tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/south-african-social-security-agency-36755/articlesSouth African Social Security Agency – The Conversation2017-08-17T16:30:36Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/824572017-08-17T16:30:36Z2017-08-17T16:30:36ZNew research pokes holes in the idea that men don’t look after their kids<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182074/original/file-20170815-16750-dkx6kx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Men who had to take responsibility for younger siblings growing up were not concerned about conforming to dominant ideas about manhood.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa has one of the highest rates of absent fathers in sub-Saharan Africa. As many as 60% of children in the country under the age of 10 don’t live with their <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/uploads/pageContent/3337/2013febFamily%20Policy.pdf">biological fathers</a>, the second highest rate of absence in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3710932/#S3title">sub-Saharan Africa</a> after Namibia. This compares to one third in the <a href="http://www.fatherhood.org/fatherhood-data-statistics">US</a>.</p>
<p>South Africa’s statistics are influenced by the history of migrant labour. Expropriation of the land of black Africans by colonial authorities, coupled with the levying of taxes, forced men (and later, women) to move to the growing cities to earn an income, while their wives and children stayed in the rural reserves or <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3710932/#S3title">“homelands”</a>.</p>
<p>But there are other factors at play too. These include gender norms about childcare and the different roles attached to fathers and mothers. These norms also generally lead to men – even if they are physically present – making minimal contributions to unpaid care and household work.</p>
<p>A large volume of research – including the Centre for Social Development in Africa’s <a href="https://www.uj.ac.za/faculties/humanities/csda/Documents/Absent-fathers-full-report%202013.pdf">“ATM Fathers”</a> – has shown that among both men and women, fathers are widely considered as primarily being responsible for supporting the family financially. These attitudes frequently lead men – or enable them – to sidestep non-financial care responsibilities. </p>
<p>But in a context of <a href="http://www.fin24.com/Economy/jobs-not-grants-only-way-out-of-poverty-says-pali-lehohla-20170807">widespread unemployment</a>, inability to earn an income and fulfil the “provider” role often leads men to <a href="https://www.uj.ac.za/faculties/humanities/csda/Documents/Absent-fathers-full-report%202013.pdf">abandon their children</a>. This leaves women with the double burden of being the sole breadwinner as well as the person primarily responsible for unpaid care and household work. This, in turn, reinforces gender inequality as women have less time to pursue market work, education, leisure and civic life, and are expected to sacrifice their own interests for those of children.</p>
<p>But there are men who choose to be involved fully in the care of their children despite economic difficulty. We have done research into the reasons for this involvement, and the different forms that it takes. The <a href="https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/338575">initial research</a> has been done by <a href="https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/342417">Masters students</a> Manon van der Meer and Hylke Hoornstra, and forms part of my PhD which is due to be published early next year. We also examined men’s attitudes towards gender, and how they define their masculine and paternal identities in the context of caring for children. </p>
<p>We found that a significant number of men are doing this in progressive ways - ‘doing’ fatherhood and manhood in ways that differ from the patriarchal archetypes that sustain gender inequality. Their examples point to the possibility of creating a more gender equal society.</p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>The first group of men we interviewed were fathers working in low income jobs in Johannesburg – mostly security guards and fast food restaurant staff. All were cohabiting with their partners and children. Almost all emphasised that providing for the family financially was central to their definitions of a good father. Given their low-paying jobs, they were constantly worried about their inability to do this which often led to feelings of inadequacy as a father.</p>
<p>But most men saw their father roles as encompassing more than just financial provision. Almost all spoke of a need to be available emotionally for their children, and to spend time with them. Most also had no problem with performing care work (such as changing nappies, bathing children, helping children with schoolwork) or household work (cleaning, cooking, laundry, and ironing). But importantly, most saw the mother as primarily responsible for this work, only stepping in to help when asked or required. This was frequently related to gendered ideas about competence: that women were naturally more suited to these tasks.</p>
<p>The second group of men we interviewed were receiving a <a href="http://www.gov.za/services/child-care-social-benefits/child-support-grant">child support grant</a> on behalf of their children. The grant is a means tested monthly cash transfer provided to low-income caregivers to support childcare, and has a value of R380 (around US$29). This group makes up only a fraction of those who get the grants – 98% are women according to data provided by the South African Social Security Agency. </p>
<p>Most of the men we interviewed in Soweto had applied for the grant because a female partner had passed away, or because their female partner was not a South African citizen.</p>
<p>Almost all the men were unemployed. Most put far less emphasis on providing financial support. They considered “being there” for their children – by providing love, guidance and protection – a key component of their masculine and paternal identities. </p>
<p>They frequently described taking care of their children, and not abandoning them or being otherwise neglectful, as central to what it means to be a man.</p>
<p>As with the first group, many in the second group also subscribed to dominant gender norms about who should do what in the household. Care and household work were viewed primarily as mothers’ or women’s responsibility. Nonetheless, almost all regularly carried out these tasks, even those who were either living with female partners or who could rely on the support of female relatives - thus revealing a discrepancy between their beliefs and how they behaved. </p>
<p>Most men in both groups spoke about the pressure to conform to social expectations and the sanctions imposed on them if they didn’t. Sanctions could take the form of disapproval when they were seen to be doing “women’s work”. Also, some men who received the child grant said they were seen as “undateable” by women they encountered at the local social grant offices. </p>
<p>All men said they experienced some form of pressure. But some seemed less bothered by it than others. This was particularly true of those who held gender-equal ideas about “male” and “female” responsibility. Men who had always done this work – for example those who were brought up by single mothers, or who had to take responsibility for younger siblings growing up – were similarly unconcerned about conforming to dominant ideas of what it means to “be a man”.</p>
<h2>Doing gender differently</h2>
<p>Fathers in South Africa are often denigrated for being un-involved and neglectful. But this research sheds light on fathers who, despite significant economic and social pressure, choose to remain involved in meaningful ways in the lives of their children, and to incorporate traditionally feminine behaviours and roles into their own masculine and paternal identities for the well-being of their children. </p>
<p>We hope that the research findings will inspire other men to “do gender” differently – for the benefit of their children and South African women.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82457/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zoheb Khan receives funding from the National Research Foundation. </span></em></p>About 60% of children in South Africa under 10 years don’t live with their biological fathers. But research sheds light on those who despite the pressures remain involved in their children’s lives.Zoheb Khan, Researcher, University of JohannesburgLicensed 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.