Question NW939 to the Minister of Social Development
08 April 2022 - NW939
Opperman, Ms G to ask the Minister of Social Development
What total number of children could not receive the child support grant in 2020, due to a lack of birth certificates?
Reply:
I do not have any information on the number of children denied access to the Child Support Grant due to lack of documents, including birth certificate. The Department’s policy position is that no child eligible for the child support grant should be denied access due to the lack of a birth certificate. In terms of Regulation 11(1) to the Social Assistance Act, 2004, SASSA has an obligation to accept applications for social grants, in cases where the critical documents, including birth certificates for the children involved, or identity documents for the care givers of the child are not available.
To this end, SASSA has put measures in place to ensure that such children are not penalised, but rather given the necessary assistance to access the child support grant. A total of 35 357 children are in receipt of a child support grant using a system generated number, that is provided by SASSA in cases where the child does not have a birth certificate, as at February 2022.