Download
1 / 14
140 likes | 230 Views
PRESENTATION TO PARLIAMENT. REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY INTO A COMPREHENSIVE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM Presented By: Tshepo Noko from Thusano. Who Are We?. Thusano is an NGO for Early Childhood Development in Kuruman operating across the border in the Northern Cape and North West Province.
E N D
PRESENTATION TO PARLIAMENT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY INTO A COMPREHENSIVE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM Presented By: Tshepo Noko from Thusano
Who Are We? • Thusano is an NGO for Early Childhood Development in Kuruman operating across the border in the Northern Cape and North West Province. • Thusano provides quality training and services in early childhood development to Primary Caregivers, Practitioners and Family Fieldworkers through partnerships and networking with other structures within the child rights framework.
Thusano has 25 staff members, including trainers and family field workers. • Thusano is currently working with 200 families in 7 different communities and reaches 385 children. • Through our interventions with these families one of the greatest challenges we face each day is the overwhelming rate of poverty in our communities.
Problems in accessing social security Birth Certificates and Identity documents • Thusano found that many people in the communities are living in poverty without any access to government social grants, including pensions and Child support Grants. • These poor people cannot access grants because they have no ID documents and Birth Certificates. • Over the last three years we managed to assist these families to access ID documents and Birth Certificates to enable them to access the grants available. • 388 Child Support Grants were accessed by the 200 families. However this is a small drop in the bucket!
Other problems with accessing grants • From our experience there are those Home Affairs officials who don’t seem to knowwhat documents are required so they tell the people one thing one day and something else the other day. • People go away and have to come back and this costs money that they don’t have. Sometimes R20-R30 or more for a one way trip. We are beginning to keep records of this type of situation. Where can we report to?
Then if the documents are accepted no one can tell when the grant will come through and so people come back again and again to enquire. Again that costs money for transport.
Insufficient amount of CSG • In many cases where the CSG is received, it is being used for basic food supplies for everyone in the family. • Only children under 9 years are able to receive the CSG and that money must be shared amongst the family. • Anyone who has ever checked to find out how much food the R160 CSG can buy will know how difficult it is to use the CSG to feed even a small family!
Lack of comprehensive social security • In our area we are noting an increase in the number of funerals. The people of working age are dying from TB, HIV/AIDS and children are malnourished. This means there is less income to families.
One elderly grandmother is caring for 3 children. She sells sweets to bring in a little extra income. She gets a pension & 1 child gets the CSG. She struggles to buy food, water, fuel, clothing and pay school fees and church fees. • Mothers and grandmothers tell us that the children ask to be let off from school so that ‘I can help you find money’, and therefore they don’t liketo talk to the children about their problems.
Dependency • People should really look carefully at this reality before they shout about ‘dependency’! • No one we know wants to be dependent, they are only carrying out a responsibility to raise the next generation! How can we help them to create a better future?
Recommendations We would really want to urge you as the Parliament to address theses issues. We make the following recommendations based on the Committee of Inquiry’s report: • We strongly support the COI recommendation that all children up until the age of 18 should be able to access the CSG. If this happens the face of poverty in these provinces will drastically change.
We support the COI’s recommendation of a package of social protection interventions and measures. A package would prevent people from having to choose between basic needs. For example the children we spoke about would not have to leave school in order to work to support the family. • We support a package of the following: • Universal grants for everyone • Free and adequate public health care • Free primary and secondary school • Free basic water and sanitation • Free basic electricity • Accessible and affordable public transport • Access to affordable and adequate housing • Access to jobs and skills training • Access to land and credit
We believe that if the Department of Home Affairs and Social Services could take hands to bring the services to the communities more people will be able to access the grants and therefore a definite decrease in the Poverty Rates would be seen. • The Departmental officials should be well- trained on what documents people need in order to apply for ID’s, BC’s and grants. • The COI does not emphasize this issue. We recommend that the departments should have on the spot registration facilities for birth certificates and identity documents and grant applications at clinics or schools and pay points right in the villages.
Conclusion Let’s agree to take hands today in both ensuring that children up until the age of 18 years receive this grant and that the Departments involvedspeed up the delivery process. Let us also ensure that all South Africans have access to a comprehensive social security system and can live free from poverty. I thank you for your time.
