Social Development

(a) The National Department of Social Development as the event organiser of the National Active Ageing Program (Golden Games) has communicated to provinces that the Golden Games event originally scheduled for October 2025 in the Western Cape will be postponed to May 2026 in the Free State. The National Department cited “certain logistical and budgetary challenges” as the reason for the postponement. These “challenges” were communicated to National DSD by our department’s head, Dr Robert Macdonald, in numerous letters. Our officials also raised it in subsequent planning meetings. Our department is willing to make the Golden Games a success, but we require proper planning, support, and timeous communication from our national colleagues.

(b) The Western Cape Older Persons Forum has informed the Western Cape Department of Social Development that they have struggled to secure donor funding support for their members to attend the games due to uncertainty on the venue and timing of the games. The lack of a dedicated national budget to cover the full cost of the games, including logistical costs for attendees such as accommodation and transport, is also an ongoing challenge, since many provinces, including the Western Cape, do not have sufficient funding to cover these costs due to ongoing budget constraints. This is something our department communicated to the National DSD from the very start when they first sent us communication that we were to originally be the host province.