Speech on Social Assistance and Poverty Alleviation by Lance Greyling
2004-10-27. In an ideal society, whether it is in South Africa, or in any other country for that matter, not one person would be unemployed, no one would be starving and no one would need social assistance from the state.
Unfortunatley, that is the ideal
situation and the dream, we live in reality and we are confronted with
a far from ideal situation. The reality is that millions of South
Africans live in abject poverty and scrape an existence together.
The reality, ladies and gentleman, is that we as country cannot ignore
this suffering. Not only do we have a moral obligation to do something
about these challenges, but also more importantly our Constitution
commands us to protect the most vulnerable of our society.
There is no doubt that the government has had success in increasing the social net, this is clearly evidenced by the increased numbers of South Africans accessing the five (5) social grants, and the fact the Minister of Finance announced yesterday in this house that he intends spending even more on these grants in the MTEF.
However we there have been success, there are also challenges that need to be confronted and addressed, of which I will highlight a few. The Independent Democrats has recently embarked on a program to look at pension pay points. What we discovered on our visits to numerous pay points around the country was distressing. We found that a general complaint was that applications for social grants take an unacceptably long time. We met a large number of elderly people and young mothers, who get up at the crack of dawn, pay for transport they can ill afford, wait in queues for a majority of the day, and then are told to come back the next month. The ID calls on the Minister of Social Development to seriously look at restoring the dignity and self-respect of our mothers, fathers and sisters.
In addition, Hon Members, although the ID welcomes the extension of the social net in SA, we are concerned that it is not expanding quickly enough, and that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of South Africans will simply slip through the cracks. We believe that the solution is a Universal Basic Income Grant. We do not believe that a means based grant is the answer, as it will add unreasonable bureaucratic costs and administration nightmares, diverting money away from the people that really need it.
In conclusion, social assistance should be seen for it is; a direct government intervention to uphold its constitutional obligations. It should cater for those that cannot care for themselves and to overcome the structural imbalances created by apartheid. In order for there to be a significant impact on poverty levels in this country, social assistance must be linked to sustainable job creation.
There is no doubt that the government has had success in increasing the social net, this is clearly evidenced by the increased numbers of South Africans accessing the five (5) social grants, and the fact the Minister of Finance announced yesterday in this house that he intends spending even more on these grants in the MTEF.
However we there have been success, there are also challenges that need to be confronted and addressed, of which I will highlight a few. The Independent Democrats has recently embarked on a program to look at pension pay points. What we discovered on our visits to numerous pay points around the country was distressing. We found that a general complaint was that applications for social grants take an unacceptably long time. We met a large number of elderly people and young mothers, who get up at the crack of dawn, pay for transport they can ill afford, wait in queues for a majority of the day, and then are told to come back the next month. The ID calls on the Minister of Social Development to seriously look at restoring the dignity and self-respect of our mothers, fathers and sisters.
In addition, Hon Members, although the ID welcomes the extension of the social net in SA, we are concerned that it is not expanding quickly enough, and that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of South Africans will simply slip through the cracks. We believe that the solution is a Universal Basic Income Grant. We do not believe that a means based grant is the answer, as it will add unreasonable bureaucratic costs and administration nightmares, diverting money away from the people that really need it.
In conclusion, social assistance should be seen for it is; a direct government intervention to uphold its constitutional obligations. It should cater for those that cannot care for themselves and to overcome the structural imbalances created by apartheid. In order for there to be a significant impact on poverty levels in this country, social assistance must be linked to sustainable job creation.
