Paradoxes of Social Grants in South Africa: The Case of COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant
Issue: Vol.5 No.7 Issue Article 7 pp.1133-1145
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2024577| Published online 2nd July, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
South Africa is largely a welfare state because of its extensive social welfare grants. Almost half of the South African population benefits from social welfare grants. Through a literature review analysis, this paper focused on the special COVID-19 grant, also known as the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. The paper analysed technical reports, working papers from reputable institutions and journal articles on social grants in South Africa. The analysis revealed that social grants in general enable the beneficiaries to access basic needs such as food and clothing; improve living standards; and alleviate poverty. The analysis also showed that the COVID-19 grants reached the previously unreached segment of the population, provided funds for seeking employment; supported childcare; and enhanced digital skills. The provision of SRD was found to be plagued with corruption, lack of capacity of administrative units, and emerging dependence. There is high support for extending and sustaining the grant, while other sources decry the potential of the grant to promote unproductive behaviour among young people, who should be actively involved in the labour market. The paper recommends an objective evaluation of the SRD grant to counter unpleasant socio-economic spillovers and promote the intended purpose. This paper contributes to the scholarship on remedial and developmental welfare in South Africa, with possible lessons for other welfare states globally.
Keywords: Social Grants, Dependence syndrome, COVID-19, Grant sustainability, welfare state, unemployment, poverty
Bhorat, H., M. Oosthuizen, and B. Stanwix. “Social Assistance amidst the Covid-19 Epidemic in South Africa: An Impact Assessment ,” July 2020.
Bhuda, Monicca Thulisile, Thabang Motswaledi, and Phemelo Marumo. “Moral Decay, Government, and Looting in South Africa during COVID-19.” African Journal of Development Studies 13 (2023).
Creswell, J.W. Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative & Mixed Methods Approach. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Ltd, 2014.
Denscombe, M. The Good Research Guide for Small-Scale Social Research Projects . Berkshire: Open University Press, 2014.
Department of Social Development. “Annual Report 2021/2022, Republic of South Africa,” 2022. https://portal.dsd.gov.za/DSD-AR/.
———. The Rapid Assessment of the Implementation and Utilisation of the Special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant. Republic of South Africa, 2021.
Devereux, Stephen. “Social Protection Responses to COVID-19 in Africa.” Global Social Policy 21, no. 3 (December 1, 2021): 421–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/14680181211021260.
Ellison, Mark, Kirstine Szifris, Rachel Horan, and Chris Fox. “A Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Effectiveness of Prison Education in Reducing Recidivism and Increasing Employment.” Probation Journal 64, no. 2 (2017): 108–28.
Goldman, Maya, Ihsaan Bassier, Joshua Budlender, Lindi Mzankomo, Ingrid Woolard, and Murray V Leibbrandt. “Simulation of Options to Replace the Special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant and Close the Poverty Gap at the Food Poverty Line.” WIDER Working Paper, 2021.
Graham, Victoria, Yolanda Sadie, and Leila Patel. “Social Grants, Food Parcels and Voting Behaviour: A Case Study of Three South African Communities.” Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa 91, no. 1 (2016): 106–35.
Granlund, Stefan, and Tessa Hochfeld. “‘That Child Support Grant Gives Me Powers’ – Exploring Social and Relational Aspects of Cash Transfers in South Africa in Times of Livelihood Change.” The Journal of Development Studies 56, no. 6 (June 2, 2020): 1230–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2019.1650170.
Gronbach, L., J. Seekings, and V. Megannon. “Social Protection in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from South Africa.” Washington DC, February 2022.
Jamieson, Lucy, and Lorraine van Blerk. “Responding to COVID-19 in South Africa – Social Solidarity and Social Assistance.” Children’s Geographies 20, no. 4 (July 4, 2022): 427–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2021.1924359.
Kajiita, Robert Mutemi, Thanduxolo Nomngcoyiya, and Simon Murote Kang’ethe. “The ‘Revolution’on Teaching and Learning: Implications of Covid-19 on Social Work Education in Institutions of Higher Learning in Africa.” African Journal of Social Work 10, no. 3 (2020): 25–33.
Khambule, Isaac. “The Effects of COVID-19 on the South African Informal Economy: Limits and Pitfalls of Government’s Response.” Loyola Journal of Social Sciences 34, no. 1 (2020): 95–109.
Köhler, T., and H. Bhorat. “COVID-19, Social Protection, and the Labour Market in South Africa: Are Social Grants Being Targeted at the Most Vulnerable?” Cape Town, August 2020.
———. “Social Assistance during South Africa’s National Lock-Down: Examining the COVID-19 Grant, Changes to the Child Support Grant, and Post-October Policy Options.” Cape Town, October 2020.
Mackett, Odile. “Social Grants as a Tool for Poverty Reduction in South Africa? A Longitudinal Analysis Using the NIDS Survey.” African Studies Quarterly 19, no. 1 (2020). http://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v19/v19i1a13pdf.
Madisa, K., and M. Amashabalala. “Half of South Africa’s Population Is 100% Dependent on State Welfare.” Sowetan Live, January 6, 2023. https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2023-01-06-half-of-south-africas-population-are-100-dependent-on-state-welfare/.
Mathebula, J., T. Fish, and S. Masvaure. “Should the COVID-19 Lockdown Social Relief of Distress Grant Be Made Permanent?” Johannesburg: University of Witwatersrand, 2022.
Mazenda, Adrino, Tyanai Masiya, and David Mandiyanike. “The Effectiveness of the COVID-19 Economic and Social Relief Package as a Poverty Alleviation Strategy in South Africa.” In Socioeconomic Dynamics of the COVID-19 Crisis. Contributions to Economics., edited by N. Faghih and A. Forouharfar, 215–30. Cham: Springer, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89996-7_10.
Megannon, V. “Experiences of Accessing the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant in South Africa.” Cape Town, 2022.
Miyajima, Mr Ken. The Link Between Social Grant and Employment in South Africa. International Monetary Fund, 2023.
Moosa, M., and J. Patel. “South Africans Support Social Grants but Say Work at Any Wage Beats Unemployment.” The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, South Africa, May 26, 2020.
Mudau, J., and T. Madzivhandila. “COVID-19 in South Africa: Corruption in the Running of the State Affairs.” ”. African Journal in Education & Transformation (AJET) 2, no. 1 (2022).
Nnaeme, Chibuikem C., Leila Patel, and Sophie Plagerson. “How Cash Transfers Enable Agency through Livelihoods in South Africa.” World Development 131 (July 2020): 104956. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.104956.
Nnaeme, Chibuikem Charles. “‘The Community Comes to Life’: How Social Grants Enable Participation in the Local Economy and Possible Effect on Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery in Soweto South Africa.” Forum for Development Studies 49, no. 3 (September 2, 2022): 493–510. https://doi.org/10.1080/08039410.2022.2085167.
Noyoo, N. “South Africa’s Social Policy Response to COVID-19: Relief Measures in an Unequal Society .” Covid-19 Social Policy Response Series, 21, 2021.
Patel, Leila, Viwe Dikoko, and Jade Archer. “Social Grants, Livelihoods and Poverty Responses of Social Grant Beneficiaries in South Africa.” University of Johannesburg, Centre for Development in Africa, 2023.
Patel, Leila, and Eleanor Ross. “Connecting Cash Transfers with Care for Better Child and Family Well-Being: Evidence from a Qualitative Evaluation in South Africa.” Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 39, no. 2 (2022): 195–207.
Patton, Q.M. Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. Integrating Theory and Practices. 4th ed. London: Sage Publications, 2015.
Republic of South Africa. “COVID-19 Social Grant Extended until 2025,” 2023. https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/covid-19-social-grant-extended-until-2025.
———. “Social Grants to Increase, Social Relief of Distress Grant to Stay until 2024.” South Africa News Agency , March 22, 2023. https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/social-grants-increase-social-relief-distress-grant-stay-until-2024.
Seekings, J. “Bold Promises, Constrained Capacity, Stumbling Delivery: The Expansion of Social Protection in Response to the Covid-19 Lockdown in South Africa.” Cape Town, July 2020.
———. “Social Grants and Voting in South Africa .” Cape Town, May 2019.
Seyi Olawuyi, Olalekan, and Abbyssinia Mushunje. “Welfare Distributional Impact of Special Distress Relief Grant in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa: Evidence from 2021 General Household Survey.” African Journal of Business and Economic Research 18, no. 2 (June 18, 2023): 131–51. https://doi.org/10.31920/1750-4562/2023/v18n2a7.
Statistics South Africa. “P0318 – General Household Survey (GHS), 2022. Republic of South Africa,” 2023. https://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=1856&PPN=P0318&SCH=73619.
The World Bank. “ South Africa: A New Social Assistance Assessment Aims to Help Strengthen Policies and Programs for the Poor .” Press Release. Pretoria, 2021.
Torkelson, Erin. “Deserving and Undeserving Welfare States: Cash Transfers and Hegemonic Struggles in South Africa.” Journal of Southern African Studies 48, no. 1 (January 2, 2022): 43–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2022.2004772.
Trafford, Zara, and Leslie Swartz. “The Care Dependency Grant for Children with Disabilities in South Africa: Perspectives from Implementation Officials.” Development Southern Africa 40, no. 2 (March 4, 2023): 259–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2021.1981250.
Wessels, Elsabé, and Lesley Wood. “Fostering Teachers’ Experiences of Well-Being: A Participatory Action Learning and Action Research Approach.” South African Journal of Education 39, no. 1 (2019).
Wessels, J.S. “A Policy Instrument to Relieve Child Poverty: The Case of the Child Support Grant in South Africa .” In Public Administration Challenges – Cases from Africa, edited by J.S. Wessels, T. Potgieter, and T Naidoo. Cape Town: Juta, 2021.
Winchester, Margaret S., Brian King, and Andrea Rishworth. “‘It’s Not Enough:’ Local Experiences of Social Grants, Economic Precarity, and Health Inequity in Mpumalanga, South Africa.” Wellbeing, Space and Society 2 (2021): 100044. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2021.100044.
Zhou, Sheunesu, Ayansola O. Ayandibu, Tendai Chimucheka, and Mandla M. Masuku. “Government Social Protection and Households’ Welfare during the Covid-19 Pandemic in South Africa.” Journal of Business and Socio-Economic Development 3, no. 4 (September 19, 2023): 308–21. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBSED-04-2022-0044.
Zikhali, Prudence Thobile. “Social Grants and Poverty Alleviation in South Africa: Addressing Dependency Attitude and Behaviour.” Gender and Behaviour 19, no. 2 (2021): 17854–63.
Zindi, Beauty, and Elvin Shava. “‘Confronting the Monster’: Exploring the Implementation of Social Protection Measures Amid COVID-19 in South Africa.” In Exploring the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic, edited by U. Randa and J. Govender, 3–19. Apple Academic Press, 2022.
Zwane, Talent, Mduduzi Biyase, and September Rooderick. “Assessing the Impact of Social Grants on Household Welfare Using Propensity Score Matching Approach.” International Journal of Development Issues, July 5, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJDI-01-2022-0024.
Robert Mutemi Kajiita – a postdoctoral research fellow at Walter Sisulu University. His research interests are Non-Governmental Organizations, social development and welfare, social investment and social entrepreneurship to mention but a few. He is an emerging researcher in social investment and developmental social work. His current research project is on social entrepreneurship and sustainable social development in South Africa.
Simon Murote Kang’ethe – Working at Walter Sisulu University as a full social work professor, he is also a C2 NRF-rated researcher focusing on culture, health, children, social enterprises, and geriatrics. He has supervised close to fifty master’s and PhD students and has authored many book chapters.
Kajiita, Robert Mutemi & Simon Murote Kang’ethe. “Paradoxes of Social Grants in South Africa: The Case of COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.7 (2024): 1133-1145. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2024577
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Featured
Others