The 2020/21 financial year will be known as the year of the declaration of a state of national disaster by the president on March 22 2020. It will also be known as the year that the Gauteng department of social development underspent its budget by over R438m.

The level 5 of the national hard lockdown precipitated a shock to the economy and further heightened the impact of the many social ills affecting our communities. The pandemic caused the sudden loss of income for many families and individuals, deepening poverty and unemployment, and resulting in increasing reports of domestic violence, hunger and social injustice...