R753 a month for social grants is proven not to be enough

23 June 2016

Yesterday the DA went shopping in Dobsonville, albeit without the Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, to see if her assertion that social grants are “adequate” rings true. 

With R753, this is all that could be bought with this amount: 5kg chicken, a can Ricoffy, 1kg milk powder, 5kg sugar, 5kg cake flour, 2l cooking oil, 10kg maize meal, 5 packets of soup powder, 4kg rice, 2 cans Lucky Star pilchards, 5 cans of mixed vegetables, 1kg brown beans, 5kg samp. 

This hardly fills half a shopping cart. Yet Minister Dlamini has the audacity to splurge R11 000 on a night of luxury accommodation. The Minister of Social Development is clearly out of touch with reality. To assert that current social grants are “adequate” is, quite frankly, an insult to the millions of South Africans who live in poverty, as proved in our shopping exercise.

The cost for an average family would amount to almost R2 000, which excludes basics such as rent, transport and airtime. 

Further to this 12 million South Africans receive only R350 a month in child grants. Our shopping exercise showed that the most basic products for child needs (Baby wipes, Shampoo, Soap, Bum cream, diapers, formula milk, etc.) amount to R744, more than double the monthly grant. Add to that basic toiletries like toilet paper, tooth paste, sanitary pads and shaving cream, and the total reaches more than R850. 

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 earlier this month.

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.

On 3 August South Africans will have the opportunity to vote for a DA government, a government that is in touch with the reality of ordinary South Africans, a government that listens to the plight of the poor. 

Issued by Bridget Masango, DA Shadow Minister of Social Development, 23 June 2016