City expands its social support net

17 September 2023

Target areas are childhood development, youth development, homeless people, substance abuse, vulnerable groups, and arts, culture and heritage programmes.

The Social Development and Early Childhood Development (SDECD) Department implements developmental, social and cultural programmes in response to the critical social challenges faced by communities.

Its target areas are childhood development, youth development, homeless people, substance abuse, vulnerable groups, and arts, culture and heritage programmes.

In the last financial year, the department has facilitated a number of interventions, including:

3 861 young people who participated in various youth development programmes
Another successful #YouthStartCT entrepreneurial Challenge
23 implementations of the evidence-based Strengthening Families programme in a number of areas including Eerste River, Khayelitsha, Manenberg, Athlone, Atlantis, Vrygrond and Mitchells Plain
90 substance abuse prevention programmes
35 936 engagements with people living on the street
2 470 temporary work opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme, including the Women for Change & Men's Programme
Disbursing R3 230 046 to numerous recipients in the cultural and creative sector

This year, Arts & Culture is making available R19 million in funding to Artscape, the Baxter, Cape Town Opera, Cape Town Ballet and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as community organisations whose projects align with the City's basket of services, through an open call for applications.

'We appreciate that organisations working in the cultural and creative space are doing incredible work to mould young talent, and provide safe spaces for young and old. I want to encourage NGOs to check the City's website for relevant criteria before we do our open call later this year, and make any adjustments necessary to ensure that they meet all of the requirements to be considered for the funding. Far too often, applicants miss out because they do not have all of the documentation required in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act,' said Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Patricia Van der Ross.

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD)

The ECD support programme includes helping ECDs towards compliance for registration; First-Aid training for ECD practitioners and helping to acquire learning resources.

In March this year, the Department also facilitated a three-day digital training course for ECD practitioners from Delft.

The Social Development Department also plays a crucial role in child protection over the festive season, through its Identikidz Project – a tagging system for young beachgoers, that helps reunite them with loved ones, in the event that they become separated on Cape Town's busy beaches.

Over the last festive season, 126 669 children were tagged over five weekends at 16 beaches, and 403 were reunited with their caregivers.

'This is a very small department, with a challenging mandate. So many of the issues that it is required to address are tied directly to our social fabric, and so the results are not often immediately clear to see. It's an unenviable task, and I do commend the staff who continue to show up in spite of it all, and who are committed to building more resilient communities and making a positive change. I also want to encourage our residents to get involved – whether signing up for a programme, or supporting our Give Dignity campaign, because repairing our social fabric is everyone's business,' added Councillor Van der Ross.

End

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office

Social Development and Early Childhood Development Department Arts and culture Identikidz Programme ECDs Street people street people programme