Barriers contributing to the exclusion of eligible child support grant beneficiaries in Umzinto rural community of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

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.