News
on access to social grants
"We have a duty as South Africans to work
together to relieve children and vulnerable people
from hunger and poverty." These were the
words of Dr Zola Skweyiya, Minister of Social
Development, to more than 200 faith leaders at
a gathering in KwaZulu-Natal in October 2003.
This was one among many imbizos held by the Minister
to address community members and civil society
organisations across the country during the past
year.
Dr Skweyiya asked for ongoing collaboration between
social partners to ensure that the poorest of
the poor are able to receive support through social
grants, and thanked FBOs for having helped to
improve access to the grants by finding and registering
children and the elderly with the Department of
Home Affairs for Child Support (160 per month)
and Old Age (R700 per month) grants.
He acknowledged the valuable role played by community
radio stations in sending out information about
the Department's Integrated Community Registration
Campaign. This Campaign ensures that the registration
and application process no longer requires travelling
long distances to cities and standing in queues
in local government offices. Many thousands of
people are now able to gather at rural centres
where mobile registration units, staffed by government
officials from Home Affairs and Social Development,
are set up to serve remote communities.
The Minister outlined how religious and traditional
leaders could help to solve the problem of incorrect
ages being reflected in the ID books of pensioners
in their communities. These leaders could sign
a written statement (called an Affidavit) at a
Magistrate’s Court to prove the person’s
correct age and then submit this to the Department
of Home Affairs for the issue of a new ID book.
Dr Skweyiya was deeply concerned about the plight
of orphans and the elderly in distant rural areas,
and said he was very disturbed by the suffering
and destabilisation that the HIV/AIDS epidemic,
poverty and hunger have brought to communities
and traditional support structures. "If a
person entitled to a social grant is not able
to get it, this strips a whole family of its dignity
and humanity. We cannot allow this to happen."
He stressed the critical need for business, civil
society and government to work as partners, so
that political tensions in both rural and urban
areas do not restrict the distribution of food
parcels in needy communities.
He also reported on the spending of no less than
R1,5 billion in government funds allocated across
the provinces to poverty relief programmes, nationwide
food emergency schemes, support for community
and home-based care and assistance for children
through the Comprehensive Social Security system.
For more information, direct your queries to
the Department of Social Development, via:
Kgati Sathekge
Tel: (012) 312 7775
Fax: (012) 312-7943
Cell: 082 808 9486
Email: kgati.sathekge@socdev.gov.za
/ or michaelf@socdev.gov.za
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