CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.11. OVC’s Access to Social Grants
Section 27 (1)(c) of the Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution states that “everyone has the right to have access to social security, including, if they are unable to support themselves and their dependents, appropriate social assistance”. Section 27 (2) elaborates by requiring that “the state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realization of this right” (Schreiber, 2014). The roll-out of OVC programmes in communities and schools by government and other sponsors could be seen as a measure of the realization of the right to social security.
Caring for an ill family member or coping with his/her loss not only takes a lasting emotional toll on families, but can also have grave financial repercussions. Mounting medical costs combined with reduced income for both the ill family member and caregiver further impoverishes households (Kidman et al., 2011). Much has been written on this topic. Kidman et al. (2011) note, that the South African government offers a unique safety net for vulnerable households through providing social grants. The grant system is managed through the South Africa Social Security Agency (SASSA) and provides cash transfers to low income families;
as at October 2010, nearly 14 million beneficiaries were receiving grant payments (Kidman et al., 2011).
40
According to the South African Presidency (2009), “social grants are assisting many families to provide their children with food and clothing. However, this should not create dependency and substitute for parental care where parents are able to look after their children”. The CSG is the largest and fastest growing social assistance measure in South Africa. Overall, the social grant and the social welfare services programme are the government’s third largest social investment and total social grants currently reach 15.4 million beneficiaries of which 10.7 million are CSG recipients (SASSA, 2011). Patel et al. (2012 cited in Neves et al., 2009) note that the CSG is publicly funded and means-tested. Income eligibility criteria have been steadily relaxed, allowing for the inclusion of a large proportion of the population of poor children.
Many CSGs are received by OVC caregivers on behalf of the OVC, albeit with challenges in meeting the requirements for the grant. Applicants should be in possession of an identity document for themselves and a birth certificate for the child (Schreiber, 2014). This is the prerogative of the child caregiver, and is outside the scope of school OVC programmes.
In their study on accessing social grants to meet orphaned children’s school needs in Namibia and South Africa, Matshidiso and Taukeni (2011) assert that the rights of children are recognized internationally and that the Namibian and South African government are obliged to ensure that all children, including orphans, access education and improved livelihoods. These neighbouring countries offer a unique safety net for vulnerable households in the form of social grants. One of the many groups that require care and support are school children experiencing orphanhood (Matshidiso & Taukeni, 2011). “There is substantial evidence that grants, including the CSG, are spent on food, education and basic goods and services. This shows that grants not only help to realize children’s right to social assistance, but are associated with improved nutritional, health and education outcomes” (Hall, 2013).
41
According to Matshidiso and Taukeni (2011), despite the Namibian and South African governments’ commitment to meeting children’s needs, the reality on the ground suggests that not all orphaned children are accessing these grants and benefitting from them. The Namibian government provides support to orphaned children through child maintenance grants, foster care grants, allowances to children’s homes and places of safety and grants for children with disabilities. In 2000 the South African government started to provide cash grants as a poverty alleviation mechanism. These include child support grants, foster care grants, and care dependency grants. The CSG is R310 per month while the foster care grant is R830, and old age and disability grants are R1 350 per month (South African Budget Speech, 2014). A million invalid beneficiaries have been removed from the system; social grants are only meant for those who need them most. Orphans are beneficiaries of such grants.
However, Matshidiso and Taukeni’s study (2011) revealed that even though the Namibian and South African governments made provision for social grants to orphans and other vulnerable children, not all orphans were able to access the grants and they found it difficult to pay school fees. This is due to many reasons, including a lack of supporting documentation like birth certificates, identity documents and death certificates. Kidman et al. (2011) also suggest that supporting documentation may be a key barrier to access to social grants. While most caregivers and children had identity documents, many orphans lacked death certificates. This is likely to be the case with OVC in this study.
Another challenge in accessing foster care grants in South Africa was the means test; most caregivers were finding it difficult to fulfill its criteria. It was further found that accessing foster care grants and maintenance grants was difficult in both Namibia and South Africa. Some
42
criteria to access social grants do not include orphaned children who are taking care of younger siblings after the death of their parents, especially from HIV and AIDS.
Table 2.1: Children receiving the Foster Child Grant by Province in South Africa, 2013
PROVINCE NUMBER OF CHILD BENEFICIARIES
Eastern Cape 117,231
Free State 41,317
Gauteng 58,722
KwaZulu-Natal 135,442
Limpopo 58,953
Mpumalanga 35,359
North West 42,215
Northern Cape 14,342
Western Cape 28,578
South Africa 532,159
Source: South African Social Security Agency, 2013 (cited in Hall, 2013)
43
Table 2.2 Social grant eligibility criteria and payment amounts relating to OVC as at April 2014
Grant Who can apply? Additional Eligibility Criteria Monthly Amount Child Support
Grant
Primary caregiver of a child under the age of 15
Applicant must be a citizen or a permanent resident
Applicant may not receive the grant for more than six non-biological children
Applicant cannot receive the grant if they hold a Foster Child Grant for the same child
R310
Foster Care Grant Foster parent of a child under the age of 18
Applicant must be a citizen, permanent resident or refugee
R830
Source: Household Resources and Grant Access, 2011 (cited in Kidman etal., 2011)
According to SASSA (2011), as at 31 March 2014 a total number of 125,702 people received the Foster Care Grant (FCG) and a total number of 2,662,100 children received the CSG in KZN alone. In South Africa as a whole a total number of 512,055 people received the FCG, and 11,125,946 received the CSG. The CSG therefore ranks as the most common of all the types of social grants received in South Africa.
44
Figure 2.4 Total number of social grants by grant type in South Africa as at 31 March 2014
OAG – Old Age Grant;
DG – Disability Grant;
FCG – Foster Care Grant;
CDG – Care Dependency Grant; and Other
The pie diagram above shows the distribution of the various types of grants in South Africa.