Barriers contributing to the exclusion of eligible child support grant beneficiaries in Umzinto rural community of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
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Date
2020
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Abstract
With the realization that there are still excluded child support grant income-eligible children in
South Africa, the study investigated why eligible children are not accessing the child support
grant in Umzinto. Objectives of the study were to investigate why eligible children are not
accessing the child support grant in Umzinto, to find how eligible children are excluded from
the children social grant provision, to find out how the excluded child’s guardians view social
grant provision and the exclusion of their children, to examine if the excluded child’s guardians
are aware of the child social grant policy and requirements and to examine if there are any
government initiatives aimed at improving child support grant accessibility and delivery in
South Africa. Grounded on the theory of legitimate expectations and Fineman's theory of
vulnerability, qualitative methodology and a total sample size of 10 participants where eight
were Umzinto community members and guardians of eligible social grant excluded children;
and two were SASSA workers in Umzinto who are responsible for communicating and
administering social grant application process was utilized. Snowball sampling and judgmental
sampling methods were employed. This study utilized one on one in-depth interviews and
observations as research techniques. Data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis. The
study found out that reasons for eligible children exclusion differ from applicant to applicant,
and mainly based on the information each applicant presents to SASSA officials. This includes
the presentation of wrong information, submission of fraudulent required documents, and
failure to meet minimum requirements. Family politics, lack of proper education,
communication and information about the child support grant are also some of the reasons this
study concluded as the main reasons why some eligible children are excluded from receiving
the social grant in Umzinto. The study recommends that to assist eligible excluded children to
receive social grants, social workers must make constant follow-ups with the applicant families
in communities; and SASSA to devise and implement more relevant community awareness to
educate people about social grants. This would help reduce exclusions and travelling costs to
recipients.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.