Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister of Social Development and hon members, social assistance is a socioeconomic right guaranteed in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The Constitution furthermore specifically guarantees the right to social assistance for those who cannot provide for themselves.
In 1994, the ANC government inherited a social security system that was massively underdeveloped by international standards. It was characterised by policy gaps, duplication in delivery and fragmented institutions. The social security system failed vulnerable groups that faced risks such as poverty, ill health, disability, unemployment, injury on duty and a range of other challenges. This resulted in their effective exclusion from participation in society.
As we enter the second decade of freedom, with the strengthening of democracy and the acceleration of the programme to improve the quality of life of all our people, the ANC recognises that we are at the beginning of a long journey to being a truly united, democratic and prosperous South Africa in which the value of all citizens is measured by their humanity, without regard to race, gender and social status.
In 2001, the ANC government set up a committee of inquiry into a comprehensive system of social security for South Africa chaired by Prof Vivienne Taylor. The committee was mandated to conduct research and to advise the government on social policy reform and the new system. The commission found that most people, who numbered around 22 million at the time, depended to a very large extent on the social grants that they received from the government. It also pointed out that the social grant system inherited from the apartheid era was inadequate to meet the challenges of rooting out poverty, and that not all people qualified for these grants.
The committee came to the conclusion that the social security programmes failed to satisfy the constitutional imperatives, and thus made the state vulnerable to Constitutional Court challenges, and were clearly inadequate. The commission mainly recommended that a comprehensive social protection package, which addresses not only income poverty but also capabilities poverty, asset poverty and special needs, must be available. This package must also include free and adequate public health care, free primary and secondary schooling, free basic water and sanitation, free basic electricity, accessible and affordable public transport, access to affordable and adequate housing and access to jobs and skills training.
According to the 2009 report of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, social security assistance directly reduces poverty through improved health outcomes, increased school attendance, hunger reduction and livelihoods promotion. Social security assistance makes growth more pro-poor by enabling household investment in productive activities and human capital. It helps poor and vulnerable households to safeguard their assets and adopt effective coping strategies to meet challenges arising from man-made and natural disasters. It builds self- reliance, not dependency, as it strengthens the employability of poor women and men, and enables them to seek and obtain better and more remunerative work. It also reinforces the social contracts that can help legitimise and strengthen the state, which is particularly important in fragile contexts.
The report further concludes that poverty can only be alleviated through economic growth and social assistance. According to the report of the study, a profile of social security beneficiaries in South Africa commissioned in 2006 revealed that 82% of recipients of disability grants indicated that food was their largest expenditure item, followed by payment for basic services. Seventy-five percent of recipients said that the disability grant helped them to care for other ill members of the household. By far the largest demographic group that receives disability grants, 75,4%, are black African people, of whom 54,3% are women. On average, few have completed secondary education and almost a third have had no formal education.
In our quest to build a caring society, the ANC is determined to create a comprehensive social security system that is built on the fundamental principle of social solidarity. We advocate a system that ensures that the majority of South Africa's poor benefit from expanded noncontributory or social assistance measures. By 2010, over 13 million people received some form of cash grant, thus complying with the Constitution.
The need to amend the Social Assistance Bill became evident when the 2003- 04 uptake of disability grants spiked to more than three times the projected figure for that period. An investigation was done to establish the cause of this sudden increase. The core findings were that there was no common definition of what constituted a disability. There was also no uniform assessment method or tool to determine whether a person had a disability. This situation resulted in errors of both inclusion and exclusion. Most of the stakeholders participating in the public hearings were concerned about the health system's ability to assess disabilities, and the fact that the definition as it stood excluded people with chronic illnesses.
Also, clause 18(1) of the Bill permitted only applicants or persons acting on their behalf to appeal against decisions of the SA Social Security Agency relating to any matter regulated by the Act. The section did not permit beneficiaries whose grants had been terminated or suspended to appeal against any decision of the agency relating to any matter regulated by the Act. A beneficiary, thus, had no choice but to approach the court for review.
The amending Bill allows a beneficiary to appeal against a decision of the SA Social Security Agency, Sassa. The Bill also allows Sassa to reconsider a decision by means of the process of an internal review. The amending Bill also allows an applicant or a beneficiary to lodge an appeal with the independent tribunal after the lapse of the 90-day period from the date that the grant was terminated; this was not the case before. It therefore provides more time for the applicants or beneficiaries to appeal.
The committee has learnt that the independent tribunal is ready to carry and perform this mandate. In addition to that, the committee noted that there are some challenges and that progress has been made by the Independent Tribunal. Thus far, the appeals backlog has been reduced. On average, 4 161 appeals are being processed per month compared to the 400 per month in past years. The reduced backlog can be attributed to the leadership and management in this institution and the department itself, as well as the fact that 60 persons have been employed through the Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP. Medical doctors and lawyers have been enlisted to process appeals faster.
There are still minor challenges that are being experienced in this area. The visibility of the tribunal at the provincial and national levels has to be realised. Fast-tracking in the processing of the backlog also has to be done. Lastly, a lack of necessary equipment is being experienced in the call centres. The ANC supports the Bill as amended.