tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/department-of-social-development-36756/articlesDepartment of Social Development – The Conversation2017-06-14T15:27:24Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/790492017-06-14T15:27:24Z2017-06-14T15:27:24ZHow to make South Africa’s public works programme work for women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173134/original/file-20170609-20846-kxqhy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women make up a large portion of South Africa's public works programme. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nic Bothma/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The South African government recently reported that around <a href="http://www.epwp.gov.za/documents/Reports/Year13-16-17/Q3-2016-17/Q3_2016_17_Annexure_A-E.pdf">6.5 million job opportunities</a> have been created through its <a href="http://www.epwp.gov.za/">Expanded Public Works Programme</a> (EPWP) since 2004. This should be good news given the high levels of unemployment in South Africa, especially for women, who are disadvantaged in the job market and are specifically targeted by the programme. </p>
<p>But these claims of excellent outcomes should be tempered given some worrying problems with the programme. These need to be urgently addressed to avoid the unintended exploitation of women desperate to survive.</p>
<p>The dual need for job creation and investment in public services (such as road maintenance) is what drives public works programmes worldwide. While in South Africa the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2014/01/27/south-africas-welfare-success-story-ii-poverty-reducing-social-grants/">system of social grants</a> is the largest and most successful social protection programme, the EPWP is designed to respond to the needs of working age adults. Most aren’t eligible for social grants unless they have a disability that prevents them from working. </p>
<p>The public works programme is a social protection mechanism which creates paid work opportunities for large numbers of unemployed people, primarily women and youth. It provides them with both skills and work experience. This is to help them find work or start their own enterprises after they’ve exited the programme.</p>
<h2>What’s working well</h2>
<p>The programme is split into four very different sectors. To uncover the specific outcomes for women, it’s useful to focus on the <a href="http://evaluations.dpme.gov.za/evaluations/508">social sector</a>. This was born from an <a href="http://www.ids.ac.uk/publication/from-workfare-to-fair-work-the-contribution-of-public-works-and-other-labour-based-infrastructure-programmes-to-poverty-alleviation-ilo-recovery-and-reconstruction-dept">innovative idea</a> that the lack of services in the early childhood development and home based care sectors (among others) could possibly be met by a public works programme.</p>
<p>A second positive feature is the inclusion of care work. This offers recognition of care, usually of children, sick people, and the elderly, as an important public good, that contributes to the well-being of society. These tasks, largely performed by women, often remain invisible and under-valued, even though they are critical to a healthy and productive society.</p>
<p>Thirdly, the social sector has trained more public works programme beneficiaries than the other three sectors which ultimately contributes to the gaining of legitimate qualifications. Participants are positive about the skills they’ve gained and the dignity and personal accomplishment this provides. </p>
<p>Finally, the cash stipends contribute to household incomes.</p>
<h2>What isn’t working</h2>
<p>Some critical flaws suggest that the programme is creating pockets of disadvantage and exploitation. An inherent problem is that an evaluation of the outcomes is severely hampered by weak monitoring and data management systems.</p>
<p>Claims of numbers of job opportunities created, the number of participants trained and, the details and locations of the delivery of services are based on questionable information. This is because data is inconsistently recorded.</p>
<p>A second challenge is the issue of labour <a href="http://www.sacities.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/PDF/SACN_epwp_2016_final.pdf">“displacement”</a>. Displacement is a problem where a public works programme doesn’t actually create new jobs. Instead, the number of jobs in the sector remains broadly constant, but work is taken away from non-beneficiaries and given to beneficiaries. </p>
<p>Or NGOs run out of funding often due to failures on the part of the Department of Social Development. So workers (often women) previously paid a proper salary, are migrated to position funded by the public works programme where they are paid a small stipend to do exactly the <a href="http://wiser.wits.ac.za/event/who-cares-post-rape-services-and-expanded-public-works-programme-south-africa">same work</a>.</p>
<p>Thirdly, the stipend amounts are very low. A ministerial dispensation sets minimum <a href="http://www.epwp.gov.za/documents/Reports/Year13-16-17/Q3-2016-17/Q3_2016_17_Annexure_A-E.pdf">public works programme wages</a>. But social sector participants are paid less than those in the infrastructure and environmental sectors. This means that work done largely by women is valued less than the work done in the infrastructure and environmental sectors, where more men are involved. </p>
<p>While these amounts do contribute to daily survival costs, they don’t allow women to build up assets or capital after exiting the programme. And low stipends undermine the valuing of care.</p>
<p>Institutional <a href="http://wiser.wits.ac.za/event/who-cares-post-rape-services-and-expanded-public-works-programme-south-africa">failures</a> are a fourth area of concern, and create <a href="http://evaluations.dpme.gov.za/evaluations/508">serious consequences</a> for participants. Payments from the Department of Social Development to NGOs or early learning and development centres are often late, creating enormous financial stress for the participants who can go months without a stipend. </p>
<p>Precisely because the participants are largely female, the major implementation problems disproportionately affect women and their families. The knock-on effect on service delivery is negative as late stipend payment demotivates participants, and encourages work absences.</p>
<p>Finally, a fundamental flaw in the design of the programme is the lack of job opportunities in the sector after exiting. In theory the skills development and work experience gained increases chances of getting work. But in practice the work areas of all the sectors have an oversupply of similarly trained workers. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://za.boell.org/sites/default/files/hb_final_ebook_1.pdf">problem</a> is particularly acute in the social sector, which is also an underfunded field with few vacancies. So finding a job after exiting is unlikely. Even where employment is found, the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13552074.2016.1194560?journalCode=cgde20">insecure working conditions</a> and low wages almost guarantee that those working join the ranks of the working poor.</p>
<h2>A good idea that needs fine-tuning</h2>
<p>These problems are substantial. What’s emerging is a group of desperate women experiencing precarious, insecure, and sometimes exploitative conditions to earn a small stipend for a limited time just to survive. </p>
<p>The programme is a commendably progressive commitment by the state. But it cannot be to the detriment of vulnerable individual workers, especially women, who have to tolerate insecurity, changing income, low income, and variable training.</p>
<p>In the context of <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02114thQuarter2016.pdf">36% unemployment</a> – based on the broader definition of joblessness – and the urgent need for services, it’s critical that innovative programmes are closely monitored to ensure positive effects. The state needs to be held to account to avoid a situation in which well-intended solutions create additional pockets of disadvantage and exploitation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tessa Hochfeld received funding from the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development for this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Stuart receives funding from the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophie Plagerson received funding for this research from the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).</span></em></p>South Africa’s public works programme is a laudable idea. But it must be closely monitored to make sure it doesn’t lead to unintended consequences, especially for women.Tessa Hochfeld, Associate professor, University of JohannesburgLauren Stuart, Researcher in Social Development, University of JohannesburgSophie Plagerson, Senior research fellow at the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/746572017-03-15T16:34:42Z2017-03-15T16:34:42ZSouth Africa’s grants debacle: about political trickery, not separation of powers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160974/original/image-20170315-5344-1xwtpap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Africa's Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini with President Jacob Zuma.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GCIS</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The social <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-grants-crisis-tests-the-powers-of-south-africas-constitutional-court-74630">grants debacle</a> in South Africa throws up a number of questions about the country’s state of politics, governance, leadership and democracy. </p>
<p>A fundamental question pertains to an undertaking made to the country’s Constitutional Court by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) that it would take over the distribution of social grants from Cash Paymaster Services <a href="http://www.net1.com/business-structure/transactional-solutions-cluster/cash-paymaster-services-(cps)/">(CPS)</a>, the private company it had contracted to do the job. This followed the court’s ruling that CPS contract was invalid because procurement processes had been <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2017-03-07-new-sassas-cps-contract-might-be-illegal-heres-what-the-concourt-can-do-to-fix-the-mess/#.WMlK2lV97IV">flouted</a>. Conscious of the catastrophic implications of the declaration, especially on the lives of 17 million recipients, the court <a href="http://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/sassa-must-rerun-social-grants-tender--concourt">suspended the invalidity</a>. </p>
<p>Sassa, an agency of the Department of Social Development, is charged with the administration of grants. It originally told the court that it would take over the grant payments. It later admitted that <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2017/03/07/sassa-underestimated-work-required-in-grant-payment-takeover">it was not able to do so</a> and would appoint a third party. The political responsibility for the department lies with Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini.</p>
<p>Three years ago Sassa indicated that it would have worked out an alternative arrangement within the time frame set by the court. But it is still not ready to take over the distribution of social grants. Ironically, as things stand, for the poor to get their grants in April the only option is CPS. </p>
<p>This begs a number of questions: was Sassa’s undertaking just a bureaucratic machination, with the connivance of the country’s executive authority, to enervate the court’s structural interdict? Wasn’t all this orchestrated to undermine the judiciary and the constitution by trumping justifications for what is sheer incompetence on the part of the Department of Social Development and Sassa? Their argument is that the judiciary cannot appropriate an oversight function over the executive action as this is the purview of parliament. The principle of the separation of powers is invoked to supposedly enhance this argument.</p>
<p>At face value, these narratives look plausible. Lurking beneath, however, is trickery to justify the executive’s truncation of the supremacy of the constitution. This is scary because the poor are caught in a contestation for state power and the country faces the risk of being pushed to a tipping point.</p>
<p>But the bottom line is that judicial intervention – in whatever way necessary to ensure that democracy achieves its substantive ends – becomes a duty in a situation where the political administrative accountability arrangements are weakened and good governance is endangered. </p>
<p>It’s a pity political leaders often don’t seem to understand this. To most politicians, judicial intervention is interference, irrespective of the context and exigency of the situation. The Sassa debacle lays bare this argument which has become a constant refrain of politicians, particularly those wanting to run away from accountability.</p>
<h2>The state’s woefully inadequate response</h2>
<p>The government’s pathetic response to the crisis – from President Jacob Zuma to the minister herself – tells its own story. In a nutshell it has been: if there is a guarantee that grants will be paid in April, what’s all the fuss about?</p>
<p>This is an unfortunate take on the debacle. Writ large in this is the challenge of political illiteracy of those running the state. They see nothing and hear nothing, yet from this vacuity decisions are taken that have pernicious consequences. German poet Bertolt Brecht <a href="https://za.pinterest.com/pin/4433299603597056">warns</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the worst illiterate is the political illiterate.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The nation’s angst should have prompted the president to act decisively. In other words, why is the minister of social development still in office? Zuma’s answer to this question was casual. He advised people to <a href="http://www.dailysun.co.za/News/National/watch-cool-down-mzansi-zuma-20170310">“cool down”</a> because the grants would be paid. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160976/original/image-20170315-5332-urgevc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160976/original/image-20170315-5332-urgevc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160976/original/image-20170315-5332-urgevc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160976/original/image-20170315-5332-urgevc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160976/original/image-20170315-5332-urgevc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160976/original/image-20170315-5332-urgevc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160976/original/image-20170315-5332-urgevc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People queue to register for government grants in Cape Town, South Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Nic Bothma</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But this is where the challenge is. The president does not seem to understand that what’s at issue is the failure of state institutions and their leaders to implement a court decision. This puts the supremacy of the constitution at stake. This is what makes the Sassa debacle as much about the distribution of social grants as it is about the constitution.</p>
<h2>Nagging questions of governance</h2>
<p>The debacle also raises a question about whether or not Zuma’s cabinet is in sync. This is because it has pitted ministers against one another, in particular the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan and Dlamini.</p>
<p>Gordhan has <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2017/03/14/gordhan-explains-reasons-why-sassa-contact-with-cps-is-unlawful">consistently argued</a> that procurement processes should be followed and respected – precisely the order of the Constitutional Court. But it appears that the crisis has been choreographed to counter this. It has also been used to achieve other nefarious political ends: for example to put the backs of the crusaders of good governance – the court and the National Treasury – against the wall. It also appears that there’s been an attempt to pit the Treasury against the poor in a bid to perpetuate the narrative that it is counter-revolutionary and anti-development. </p>
<p>Behind this lies the contestation for control of state resources. </p>
<h2>Building state capacity</h2>
<p>Beyond the political machinations lies the question: why, in the first place, did Sassa place the distribution of social grants in the hands of a private service provider which did not contribute to building the capacity of the state for this function?</p>
<p>Constitutional law expert Pierre De Vos makes this important point: Sassa privatised a <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2017-02-21-sassas-mysterious-tardiness/#.WMT36t068ds.email">constitutional duty</a>. </p>
<p>This is at odds with the very concept of empowering and building state capacity. </p>
<p>A number of countries have done this <a href="http://www.canberra.edu.au/researchrepository/file/54918953-a021-0010-af56-e58a766921dc/1/full_text.pdf">through agencification</a> which is considered an alternative to privatisation and a way of optimising public administration while at the same time defending the state from being hollowed out by private interests. It involves the creation of autonomous government agencies that aren’t restricted by the bureaucracy of ministries. Agencification brings “direct accountability and decision-making as close possible to the service delivery point” and enables flexibility in “administrative and <a href="http://www.psc.gov.za/documents/2012/Agencification%20Report.pdf">operational arrangements”</a>. It differs from arrangements where public services are placed in the private hands. </p>
<p>Isn’t this where the focus should be, as South Africa grapples with the Sassa debacle? </p>
<p>Sassa is institutionalised as state agency. But its core business is performed by a private entity while administratively it appears entangled in the political and administrative dictates of the department of social development, fully within the grip of the minister. This sullies its essence as state agency. It conjures up scary images of what Sassa really is: a conduit to siphon state money in the name of those on the margins of society, to “enrich the rich” and <a href="http://www.thethinker.co.za/resources/68%20friedman.pdf">“damn the poor?”</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74657/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mashupye Herbert Maserumule receivedfunding from National Research Foundation(NRF) for his postgraduate studies. He is affiliated with South African Association of Public Administration and Management(SAAPAM) and is the Chief Editor of the Journal of Public Administration.</span></em></p>South Africa’s social grants fiasco begs the question: was it orchestrated to undermine the judiciary and the constitution and hide sheer incompetence on the part of government?Mashupye Herbert Maserumule, Professor of Public Affairs, Tshwane University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/746302017-03-15T11:14:10Z2017-03-15T11:14:10ZSocial grants crisis tests the powers of South Africa’s Constitutional Court<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160902/original/image-20170315-5321-qm337c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People queue to register for government grants in Cape Town, South Africa.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Nic Bothma</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>South Africa’s Constitutional Court is once again being asked to deal with a highly politically charged matter that affects the government of the country. The last time was over the question of President Jacob Zuma’s failure to repay state money spent on his personal homestead at <a href="https://theconversation.com/important-lessons-for-africa-as-strong-institutions-win-out-over-a-strong-man-57182">Nkandla</a>. This time the government’s Minister for Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, is at the centre of a storm over the payment of 17 million social grants. The contract to do this was given to an independent contractor whose contract expires on March 31. The court ruled in 2013 that the contract was illegal because of tender irregularities and ordered the minister in <a href="http://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/sassa-must-rerun-social-grants-tender--concourt">2014</a> to make alternative arrangements. She failed to do so and instead has sought to renew the contract. Politics and Society Editor Thabo Leshilo asked Constitutional court expert Pierre de Vos to explain.</em></p>
<p><strong>Why is this case before the constitutional court?</strong></p>
<p>The case is before the Constitutional Court because civil society organisations – the <a href="https://www.blacksash.org.za/index.php/sash-in-action/oversight-of-grant-payment-system">Black Sash</a> and <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-03-07-freedom-under-law-asks-concourt-to-make-new-sassacps-contract-details-public/#.WMj1PVWGPIU">Freedom under Law</a> among them – approached the court to ask it to intervene in the matter to ensure, first, that grants will be paid after April 1st.</p>
<p>Second, they want to make sure that Cash Paymaster Services <a href="http://www.net1.com/business-structure/transactional-solutions-cluster/cash-paymaster-services-(cps)/">(CPS)</a>, the private company contracted to pay out social grants on behalf of the government’s <a href="http://www.dsd.gov.za/">Department of Social Development</a>, will not abuse its position to exploit grant recipients. Specifically, they want the company not to use the information it has about social grants recipients to push all kinds of financial products on them. These products include funeral policies and micro loans. </p>
<p>Third, the civil society organisations want to get the <a href="http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/thecourt/role.htm">Constitutional Court</a> to oversee the grants payment process to ensure that the South African Social Security Agency <a href="http://www.sassa.gov.za/">(Sassa)</a> and CPS don’t enter into a new contract with terms that will allow CPS to make exorbitant profits. Sassa administers the application, approval and payment of social grants in the country.</p>
<p>As the original contract was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2017-03-07-new-sassas-cps-contract-might-be-illegal-heres-what-the-concourt-can-do-to-fix-the-mess/#.WMkVS1WGPIU">in 2013</a>, because of an <a href="http://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2017/03/14/gordhan-says-cps-contract-illegal/">unlawful tender process</a>, and because entering into a new contract with CPS would almost certainly be unlawful because the requisite tender procedures were not followed, it’s important for the Court to validate the new contract to legalise the process. If it fails to do that the grants might still be paid on 1 April, but not in a legally valid manner.</p>
<p><strong>What big legal issues are at stake?</strong></p>
<p>The first issue is: what powers does the Constitutional Court have to fix a situation where the only way to deliver social grants – which the state is obliged to do because of a constitutional obligation – would be through a process that, without court validation, would be unlawful and invalid. </p>
<p>The second legal question is: what are the legal obligations of a private company (CPS) to deliver state grants. The court has already ruled that CPS is an organ of state for the purposes of paying social grants, which means it cannot walk away from the contract like a private party because it is fulfilling much the same function as a government department. This is because it’s delivering social grants to give effect to a <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2014/12.html">constitutional right</a>. This means that the court may order it to continue delivering grants if it remains the only body capable of doing it – even if CPS doesn’t want to continue and doesn’t make a profit.</p>
<p><strong>What powers does the Constitutional Court have if it’s ignored?</strong></p>
<p>The Constitutional Court depends on other branches of government to implement its orders. </p>
<p>But it can do the following: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>It can issue cost orders against a litigant. In this case, for example, it could order the Minister for Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini to pay the cost of the court case from her personal funds. This would be quite extreme but the court could make the case that she had ignored its instructions. </p></li>
<li><p>In the most extreme case it could find a person in contempt of court and can then have them jailed for being in contempt. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>But ultimately the power of the court lies in the hands of citizens who can decide to punish those in power who ignore court orders and flout the law by voting for another party and electing a new government.</p>
<p><strong>What’s the significance of the stand-off?</strong></p>
<p>The stand-off affects the lives of millions of people. More than 17 million grants are disbursed to <a href="https://africacheck.org/factsheets/separating-myth-from-reality-a-guide-to-social-grants-in-south-africa/">adults and children in the country</a>. It is therefore imperative that the crisis is resolved in a way that does not threaten their livelihoods. </p>
<p>But it is also significant because it is testing the power of the court when confronted with political delinquency. Courts are reluctant to challenge the political branches of the state head on. But, in certain circumstances, like the present, the Constitutional Court stands to lose more by trying to avoid a confrontation. Instead, it stands to gain more credibility and legitimacy if it manages to confront the impunity of Sassa and the Minister of Social Development, and if it ultimately manages to ensure that grants are paid in a legally valid way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74630/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pierre de Vos receives funding from National Research Foundation - funds granted automatically as an NRF rated researcher. </span></em></p>South Africa’s Constitutional Court is in a fix. The only way to deliver social grants that support millions would be through a process that’s without validation, would be unlawful and invalid.Pierre de Vos, Claude Leon Foundation Chair in Constitutional Governance, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/743762017-03-13T15:42:14Z2017-03-13T15:42:14ZSouth Africa’s social grants system: there’s more than just money at stake<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160453/original/image-20170313-19247-ibs1fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The social grants disbursed to millions of South Africans helps entire households.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In South Africa social grants address key social determinants of health such as food insecurity, access to health services, income and early childhood development. About <a href="https://africacheck.org/factsheets/separating-myth-from-reality-a-guide-to-social-grants-in-south-africa/">17 million South Africans</a> receive social grants every month. Of these, about 12 million are children in receipt of the child support grant. </p>
<p>For many households, the child support grant and the old age grant are the only forms of predictable income that they rely on. </p>
<p>While many in the medical profession – as well as beneficiaries - have long bemoaned the inadequacy of the child support grant to meet even the most basic needs of its beneficiaries, such as <a href="http://foodsecurity.ac.za/Media/Default/Publications/Final_Devereux%20%20Waidler%202017%20-%20Social%20grants%20and%20food%20security%20in%20SA%2025-Jan-17.pdf">adequate nutrition</a>, there has never been any doubt that it’s indispensable to millions of households across the country.</p>
<p>The South African government has allocated R151.6-billion to social grants in its 2017/2018 budget. There are four main grants that are disbursed under the system: an old age grant for pensioners over the age of 60 of US$ 120 (R1600) and for those over 75 a grant of US$ 122 (R1620); a disability and care dependency grant of US$ 120 (R1600); a foster care grant of US$ 69 (R920), and child support grant of US$ 28 (R380) a month for children under the age of 18.</p>
<p>The importance of South Africa’s grants system is worth revisiting in the wake of a crisis unfolding over their disbursement. The country’s Constitutional Court ruled 3 years ago that the contract of the current service provider Cash Paymaster Systems was illegal – and the Department of Social Development which the South African Social Security Agency falls under, needed to find a new service provider. It has failed to do so, placing the disbursements of the grants in jeopardy. </p>
<p>The child support grant and the old age pensioner’s grant make up by far the biggest allocation. Should they not be disbursed, many households will lose the only source of income they have. The impact on households would be profound. </p>
<h2>Why the grants matter</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4536939/">Evidence</a> shows that the child support grant <a href="http://foodsecurity.ac.za/Media/Default/Publications/Final_Devereux%20%20Waidler%202017%20-%20Social%20grants%20and%20food%20security%20in%20SA%2025-Jan-17.pdf">not only supports children</a> within a household. In most instances, it has to help everyone in the household. </p>
<p>Mothers and caregivers use it to buy food, pay for school fees and other school related costs as well as health care. This includes transport to clinics or hospital, and for purchasing medication. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4536939/">Research</a> also shows that it <a href="http://www.childwatch.uio.no/publications/research-reports/gender-dynamics.html">enhance women’s agency</a>, allowing them to mitigate financial crises and access reciprocal exchange networks for informal credit and swapping of food. </p>
<p>The importance of the child support grant becomes ever more salient when one listens to the stories of those who – though they are eligible – are not in receipt of the grant. </p>
<p>Anecdotal evidence in my research has shown that children who don’t receive the grant experience extended periods of hunger, have difficulties accessing health care services especially in remote areas where facilities are far, and have problems meeting school-related expenses.</p>
<p>The old age grant is about four times the amount of the child support grant. Despite the fact that the beneficiaries are the elderly, the grant is used to care for entire households, essentially bearing the burden and closing the gap created by high rates of unemployment in the country. </p>
<p>It’s also associated with <a href="http://economics.mit.edu/files/732">improved nutritional outcomes</a> for children in poor households. </p>
<p>Taken together, these two grants are doing the work of government in South Africa: providing for those who have been left out in the cold.</p>
<h2>Catastrophic consequences</h2>
<p>Any threat to the distribution of the grants would have catastrophic consequences for individuals and households across South Africa. Households will lose the only source of income they have. Children and adults alike will go without food. Some children who live in remote rural areas far from health facilities will miss important immunisation visits at the clinics.</p>
<p>The most vulnerable people in society and those who need the help of the government most face the biggest risk to any threat to their disbursement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74376/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wanga Zembe-Mkabile has received funding from the National Research Foundation, the National Department of Health and the Centre of Excellence for Food Security. She is also a member of the People's Health Movement and a board director at the Southern African Social Policy Research Institute NPC.</span></em></p>Should South Africa’s social grants not be disbursed, many households will lose the only source of income they have.Wanga Zembe-Mkabile, Specialist Scientist, South African Medical Research CouncilLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.