Welfare & Social Assistance

The social assistance programme of the Department of Social Development provides benefits to approximately three million people comprising the elderly, persons with disabilities, and children under the age of seven years.

The White Paper for Social Welfare emphasises the need to transform expensive
institutional models of service delivery to a developmental model that empowers individuals and communities to become self-reliant.

However, there is concern over accessing the R100 monthly child welfare grant, and welfare being one of the sectors with the largest unspent budget.

The challenges facing social welfare service delivery in the country include the review of disability grants and mainstreaming of services for people with disabilities; the impact of phasing out State Maintenance Grants; and the availability of services for victims of violence across the country.

A UCDP-led government will:

  • Ensure that poverty relief funds are properly administered by putting in place an integrated approach which will target the poor and clearly define timelines of allocations;
  • Ensure that civil pensioners receive their social welfare grants regularly and timeously;
  • Offer bank and post office services as alternative options for receiving grants to reduce congestion at pay-points;
  • Fight fraud in the pension system. We will ensure that beneficiaries are protected, and cared for, at pay-points;
  • Educate beneficiaries on grant reviews; and
  • Not outsource the payment of grants. The payment of social grants will remain the responsibility of government which will ensure that monies are protected and secured.