Thesis (M. A. (Sociology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / In most developing countries including South Africa, the anti-poverty programmes aim to enhance and improve the living condition of the helpless people in the society (DSD, SASSA and UNICEF,2012). In addressing children poverty after the apartheid era, the Child Support Grant (CSG) was implemented in 1998 subsequently the State Maintenance Grant (SMG) was abolished after the review in 1997 by the Lund Committee (Grinspun, 2016 and Xaba, 2016). After twenty-two years of CSG existence, this study aimed to examine the successes of CSG in addressing child poverty and vulnerable households at Ha-Mulima. The study was guided by Structural functional theory as a theoretical framework and a qualitative research methodology was applied to examine the ways or mechanisms through which the Child Support Grant has been successful in attending to the problem of child and household poverty. An exploratory case study approach was used as a research design and the participants were selected through a purposive sampling procedure. In addition, data was collected from participants through semi-structured interviews and focus groups, while thematic content analysis was employed to analyse the findings. The findings of the study show that there are positive outcomes of CSG in relation to the utilisation of grant to eradicate child poverty and household poverty. The study found that the CSG has a positive impact in reducing child poverty since it reduces hunger, children access education and caregivers utilize the money to buy clothes for them. Regardless of caregiver’s dietary diversity in the households, the CSG has positive impacts on food insecurity and improved food consumption since families can use the money to buy food. The findings indicated that the CSG promotes self-reliance in communities whereby the caregivers create their own jobs and affiliate to various stokvels with the aim to empower themselves financially to avoid the dependability on the grant. The significance of the study lies in the way it has the potential of unravelling the dynamics of the Child Support Grant in rural communities. / HW SETA PHARMACY PRO

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the CHILD SUPPORT GRANT as a poverty alleviation strategy as imposed by government in the King William‟s Town Centre. To achieve the objective of the study, a literature review and empirical research were conducted. During the empirical research, interviews were conducted and CSG beneficiaries taken on board as a sample. The impact of the CSG was evaluated to see if these are in line with what the literature reveals. The descriptive method was used to analyze the data and to find responses to the research questions and objectives. The research showed that the determinants are multiple: behavioral, lack of efficiency, and so on. Secondly, it is time for policy makers and others to work with implementers/beneficiaries to understand the implications and context of the CSG in the lives of the people. The critique of the Child Support Grant had not taken on board the viewpoints of caregivers concerning its socio-economic role. The discourse of the Child Support Grant therefore resulted in an over-representation of perceptions that excluded caregivers who collected and used the same grant. The popular approach by scholars to the Child Support Grant was to conclude, based on statistically measurable impacts of the grant, that it was effective in poverty alleviation, without regard to the viewpoint of caregivers. Others regarded its role as disastrous based on observable trends in society, such as increases in teenage fertility, and attributed the same to the provision of the grant, without regard to it as a poverty alleviation strategy.

There were different kinds of imbalances that were created by the past regime in which race and colour were determining factors in terms of access to state welfare. The State Maintance Grant was one of the state welfare interventions where African women did not even know how or where to access the grant. When the Child Support Grant was introduced in 1998 it gave hope to the vulnerable section of the society, the children. The CSG is one of the poverty alleviation programs introduced by the government to target the poverty stricken children of South Africa. This is a means tested program which not all children are to benefit but a certain portion of the society. There are special conditions attached to the grant which require to be fulfilled. These conditions require the child to be fed, clothed, immunized, school needs be paid, and have proper accommodation. This study made use of the Mdantsane Township which is 25 km away from East London city centre as a case study to determine whether the CSG has managed to achieve its objective of relieving poverty among children, given the conditions of poverty and unemployment in Mdantsane. The findings of this study indicate that the people of Mdantsane are still in poverty and the most affected sections remain the children. The respondents indicate that the people are unemployed as a result the CSG seems to be the source of livelihood in these households leaving the children at a disadvantage as the grant is intended for x their own needs. Therefore there is a need to investigate whether the CSG has any impact on the lives of these children. Also since Eastern Cape is known to be one of the poorest provinces, it is important to investigate whether the CSG has become the source of livelihood in some households.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / This study sought to investigate the role and impact of social security grant on poverty alleviation on a case of Child Support Grant at Mankweng. Child Support Grant is a poverty alleviation mechanism implemented with the aim of exploring new alternative policy options targeting children and families in South Africa. The grant has proven to be successful as it was able to put about 8 million orphans and poor children in the safety net in 2008. However, although the grant has proven to be successful, not all the deserving children receive the grant. Children‟s access to a full measure of security and the basic needs as prescribed in the Bill of Rights remain agitated with problems as the grant‟s extent of coverage due to the limited amount structure does not provide all the basic needs of the children. The study also revealed that majority of participants due to the grant‟s extent of coverage experienced hardships in terms of inflation rate. The participants‟ stressed about the price of goods which is perennially increasing as they are unable to cope with price trends, which led them to adopt the practice of layby. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were utilised which adopted structured questionnaires and in-person interviews to hear the participants‟ perspective on the impact that Child Support Grant has as a poverty alleviation mechanism on the livelihoods of the beneficiaries as well as the challenges of Child Support Grant‟s administrative system. The study recommended that the Child Support Grant despite its limited amount structure enables people to participate on economic activities wherein they are able to engage in farming activities in that during harvest time they are able to sell their produce to the market like Pick „n Pay and Shoprite though its seasonal.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2017. / The study was undertaken to examine the contribution of child support grant (CSG) towards alleviation of poverty in South Africa. This is necessary because CSG is meant to support children from poor background in order to improve their general wellbeing. The literature review undertaken in this study shows that CSG is contributing towards alleviation of poverty in Masodi village. The literature review further highlights that there are various challenges that disturbs the strategies of the government in delivering world class social assistance to the citizens of South Africa. Another finding are that there are barriers in the utilization of system that are used to pay CSG as it is outdated, and need to be updated. This challenge justifies why there are several corruption cases in the social pension system (SOCPEN). One of the findings of the study is that CSG plays a direct role in the life of beneficiaries in improving socio-economic conditions in their lives; children are able to attend school, improve on nutrition and access health services. The main recommendation of the study is that government should increase the amount of CSG; it should be extended to the age of 21 to enable the children to attend higher learning institutions. In order to assist children to overcome the challenges of poverty, accessing higher education would reduce dependency on the government in the long run, as they will acquire skills that will make them employable. / South African Social Security Agency

While establishing modus operandi information is an investigative technique that is used globally in the investigation of fraud, investigators of child support grant fraud in South Africa do not properly use this technique in their investigation. The study sought to examine the modus operandi used by civil servants in unduly accessing child support grand fraud. The study adopted a qualitative approach, with structured interviews and literature as data-collection methods. Two sample groups were used to gather data. The data was analysed using spiral method. The study found that modus operandi as a valuable investigation tool was not properly used and in other instances was never used in the investigations. On the basis of the findings, it is recommended that modus operandi captured on the police and corporate database systems be used as reference for comparing modus operandi of known grants fraudsters. Training and skills be provided to public and corporate investigators on the use of modus operandi information in the investigation of social grants. To ensure that good practice is developed, a modus operandi guideline document should be crafted by the South African Police Services' detective division at National level and corporate investigators respectively, with a view to improve conviction rate. / Criminology and Security Science / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

While establishing modus operandi information is an investigative technique that is used globally in the investigation of fraud, investigators of child support grant fraud in South Africa do not properly use this technique in their investigation. The study sought to examine the modus operandi used by civil servants in unduly accessing child support grand fraud. The study adopted a qualitative approach, with structured interviews and literature as data-collection methods. Two sample groups were used to gather data. The data was analysed using spiral method. The study found that modus operandi as a valuable investigation tool was not properly used and in other instances was never used in the investigations. On the basis of the findings, it is recommended that modus operandi captured on the police and corporate database systems be used as reference for comparing modus operandi of known grants fraudsters. Training and skills be provided to public and corporate investigators on the use of modus operandi information in the investigation of social grants. To ensure that good practice is developed, a modus operandi guideline document should be crafted by the South African Police Services' detective division at National level and corporate investigators respectively, with a view to improve conviction rate. / Criminology and Security Science / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

MSCPNT / Department of Nutrition / Objectives: The study objectives were to determine demographic and environmental factors that can affect nutritional status of children receiving CSG, to assess the nutritional knowledge of caregivers, to determine the proportion of CSG spent on food and to determine the nutritional quality of food bought from CSG. Design: Cross-sectional descriptive with an analytical component Subjects: PCG of children under the age of 5 receiving CSG in Mogalakwena Municipality. 189 caregiver-child pairs were interviewed, in their households. Methods: Data collected by the interviewer included demographic data, Use of CSG, nutritional knowledge and the HHFI and anthropometric measurements were done by a 3rd year Nutrition student. Results: About 36.5% of participants were in the age 26-35 years, 75.7% were unmarried, 84.1% were unemployed and 72% had no matric. Mean age for children studied was 2.84±1.33, 77.8% of participants stayed in a household of more than 5 people. In terms of types of housing, 56% had formal houses, 55% had access to pit latrines and 52.9% used communal taps to access water, 41.3% used electricity for energy while 23.3% used wood to stretch the availability of electricity. Mean CSG received was R386.22 ±R208.75. Majority of participants (56.1%) indicated that CSG supports the whole family and 64.6% of the families depended solely on CSG for survival, while 27% of families had elderly people receiving pension grant which was supplementing the CSG. The CSG was used for different items, majority of families used 94.2% of the money for food at a mean of R171.55±159.25, followed by toiletry (71.6%) at a mean R61.89±69.24, then clothing (68.9%) at a mean of R70.77±97.14. Stokvel was also mentioned as one of the items contributed for by CSG, 32.3% of participants used more than R50.00 for stokvel. Different food items were purchased using CSG, 80.5 % of the money was used to purchase starchy food, mealie meal being the highest commodity at 43.7%. Offal (35.8%) was the highest protein source purchased followed by poultry at 26.4% and soya soup at 20%. Potatoes (19.6%) were mentioned as the most purchased vegetable, followed by cabbage (14.8%). There was a 53.5% of prevalence of stunting, of this 19.6% of children were severely xiii stunted, 5.3% underweight, and 32.3% of wasting. There were 22.1 % of PCG who were overweight and 12.1% were obese. The PCG BMI was negatively associated with WAZ (r= -0.48, p=0.515). There was a positive association between PCG BMI and HAZ (r=0.103, p=0.158), however when caregivers BMI was correlated to BAZ the association was strongly negatively significant (r=0.206, p=0.004). Most PCG received nutrition education from relatives, 71.1% were never educated on nutrition, 57.9% of children were fed 3X/ day. Conclusion: It is apparent from the study that malnutrition, precisely stunting is still a problem in South Africa, however this does not disregard the impact that CSG has on the lives of the poor. It affords the families to access basic needs in the household such as food, toiletry, electricity and even stokvel. The role of nutritionists/ dieticians is paramount in helping mothers to choose healthier economic food for the children in order to curb the burden of malnutrition. / NRF

This dissertation was carried out to try to describe the role of socio-economic factors in the successful completion of schooling up to matriculation level (matric), among young mothers in the Soutpansberg East Circuit in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The researcher used the social capital theoretical framework. A questionnaire was administered to 128 young mothers, aged 18 and above, after a pilot survey had been carried out. The data was captured, exported and analysed The data was then exported to the latest model of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 where it was analysed. The research used independent T-test analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation analysis. The independent T- test was used to determine if the views of young mothers differed by the number of children, form of support from father, school policy and presence of educators as counsellors. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done to determine whether the views on the role of socioeconomic factors in the successful completion of matric among young mothers in the Soutpansberg East Circuit, Limpopo Province, South Africa differed by age, grade, type of family and who takes care of the child. The findings showed that there were several socioeconomic factors that assisted young mothers to complete matric, among them were, family supports, child support grants, intra-school environment and policies. They provided critical support to the young mother in different forms among others taking care of children while they were at school, financial support, encouragement. The study also found other that schools in the Soutpansberg East Circuit also provided a significant amount of support to young mothers. The study also found a general trend of absentee fatherhood in the caring of children. The study found out that there was a complicated interplay of different socioeconomic factors to the completion of matric among the young mothers. The researcher, therefore, concluded that socio-economic factors are critical for the successful completion of schooling up to matric level in the Soutpansberg East Circuit. The study found out the need for more empirical study in the role of socioeconomic factors to the complication of matric among young mothers. / Sociology / M.A. (Sociology)