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The DA challenges Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, to join the DA when we go shopping to test her assertion that R753 in social grants is enough to sustain an entire family for an entire month. On 09 June 2016 the DA extended an invitation to the Minister to join us on this shopping trip to which she still hasn’t responded.

With rising food prices due to the drought and other factors, the DA contends that the Minister’s claim is deeply insensitive and completely untrue.

This comes on the back of  her recent reply to a DA parliamentary question in which she asserts that R753 a month is“adequate” for social grant beneficiaries. Whether she made a calculation error or simply never looks at invoices when doing shopping or checking into hotels has rendered her out of touch with the poor despite being the Minister in charge of the most vulnerable in our society.

The effect of inadequate child support grants are already being felt, with almost a quarter of South African children suffering from stunted growth, according to the third Global Nutrition Report released this week.

The report placed South Africa 70th out of 132 countries for stunted growth rates, with 23.9% of South African children under five stunted, mainly due to a lack of nutrition. Food inflation, the economy and the drought have been cited as factors that make it harder for South African families to eat healthily.

This is further proof that the government’s child support grants are not adequate to support South African families and the children that are the future of this country. It is therefore inexplicable that the Minister could claim that R753 a month is sufficient for social grant beneficiaries.
 
We therefore challenge Minister Dlamini to come shopping with us on Wednesday, 22 June, at the Shoprite in Soweto, so that she can see for herself what R753 can buy.

Issued by DA