Government urged to increase Child Support Grant during lockdown

The University of Cape Town’s Children’s Institute has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to increase South Africa’s Child Support Grant (CSG) during the lockdown period.

As the country’s coronavirus-induced lockdown passes the halfway mark, serious concerns regarding the economic fallout, as a result of reduced wages, retrenchments and global financial instability, pose a dire prospect for South Africa’s vulnerable citizens.

While government initiatives — supported by the private sector — have been implemented to mitigate the financial ruin of small businesses, calls for the country’s social grants scheme to be amended amid unprecedented times have grown.

The Children’s Institute is one such organisation which is spearheading the charge for an increase of monthly allowances. In a letter addressed to President Ramaphosa. The institute proposed that the CSG be increased by R500 for a period of six months.

Food costs on the rise during difficult times

In addition to the economic calamity which will continue to push citizens deeper into poverty, children have been left hungry by the closure of schools and the subsequent suspension of feeding programmes. The interruption of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) has added extra financial strain on families who have been forced to cover the cost of daily foodstuffs which were previously provided by government. The Children’s Institute elaborated on the dire predicament faced by many families, saying:

“Pre-regulation food price increases have swallowed families’ budgets and forced shoppers to buy less nutritious food.

“Over the whole month [March], the cost of the food basket increased by 7%, or R220. This increase alone is equivalent to half the value of the monthly child support grant.”

Child Support Grant benefits 5.7 million households

In calling on the Department of Social Development and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), which provides assistance to almost 13 million children, the institute noted proactive social assistance reforms, by way of non-contributory cash transfers, undertaken by other countries hard-hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. The institute noted that these interventions played a vital role in sustaining families in need.

While, as a result of the lockdown, Sassa has been unable to add new beneficiaries to the welfare system, the CSG is likely to be absorbed into greater household budgets as economic strife intensifies. The Children’s Institute explained:

“It [the CSG] is received every month by more than 7 million adult beneficiaries and contributes to the income of nearly 5.7 million households.

“Although child support grants are meant to be spent directly on the children to whom they are allocated, they effectively become part of household budgets and help to support entire households. Therefore, increasing this grant is likely to benefit other members of the household.”

Additional relief measures

The institute added, that in addition to the CSG increase, the following complementary measures would go a long way to alleviating financial strain among the country’s vulnerable:

• Registration of vulnerable households (particularly for the unemployed and new mothers who are unable to register with Sassa) for the Social Relief of Distress (SROD) grant;
• Restructuring Sassa’s payment system to alleviate long queues; and
• Subsidising selected highly nutritious foods

The Children’s Institute also noted that informal traders, who were recently afforded the “essential” operation categorisation under the Disaster Management Act, would also benefit from an increase in the CSG, explaining:

“Extra cash in the hands of CSG beneficiaries will not only increase the ability of poor households to buy nutritious fresh produce, but will also help to reduce the congestion in taxis and at big retailers; and stimulate the local economies of townships and rural areas.”