Petition to increase child grant gets nearly 600,000 signatures, but others say no way

A group of academics, and civil society leaders and other partners, have appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa to increase the Child Support Grant (CSG) by R500 to R900 for a period of six months.

Responding to a question from the media at a ministerial briefing in March, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said there had been no decision to increase the amounts paid to beneficiaries during the lockdown to ease financial strain.

The question had in particular been about increasing the amount for the child grant, which stands at R445 from April 2020.

But the group said while the lockdown was important to contain Covid-19, it would increase poverty and unemployment.

“This measure is critical to mitigate the impact on children and families of the lockdown and the current and future economic shocks created by Covid-19. The CSG is the simplest, quickest and most effective way to get cash into millions of poor households that may well otherwise face food insecurity and debilitating poverty.

“South Africa already has very high rates of poverty, unemployment and inequality, and the effects of lockdown on work and earnings threaten to exacerbate all these dynamics. As the depth of poverty increases, more people will go hungry, including millions of children.

“Before the lockdown over 10 million children were receiving nutritious meals through the school nutrition programme and early childhood development programmes. The closure of schools and early childhood development facilities mean families with children will need to provide more nutritious meals.

“Social grants are an extremely effective mechanism for protecting children and families against the effects of poverty,” said the group in a letter.

The group says the child support grant is well established, reaching 12.8 million children.

The group, which was organised by the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town, has started a petition which has garnered more than 560,o00 of 600,000 targeted signatures.

The petition has divided opinion on social media, with most saying families were already getting enough grants, along with government distributing food parcels amid the lockdown.

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