Social welfare programmes in South Africa

Pre-apartheid The pre-apartheid social programmes in South Africa was mainly concerned with white poverty. The poor relief aimed at helping white farmers (Boers) whose crops failed and excluded Black farmers from the relief. The welfare resources for children and the disabled were created. Post-apartheid Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) The White Paper for Social Welfare The post-apartheid government published the White Paper for Social Welfare in 1995 and it was adopted by Cabinet in 1997. The White Paper proposed policies and programmes to implement the principles established in RDP. The programmes proposed by the White Paper included Unemployment Insurance, free health care programs for pregnant women and small children, free meals for students, and poor relief that would guarantee a minimum income for families and children. The White Paper also integrated the 14 welfare departments based on race and established the Ministry for Welfare and Population Development and nine provincial departments to administer social welfare services. Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) GEAR was the conservative macroeconomic policy South African government adopted in response to the 1996 currency crisis in an attempt to regain confidence in domestic and global capital market. GEAR prioritised economic growth, believing that economic growth could solve poverty problem by job creation. GEAR emphasised that economic growth should be led by the private sector and reduced the role state took in economy. As a result, the decrease in public spending led to the elimination or shrinkage of social services. == Types of Programmes ==

Social Security Grants The Child Support Grant (CSG) The Child Support Grant was introduced in 1998. CSG is a cash assistance to poor children under the age of 6 and expanded to children under the age of 14 in 2005. According to the National Treasury of South Africa, "the CSG is now one of the largest social assistance programmes in post-apartheid South Africa reaching 11.2 million children in 2012–13, i.e., approximately 59 per cent of children." The Foster Child Grant (FCG) Foster parents of children under the age of 15 were eligible for the Foster Child Grant in 2010. Since 2012, the qualification for FCG expanded to include foster children under the age of 18. These benefits are received through cash, direct deposit, or through an overseeing institution. Old-age pension The old-age pension accounts for the highest amount of government expenditure among all social assistance programmes in South Africa. The old-age pension was established in South Africa as early as the 1920s. However, the old-age pension system had reflected strong racial inequality until the 1990s. In 2010, women aged 60 and above and men aged 61 above could receive R21000 per year. To qualify, single parents must earn less than R223 200 annually and couples must earn less than R446 400 collectively, with exemptions made for foster parents. War veterans grant Veterans who fought in the Second World War (1939–1945) or the Korean War (1950–1953) and who are above the age of 60 are eligible to the war veteran grant provided by the Department of Military Veterans. Each veteran can receive R1,800 per month from the South African Social Security Agency. Unemployment Insurance (UI) Unemployment insurance was introduced as early as 1966 through the passage of the first Unemployment Insurance Act. However, the first Unemployment Insurance Act excluded black workers, workers in informal sectors, and civil servants from receiving unemployment benefits. The program's goal was to address the housing disparity created during apartheid. The government fulfilled its claim by providing 1,155,300 homes that could house 5,776,300 people by 2000. Recipients whose monthly income is below R800 can receive a subsidy of R15,000; recipients whose monthly income ranges from 801 to R1500 receive R12,500; recipients whose monthly income ranges from R1501 to R2500 receive R9,500; recipients whose monthly income ranges from R2501 to R3500 receive R5,000. == Support ==

Supporters of the social welfare programmes in South Africa argue that these programmes have a positive impact on poor people's lives. Similarly, women-led households that receive CSG show increased child enrolment in school and the mothers are more likely to participate in the labour market. Domestic child labour is thought to decrease in recipient households. However, recent studies suggest that the reception of social grants does not affect jobless people's incentive to seek employment. The main reason is that social grants, such as Child Support Grant, old-age pension, and disability grant, are aimed at supporting people who cannot work due to age or disability. People without disabilities and of working age are not eligible for any grants in South Africa currently. == Criticism ==

Corruption and maladministration are huge problems that exist in South African social welfare system. According to Reddy, South Africa lost R1,5 billion per year through corruption and maladministration in the delivery of social grants. Moreover, since the government did not establish a standard building regulations for the developers of RDP housing, many RDP housing units are characterised with inferior quality. Nearly 2,000 government officials were arrested for corruption during the project and several housing projects may be improperly built because of relations between contractors and officials. There is a lack of offices distributed across the country so veterans seeking help must travel to Pretoria for service. == References ==