In support of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s declaration of COVID-19 as a national disaster, the Minister of Social Development - Ms Lindiwe Zulu, issued directions prohibiting movement of children between co-holders of parental responsibilities and rights on 30 March 2020.

Pretoria, 1 April 2020: As South Africa enters the 6th day of the lockdown to contain the further spread of COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Social Development is warning members of the public, and the Non-Profit Organisations (NPO) sector in particular to remain vigilant of a scam that purports to “accredit and convert NPO certificate to NGO certificate to qualify for an international funding worth millions of rands”.

Pretoria, 26 March 2020: As the coronavirus outbreak spreads across the country, Social Development has been inundated with calls from parents who have joint custody of their children on where their children should stay during the 21-day lockdown period as proclaimed by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 23 March 2020.

Pretoria, 27 March 2020: As the spread of COVID-19 surpass the 1000 mark amid the 21-days lockdown period in South Africa, the Deputy Minister of Social Development Ms Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu calls on the public to recognise the particular vulnerability and needs of persons with disabilities.

Pretoria, 17 March 2020: Following the declaration of COVID-19 as a national disaster, the Minister of Social Development - Ms Lindiwe Zulu, met with the executives of the National Development Agency (NDA), the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and the South African Council for Social Service Professions to deliberate and agree on sector-wide precautionary measures to prevent further transmission and to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 at service delivery points.

As South Africa continues to battle the wave of Gender-based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) through various means and structures, the work of the Interim Steering Committee on GBVF is becoming evidently more important. Today the Committee held its second meeting in 2020, continuing its work of ensuring that there is a speedy response to the fight against GBVF.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS The National Development Agency (NDA) in partnership with the Department of Social Development and the Interim Steering Committee on Gender-based Violence and Femicide (IGBVF-SC) hereby Requests for Proposals from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that implement Victim Empowerment Programmes (VEP) in response to Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.

The UN World Summit on Social Development held in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1995 emphasised the importance of dealing with the challenges facing families in the whole world and these include crime, HIV and AIDS, moral degeneration, violence against vulnerable family members, poverty and youth unemployment.

The Minister of Social Development, Ms Lindiwe Zulu, will on Friday, 11 October 2019 conduct a walkabout and update members of the media and stakeholders on the work of the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre (GBVCC).