More social grant beneficiaries

By Odette Ismail
19 January 2007

South African’s can look forward to a considerable increase in social grant beneficiaries, especially in child support and disability grants, says the Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya.

The department has put out a discussion document for public comment on how to find ways to connect grants beneficiaries with poverty alleviation and economic activity.

Skweyiya told reporters that the increase of beneficiaries shows that awareness campaigns helped to boost the increase. However he says the challenge is to sustain the programme.

He says the poor and able-bodied still find it hard to find jobs in South Africa. He says it is for this reason that public participation is vital, in order to extend government initiatives to involve people in self-help programmes.

The first draft of the document can be found at www.socdev.gov.za.