Issued by: The Minister of Welfare and Population Development
STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER FOR WELFARE AND POPULATION DEVELOPMENT, GERALDINE FRASER-MOLEKETI ON THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW CHILD SUPPORT BENEFIT
The Minister for Welfare and Population Development welcomes today's decision by Cabinet to introduce a new child support benefit which will replace the existing parent and child maintenance grants. This is a significant step as it will bring relief to 3 million poor children over the next seven years amounting to an additional R1,2 billion.
The decision signals the start of an important and necessary process to ensure that needy children throughout the country have access to the government's social security programme.
The overhaul of the state maintenance grant system was identi- fied as a priority at the time of the drafting of the White Paper for Social Welfare which began in 1995. Extensive consultations were embarked upon.
The consensus in the welfare field around the need for such a move was later concretised through the investigation of the Lund Committee which handed over its report in September last year.
Who qualifies
In terms of Cabinet's decision, all children from birth to six years will in future qualify for the new benefit if the primary care-giver meets the requirements of a means test. A simple and workable means test that will identify poverty-stricken households is still being finalised.
The new benefit will be paid at a flat rate of R75 per child per month. This amount was agreed on as it is slightly above the household subsistence level for food and clothing for a child under six years.
It will come into operation on 1 August 1997 and will be preceded by a moratorium on new applications. The present system will be phased out over five years and in tandem the new system will be phased in.
The new child support benefit will be based on close inter- departmental collaboration, between the departments of Welfare and Health particularly, in the way the benefit is provided. For example, mothers with babies who obtain the new benefit will be required to regularly visit primary health care centres so that this will assist in the monitoring of the beneficiaries.
Estimated cost
A flat-rate benefit of R75 per month per child in the age group 0-6 years and targeted at 30% of poor children will cost R1,2-bil- lion over a 5-year period. The introduction of a new child support benefit follows the ministerially appointed Lund Committee investi- gation last year which found serious shortcomings in the present system. Currently the Department of Welfare pays out an estimated R1,2-billion per year in the form of state maintenance grants to 349 692 beneficiaries. It was estimated that it would cost between R5-billion and R20-billion annually, depending on the assumptions made, if all women who were eligible for the grant under the present circumstances and criteria should apply.
Another problem area associated with the present maintenance grant was that it did not reach needy children in the poorer provinces such as the Northern Province and Eastern Cape. Presently the Western Cape has the largest number of beneficiaries.
Clearly reforming the private maintenance system would go some way to easing the demands that are placed on the state maintenance grants system. A culture of parental responsibility should therefore be fostered.
One of the criteria for the new benefit will be that a person who applies must show proof that she has tried to obtain support through the private maintenance system, administered by the Department of Justice.
This Ministry would like to take this opportunity to call on all parents, particularly unmarried fathers who have been defaulting on non-support payments, to help give our children a chance of survival.
I am fully aware that today's cabinet decision has far-reaching implacations, especially for those who have few opportunities to find alternative sources of income. However, I wish to assure all those who will be affected that today's decision is not the end of the process. It is the start.
I pledge to do everything in my power to minimise the negative effects of the changes we are introducing and will strive to ensure that the policies we are implementing, not only as a department but as a government, bring us closer to our goal of a just society.
Cape Town Wednesday 5 March 1997