The Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, has welcomed the Cabinet decision to amend the Social Assistance Act. Last week, Cabinet reviewed a proposal from the Department of Social Development for Amendments to the Social Assistance Act and approved its release for public comment.
These amendments include, amongst others, changes to the administration of social grants that will improve the efficiency of the Appeals process and the functioning of the Inspectorate.
The amendments also seek to empower the Minister of Social Development to make additional payments for certain social grants. This will enable the introduction of the policy approved by Cabinet in December 2015 for the payment of additional amounts for the Child Support Grant to orphans and children in child-headed households.
The amendments also seek to establish a supplementary benefits fund, which will enable government to provide funeral benefits to the elderly and savings vehicles for caregivers of children with the aim of linking social grants to developmental activities.
In December 2015 Cabinet approved the policy proposal to increase the value of the CSG for orphans and children in child-headed households (CHH) in line with the medium terms strategic framework of Government.
The amendment Bill seeks to provide a legislative framework for the implementation of this policy. The central objective of the policy is to provide social assistance for poor children who are orphaned and living with family members and children living in child-headed households. Throughout the years, the Department has found that extended families caring for orphans have had to take on additional responsibility, often with limited resources.
The policy proposes a higher value for CSG, which may be determined by the Minister of Social Development in concurrence with the Minister of Finance from time to time. This is not a new grant but builds on the success of the existing CSG. "This proposed provision in this policy would require neither a court process nor the associated heavy social work process for placement. However, in order to ensure adequate care and protection, social workers may still need to monitor and serve these families, depending on resources available," said the Minister of Social Development.
The amendment Bill also seeks to set up a supplementary benefit fund. The lack of death and funeral social security benefits has left social grant beneficiaries vulnerable to exploitative and predatory practices by private insurance providers. Private Insurance companies are often unable to properly calculate the risks in low income markets and do not have the scale to pool these risks adequately. Insurance for low income earners is based on a high risk profile with corresponding high premiums.
Funeral costs are amongst the highest expenses for low income earners. "Households without adequate coverage, sometimes resort to loans or sell productive assets to cover these expenses. Family members may also be unaware of cover and do not claim benefits. Older persons are not always aware of who the underwriter is and do not know who to approach when they experience problems," explained Minister Dlamini.
These amendments seek to establish a government vehicle to provide such benefits. The introduction of a Supplementary Benefits Fund provides a vehicle for Government to provide additional benefits such as funeral benefits and any other benefit linked to a social grant beneficiary, based on needs.
The actual benefits levels will be determined between the Minister of Social Development and Finance at the time of implementation and annually, as with the grants.
In addition to improved benefit levels, the amendment Bill also provides for administrative changes aimed at improving the efficiency of the appeals process and reducing fraud within the social grant system.
The current appeals process in the Social Assistance Act provides for an administrative review of the decision within the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).
This is causing unnecessary delays in accessing the right to appeal in relation to social grants and delayed access to administrative justice. The amendments seek to remove this internal mechanism within SASSA and allow the applicant or the beneficiary to appeal directly to the Independent Tribunal should he or she disagree with the decision of SASSA regarding a grant application or review.
The amendments also aim to ensure a more expedient appeal service by the introduction of time-frames in which SASSA must provide reasons and relevant records which informed its decision to the Independent Tribunal. This will alleviate the current time delays in finalizing appeals and promote efficiency by ensuring that those most in need of economic support through social assistance are assisted within the shortest possible time and further ensure easy accessibility for appellants by approaching the Tribunal directly without resorting to expensive legal costs.
Lastly, the amendment Bill allows for the operationalisation of the Inspectorate. The Inspectorate has a specific mandate in terms of the Social Assistance Act to conduct investigations to ensure the maintenance of the integrity of the social assistance frameworks and systems, execute internal financial audits and audits on compliance by SASSA with regulatory and policy measures and instruments, investigate fraud, corruption and other forms of financial and service mismanagement including criminal activity, within SASSA and in connection with its functions, duties and operations.
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