DA promises to double child support – but how?
Higher grants could stop one in four children dying from malnutrition every day, but how the DA will deliver this remains to be seen.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane is seen during a press briefing held accross the street from the Union Buildings regarding government score cards, 4 December 2017, Pretoria. Picture: Jacques Nelles
Could the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) plan to double the child support grant amount be a carrot for votes ahead of next year’s elections – or could it actually be bankable?
The DA wants to double child support grants to about R800 – if it gets into power – and they dub “fighting child malnutrition” as a plausible reason for the upscale, according to reports.
Leader Mmusi Maimane alongside the party’s head of policy Gwen Ngwenya were in Pretoria today, addressing the media on the proposed resolutions ahead of the party’s upcoming conference.
The elective conference is scheduled for this coming weekend and the DA says they will double child support if they get into power.
Maimane said it was unacceptable for one in four children to die daily as a result of malnutrition. He said the party intended to raise the amount to be in line with the cost of raising a child, adding that this year’s increment to the subsidy of R410 was insufficient to combat malnutrition.
How the DA aims to deliver such a potent promise which could possibly convince the mind of a voter is yet to be seen.
The plan may possibly give the Economic Freedom Fighter’s Julius Malema nightmares, as he has previously openly shunned the idea of child grants. His stance is “give people jobs as opposed to grants”, and grants should only be for the elderly.
Planning for the 2019 elections have already started and parties are gearing up for what may be a robust race to the elections.
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