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.

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)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research focuses on social assistance within the context of the developmental state. In South Africa, the Social Assistance Act, 2004 (Act No.13 of 2004) makes provision for the administration of social assistance and the payment of social grants. The Act provides for the payment of eight grant types including the payment of the Old Age Grant (OAG). The research focuses on the OAG and the payment methods exercised by OAG beneficiaries. The South African Social Security Agency is established in terms of the South African Social Security Agency Act, 2004 (Act No. 9 of 2004) and the payment of social assistance has been transferred to the Agency. The literature review revealed that African countries in particular have followed a different path to the rest of the development world with regard to social security. There is a strong reliance on community management involvement of social protection programmes in middle Africa. The South African system is more advanced and is legislated. South Africa’s social security system is a system of targeted social grants. It makes access to social security a basic human right, as it is contained in the Bill of Rights. The rise of the developmental state after World War 11 was championed by Japan, in particular, and this rise gave effect to the Asian Miracle. A comparison of different systems in the developing context is undertaken in the study. One of the criteria from the comparison of systems is that developmental decisions should be informed by a country’s vision or longterm strategy. The research is being undertaken at a pinnacle point in the history of South Africa, in particular of the Agency responsible for the administration and payment of these grants. The SASSA introduced the SASSA debit card (Appendix I) in 2012. Beneficiaries can use this card at any store with a point of sale device to make purchases and withdraw money at selected vendors published in the SASSA merchant list on the website of the Agency. The implementation of this decentralised system is however not without disagreement about the ideal path – questions about the advantages of electronic versus cash payments; and SASSA as ‘Paymaster’ versus the use of external service providers, is still being debated. This research attempts to assist in this debate through an investigation of alternative methods to disburse social grants, with specific focus on the old age grant recipients. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsing fokus op maatskaplike ondersteuning in die konteks van die ontwikkeling-gerigte staat. In Suid-Afrika, maak die Wet op Maatskaplike Bystand, 2004 (Wet No.13 van 2004) voorsiening vir die administrasie van maatskaplike bystand en die betaling van maatskaplike toelae. Die wet maak voorsiening vir die betaling van agt soorte toelae, insluitend die betaling van die ouderdomstoelaag . Hierdie navorsing was gerig op die ouderdomstoelaag en die betalingsmetodes wat vir ouderdomstoelaag begunstigdes beskikbaar is. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Maatskaplike Sekerheidsagentskap is in terme van die Suid- Afrikaanse Sosiale Sekerheidswet, 2004 (Wet No. 9 van 2004) ingestel en die betaling van maatskaplike bystand is aan hierdie agentskap oorgedra. Die literatuurstudie het getoon dat lande, veral in Afrika, ‘n ander pad as die res van die ontwikkelende wêreld ten opsigte van maatskaplike sekerheid gevolg het. Daar is ‘n groot afhanklikheid van gemeenskapsbestuur betrokkenheid by die ontwikkeling van sosiale programme in middel Afrika. Die Suid-Afrikaanse maatskaplike sekerheidstelsel is meer gevorderd en word deur wetgewing onderbou. Dit maak toegang tot maatskaplike sekerheid ‘n menslike reg, deur dit in die Handves van Menseregte te onderskryf. Die bevordering van die ontwikkeling-gerigte staat na die Tweede Wêreld Oorlog is veral deur Japan aangevoer, en die aanneem hiervan het die Asiatiese Wonderwerk bewerkstellig. ‘n Vergelyking van die verskillende stelsels in die ontwikkeling konteks word onderneem in die studie. Een van die kriteria met betrekking tot die vergelyking van die verskillende stelsels is dat die ontwikkelingsbesluite ondersteun moet word deur middel van ‘n visie of lang termyn strategie. Die navorsing vind plaas op ‘n kritieke tyd in die geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika, veral ten opsigte van die agentskap wat vir die administrasie en uitbetaling van hierdie toelae verantwoordelik is. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Maatskaplike Sekerheids agentskap het die SASSA debietkaart in 2012 uitgereik. Begunstigdes kan die kaart by enige winkel met ‘n verkooppunttoestel, soos op die lys van uitgesoekte handelaars op SASSA se webtuiste bekendgestel is, gebruik om aankope te doen of geld te onttrek. Die inwerkstelling van die gedesentraliseerde stelsel is ongetwyfeld nie bepalend en gesprekke rondom die ideale stelsel is steeds onderweg – vra rondom die voordele van ‘n elektroniese stelsel teenoor ‘n kontantstelsel; sowel as vrae om SASSA as die ‘betaalmeester’ teenoor die gebruik van eksterne diensverskaffers, duur steeds voort. Die navorsing onderneem om hierdie debat te bevorder deur ‘n ondersoek na alternatiewe betaal metodes om sosiale toelaes te versprei, met spesifieke fokus op die betaling van die begunstigdes van die ouderdomstoelaag.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines local understandings and use of the Disability Grant in The Symphony Way Temporary Relocation Area, locally referred to as Blikkiesdorp (tin can town). The study takes an ethnographic approach and focuses particularly on a group of people accessing or seeking to access Disability Grants who formed a support group as a result of the study. Findings reveal that in a context of social and economic marginalisation, there is a high reliance on government grants for survival and a particularly high demand for Disability Grants by the unemployed in Blikkiesdorp. As social assistance in South Africa is categorically targeted at particular vulnerable groups, the majority of the unemployed of working age are not eligible for social assistance. As a result, Disability Grant recipients face significant pressure from their households and the community at large to share their grants with those who cannot find unemployment but are not catered to by the social security system. It also means that disability or illness is often valued over health. Given the use of the Disability Grant as a livelihood strategy within households and the related importance of Disability Grants to individuals and families, those who receive their grants on a temporary basis engage in a struggle to reapply for grants through performances of disability and humanitarian appeals to medical doctors who, as a result, are not only burdened by high numbers of grant applications, but also pressured to make decisions that go beyond their role as medical professionals. The analysis draws on the concept of biological citizenship to explore the relationship created between illness or disability of the bodies of marginalised citizens and the potential to access to social citizenship rights, enabled through the receipt of the Disability Grant. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek aan die hand van ʼn etnografiese benadering plaaslike begrippe en gebruike van die Ongeskiktheidstoelaag in Die Simfonieweg Tydelike Hervestigingsgebied, plaaslik bekend as Blikkiesdorp. Die studie fokus op ʼn groep mense wat die Ongeskiktheidstoelaag ontvang of probeer om daartoe toegang te verkry en wat as gevolg van hul deelname aan die studie, ʼn ondersteuningsgroep gevorm het. Die bevindinge dui daarop dat in ʼn konteks van maatskaplike en ekonomiese marginalisering, daar vir oorlewing tot ʼn groot mate op staatstoelaes staatgemaak word en dat daar spesifiek onder werkloses in Blikkiesdorp ʼn groot aanvraag vir die Ongeskiktheidstoelaag is. Maatskaplike ondersteuning in Suid-Afrika word op spesifieke kategorieë kwesbare groepe gerig en die meerderheid werkloses kwalifiseer nie vir maatskaplike ondersteuning nie. Om die rede verkeer die ontvangers van die Ongeskiktheidstoelaag onder besondere druk van lede van hul huishouding en ook van ander gemeenskapslede om hul toelae te deel met werkloses wat nie deur die maatskaplike sekuriteitsisteem gedek word nie. In dié konteks gebeur dit dikwels dat ongeskiktheid of siekte bo gesondheid van waarde geag word. As gevolg van die belangrikheid van die Ongeskiktheidstoelaag vir individue en hul gesinne is diegene wat hierdie toelaag op ʼn tydelike basis ontvang, betrokke in ʼn stryd om heraansoek deur die voorstelling van ongeskiktheid teenoor en humanitêre beroepe op mediese beroepslui. Hierdie beroepslui word derhalwe nie slegs belas met ʼn groot aantal aansoeke nie, maar verkeer ook onder druk om besluite te neem wat verder as hul rol as medici strek. Die konsep biologiese burgerskap word gebruik om die verband wat geskep word tussen siekte of ongeskiktheid van die liggame van gemarginaliseerde burgers en die potensiaal vir toegang tot maatskaplike burgerskapsregte deur die ontvangs van die Ongeskiktheidstoelaag, te ontleed.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis focuses on the extent to which the South African social security system succeeds in providing protection in the vulnerable periods of the life-cycle and against the major contingencies of unemployment, disability and disease. Through a detailed examination of the different social insurance and assistance programmes, it isolates which particular population segments (by occupation, income quintile and race group) "fall through the cracks" in the provision of income security. It does not look only at the articulation between different social insurance and social assistance programmes, but also acknowledges how social security complements other governmental interventions, such as social services, and non-state sources of income security, such as those provided by the private insurance market and the family and community. Part One of the thesis is devoted to an examination of social insurance in South Africa, in other words, to those programmes that seek to compensate for a loss of income in the event of particular contingencies and that are funded by contributions from employers and employees. In addition, theoretical perspectives on social security, and social insurance in particular, are provided, with a discussion of the various economic arguments in favour of and against the provision of social security. Part Two of the thesis examines the range of non-contributory social assistance - cash benefits paid form general revenue - that are available to South Africans who qualify in terms of the means tests. Each chapter provides an analysis of the extent to which the social assistance programme under analysis provides a safety net for the relevant category of vulnerable people. It does this by examining the appropriateness of the programme structure, take-up rates and the fiscal sustainability of the programmes. In addition, the budgetary process by which revenue is allocated to social assistance programmes and expenditure trends are examined. The thesis concludes that although the South African social security system has achieved a fairly advanced level of development and covers a fairly wide range of risks, there are a number of constraints facing its further expansion. Social insurance schemes provide generous benefits, but their membership is restricted to the employed. Expanding coverage by social insurance would require substantial growth in remunerative employment which, given prevailing labour market conditions, seems unlikely. The provision of more generous social assistance programmes catering for a broader range of contingencies is severely curtailed by already high fiscal expenditure on welfare and macroeconomic constraints. Moreover, changing demography, household structures and dependency burdens, especially as the HIV/AIDS epidemic spreads, seem likely to increase demands on social assistance programmes. Consequently, until employment can be expanded so that more people can contribute to their own income security, the informal social security provided by the family and/or community will remain the first line of support for many. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis word gefokus op die mate waartoe die Suid-Afrikaanse bestaansbeveiligingstelsel daarin slaag om ondersteuning tydens kwesbare periodes in die lewensiklus en beskerming teen groot gebeurlikhede soos werkloosheid, ongeskiktheid of langdurige siekte te bied. Daardie bevolkingsegmente (volgens beroep, inkomstegroep of ras) wat nie volledig toegang tot inkomstesekuriteit het nie, word uitgesonder deur 'n gedetaileerde ondersoek van die verskillende maatskaplike versekerings- en bystandsprogramme. Daar word ook gekyk na die artikulasie tussen die verskillende programme sowel as na hoe ander regeringsintervensies (bv. verskaffing van maatskaplike dienste) en private bronne van inkomstesekuriteit - verskaf deur die privaat versekeringsmark, die gemeenskap en die familie - deur maatskaplike bystand aangevul word. Deel Een word gewyaan 'n ondersoek van maatskaplike versekering in Suid-Afrika - daardie programme wat vir inkomsteverlies weens spesifieke gebeurlikhede probeer kompenseer en wat tipies deur bydraes van werkgewers en werknemers befonds word. Teoretiese perspektiewe op bestaansbeveiliging in die algemeen en maatskaplike versekering in besonder word ook verskaf en argumente vir en teen die verskaffing van bestaansbeveiliging word bespreek. Deel Twee ondersoek die reeks nie-bydraende bestaansbeveiligingsprogramme wat uit algemene owerheidsinkomste befonds word, asook bestedingstendense in maatskaplike bystand. Die tesis kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat, alhoewel Suid-Afrikaanse bestaansbeveiliging 'n redelik gevorderde vlak van ontwikkeling bereik het en 'n wye reeks risiko's dek, daar 'n aantal beperkinge op verdere uitbreiding is. Maatskaplike versekeringskemas bied uitgebreide voordele, maar lidmaatskap is tot indiensgeneemdes beperk. Uitbreiding van dekking vereis beduidende groei in formele indiensneming, wat onwaarskynlik lyk, gegewe huidige arbeidsmarktendense. Die verskaffing van gunstiger maatskaplike bystandsprogramme gemik op meer gebeurlikhede word ernstig deur reeds hoë fiskale uitgawes op welsyn en deur makroekonomiese oorweginge beperk. Verder sal veranderende demografiese strukture, huishoudingstrukture en afhanklikheidslaste, veral teen die agtergrond van die toename in HIVNIGS, aansprake op maatskaplike bystandsprogramme vergroot. Gevolglik sal die informele inkomstesekuriteit gebied deur die familie en/of gemeenskap die eerste of enigste ondersteuning vir groot dele van die bevolking bly, totdat indiensneming genoeg uitgebrei kan word sodat meer mense tot hul eie inkomstesekuriteit kan bydra.

The main focus of this thesis is the child support grant, as part of a broader social security system, in post-apartheid South Africa. Since the end of apartheid of 1994, the new South African government has sought to redress the racial imbalances and inequalities of the past by engaging in measures of redistribution. Central to this pursuit of redistribution has been a restructured system of social grants, of which the child support grant is the most significant. However, the post-apartheid government has adopted a largely neo-liberal macro-economic strategy such that social inequality and endemic poverty remain pervasive particularly amongst the African population, which includes the recipients of the child support grants. In adopting a sustainable livelihoods framework as the main theoretical perspective, the thesis seeks to understand the livelihoods of child support grant mothers in the face of conditions of extreme poverty. It does this through a localised study of twenty child grant mothers in Sinathingi Township in KwaZulu-Natal Province. In examining the livelihoods of these child-grant mothers, the thesis brings to the fore that mothers and their children do not exist as autonomous living units but are embedded in a broader set of social relations, including intra-household relations and relations with the fathers of the grant-children. It also demonstrates that child-grant mothers are not simply victims of structures of poverty in contemporary South Africa, but actively construct their livelihoods through a range of activities and strategies which show perseverance and ingenuity.

With the dawn of democracy, the South African social security system was in dire need of change. The right of access to social security was for the first time entrenched as a fundamental right in the 1995 Constitution. Since then, many changes have been effected to the present formal social security system, but these were mostly ad hoc and lacked a comprehensive approach. The past history of the country led to the exclusion of the majority of the population from formal social security protection. The excluded and marginalised had to rely on informal social security measures to provide social protection. This resulted in a system of co-existence between formal and informal social security. Although informal social security is increasingly recognised as part of the social security landscape, the role and importance of informal social security have largely been ignored in all reforms to improve the protective scope of the present social security system. The thesis aims to change this. Informal social security has been denied a rightful place in the South African social security landscape. The thesis recommends a model as to how the divide between formal and informal social security can be bridged. This model will, it is hoped, serve as a baseline for stimulating debate and generating new innovative ideas as to how to improve the present social security system in South Africa. / Jurisprudence / LLD

The main objective of the thesis was to investigate the feasibility of accurately and precisely fore- casting the number of both national and provincial bene ciaries of social security grants in South Africa, using simple autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models. The series of the monthly number of bene ciaries of the old age, child support, foster care and disability grants from April 2004 to March 2010 were used to achieve the objectives of the thesis. The conclusions from analysing the series were that: (1) ARIMA models for forecasting are province and grant-type spe- ci c; (2) for some grants, national forecasts obtained by aggregating provincial ARIMA forecasts are more accurate and precise than those obtained by ARIMA modelling national series; and (3) for some grants, forecasts obtained by modelling the latest half of the series were more accurate and precise than those obtained from modelling the full series. / Mathematical Sciences / M.Sc. (Statistics)

With the dawn of democracy, the South African social security system was in dire need of change. The right of access to social security was for the first time entrenched as a fundamental right in the 1995 Constitution. Since then, many changes have been effected to the present formal social security system, but these were mostly ad hoc and lacked a comprehensive approach. The past history of the country led to the exclusion of the majority of the population from formal social security protection. The excluded and marginalised had to rely on informal social security measures to provide social protection. This resulted in a system of co-existence between formal and informal social security. Although informal social security is increasingly recognised as part of the social security landscape, the role and importance of informal social security have largely been ignored in all reforms to improve the protective scope of the present social security system. The thesis aims to change this. Informal social security has been denied a rightful place in the South African social security landscape. The thesis recommends a model as to how the divide between formal and informal social security can be bridged. This model will, it is hoped, serve as a baseline for stimulating debate and generating new innovative ideas as to how to improve the present social security system in South Africa. / Jurisprudence / LLD

The main objective of the thesis was to investigate the feasibility of accurately and precisely fore- casting the number of both national and provincial bene ciaries of social security grants in South Africa, using simple autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models. The series of the monthly number of bene ciaries of the old age, child support, foster care and disability grants from April 2004 to March 2010 were used to achieve the objectives of the thesis. The conclusions from analysing the series were that: (1) ARIMA models for forecasting are province and grant-type spe- ci c; (2) for some grants, national forecasts obtained by aggregating provincial ARIMA forecasts are more accurate and precise than those obtained by ARIMA modelling national series; and (3) for some grants, forecasts obtained by modelling the latest half of the series were more accurate and precise than those obtained from modelling the full series. / Mathematical Sciences / M.Sc. (Statistics)