INCREASING numbers of South Africans receiving the childcare social grant (CSG) face a rough road head when they turn 18 to get tertiary education and get a job amid an economy devastated in the wake of Covid-19 with soaring unemployment.
According to the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), close to 739 000 will see their CSG lapsing by the end of December. In 2021, the grant lapsed for 669 000 beneficiaries, while in 2020 close to 624 683 exited the system compared to 575 000 in 2019.
Professor Irrshad Kaseeram, University of Zululand’s deputy dean for Research, Commerce, Administration and Law, who is also the acting HOD for Economics, said in an interview with Business Report, “Over the past two decades more people have became beneficiaries of the grants while over the past decade, South Africa’s economy has not grown as desired.
“This was a problem in South Africa with many people being unskilled or semi-skilled.
“The country’s wage structure is high, which means that only skilled people are getting jobs,” Kaseeram said, adding that the majority of child support grant beneficiaries who exited the system generally found it difficult to enter higher education because of their social situation while there were not enough jobs to absorb them.
Most of them would unfortunately add to the country’s already high unemployment rate, he said.
At the end of last year, Statistics SA’s data showed that close to 3.4 million, or 33.5 percent, out of 10.2 million young people aged 15-24 years were not in any form of employment, education or training.
Sassa’s spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said last year the organisation had received and approved more than 840 000 CGA applications, while in 2018 more than 905 000 applications were received and close to 900 000 were approved. In 2015, the year in which the grant was extended up to children reaching their 18th year, more than 1.04 million applications were received of which over 867 000 were approved.
Letsatsi said while applications for the grant remain fairly consistent over the years, there were, however, a number of concerns with the uptake for this grant.
“There appears to be a mis-perception with regards to the means test. Many people feel that they do not qualify if they receive a small income from another source. It is important to note that the receipt of income from another source does not necessarily disqualify an applicant. It is important to note the amount of the income-that is what is the determining factor.
“The current means test for the child support grant is that the income of the applicant (if unmarried, divorced or widowed) cannot exceed R4 600 per month. If the income is below that amount, the grant will be paid. The means test threshold for a married applicant is that the combined income of the applicant and the spouse cannot exceed R9 200 per month. This is double the amount for a single applicant,” Letsatsi said.
Sassa encouraged caregivers of young children to apply for the child support grant as soon after the birth of a baby as possible, as their studies had shown that the earlier the grant was introduced into poor families, bringing some income stability, there would be greater long term benefits for that child.
For this reason, Sassas had a particular target to get qualifying children into the system before they turned one year old.
“Most concerning is that the uptake in this age range particularly in Gauteng and Western Cape is not as is expected. It is surmised that this is because these are the most urban provinces, and people may have some income. However, as indicated above, if the income is below the means test threshold, the citizens can still apply,” Letsatsi said.
Latsatsi said Sassa had implemented an online CGA application system.
“This is available for applications for child support grants, grants for older persons (old age pensions) and foster child grants. Applications can be lodged through the website at https://services.sassa.gov.za,” he said.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE