25 17:25

Cape Town - The national government on Wednesday reclaimed control over the distribution of welfare grants after discovering R15bn intended for needy children, the elderly and disabled had disappeared in the last 10 years.

Social Welfare Minister Zola Skweyiya said two new welfare bills approved on Wednesday by parliament's second house, the National Council of Provinces, would remove the responsibility from provincial governments and halt the "massive leakages" in funds.

"Having the provinces distribute grants worked well when government handed them the power to do so in 1994," Skweyiya said at a media briefing in parliament. "But it came at a high price. We have lost about R1.5bn a year for the last 10 years."

He blamed corrupt officials and their unscrupulous cohorts, whom he accused of "robbing the country's most needy people".

There have been a number of arrests in recent months and more would follow, he said, without providing details.

Most of the country's black majority were excluded from the welfare net under the former apartheid government. Millions became eligible for welfare assistance after the country's first all-race elections in 1994.

Government welfare spending rose from R10bn in 1994 to R34.8bn in 2003. Close to 8 million people now receive grants, compared to 2.6 million in 1994.

- AP