Question NW3450 to the Minister of Social Development
27 November 2023 - NW3450
Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Social Development
With regard to the child support top-up grant which was introduced to address the foster care grant backlog crisis, what (a) is the current foster care grant backlog in each province, in comparison to June 2022, when the top-up grant was implemented, (b) has been the monthly uptake of the top-up grant in each province since implementation and (c) are the reasons that the (i) relatives of orphans are still choosing the court process to obtain a foster care grant instead of the top-up grant and (ii) SA Social Security Agency does not include the top-up grant reporting in its Monitoring and Evaluation: Fifth Statistical Report 2023/4: Social Assistance for the period April 2023?
Reply:
a) Current foster care grant backlog per province compared to June 2022
|
REGION |
2019 & Prior Years |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
EC |
165 |
522 |
1525 |
720 |
3118 |
|
FS |
14 |
4 |
26 |
40 |
458 |
|
GP |
942 |
704 |
1124 |
1244 |
1778 |
|
KZN |
49 |
26 |
127 |
224 |
1351 |
|
LP |
801 |
618 |
921 |
944 |
1114 |
|
MP |
32 |
150 |
165 |
82 |
206 |
|
NC |
1 |
2 |
3 |
23 |
122 |
|
NW |
7 |
5 |
8 |
18 |
425 |
|
WC |
62 |
75 |
154 |
267 |
1549 |
|
TOTAL |
2073 |
2106 |
4053 |
3562 |
10121 |
b) Top-up grant monthly uptake per Province
|
REGION |
Jun 2022 |
Jul 2022 |
Aug 2022 |
Sep 2022 |
Oct 2022 |
Nov 2022 |
Dec 2022 |
Jan 2023 |
Feb 2023 |
Mar 2023 |
Apr 2023 |
May 2023 |
June 2023 |
July 2023 |
Aug 2023 |
Sep 2023 |
|
EC |
306 |
1,249 |
2,711 |
4,072 |
5,314 |
6,153 |
6,825 |
7,388 |
8,167 |
8,764 |
9,274 |
10,046 |
10,751 |
11,341 |
12,108 |
12,715 |
|
FS |
100 |
392 |
910 |
1,210 |
1,535 |
1,734 |
1,949 |
2,148 |
2,338 |
2,569 |
2,721 |
2,996 |
3,306 |
3,584 |
3,875 |
4,172 |
|
GP |
239 |
579 |
1,339 |
1,843 |
2,578 |
3,097 |
3,578 |
4,049 |
4,508 |
4,939 |
5,265 |
5,732 |
6,154 |
6,460 |
6,900 |
7,281 |
|
KZN |
458 |
1,228 |
2,602 |
3,717 |
3,717 |
5,386 |
6,046 |
6,378 |
6,925 |
7,438 |
7,798 |
8,282 |
8,602 |
8,959 |
9,476 |
9,873 |
|
LP |
227 |
633 |
1,733 |
2,347 |
3,007 |
3,388 |
3,901 |
4,243 |
4,665 |
5,073 |
5,405 |
5,724 |
6,030 |
6,268 |
6,522 |
6,855 |
|
MP |
119 |
283 |
712 |
1,084 |
1,591 |
1,803 |
2,080 |
2,382 |
2,659 |
2,989 |
3,229 |
3,628 |
3,973 |
4,258 |
4,533 |
4,779 |
|
NC |
71 |
199 |
379 |
565 |
702 |
754 |
861 |
965 |
1,078 |
1,213 |
1,290 |
1,399 |
1,504 |
1,597 |
1,674 |
1,764 |
|
NW |
64 |
249 |
550 |
894 |
1,289 |
1,499 |
1,716 |
1,931 |
2,191 |
2,432 |
2,617 |
2,904 |
3,178 |
3,373 |
3,590 |
3,767 |
|
WC |
64 |
206 |
492 |
754 |
955 |
1,158 |
1,362 |
1,492 |
1,741 |
1,999 |
2,150 |
2,426 |
2,654 |
2,790 |
3,000 |
3,246 |
|
TOTAL |
1,648 |
5,018 |
11,428 |
16,486 |
20,688 |
24,972 |
28,318 |
30,976 |
34,272 |
37,416 |
39,749 |
43,137 |
46,152 |
48,630 |
51,678 |
54,452 |
c) (i) The Children’s Act has been amended to allow relatives of orphaned children to refer this category of children for Child support grant (CGS) Top-Up grant. However, the regulations are not yet gazetted for implementation as a result Social Workers (legally) are still referring relatives of orphaned children to the Foster Care system.
It should be noted that the Department of Social Development and South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) are continuously conducting educational roadshows, stakeholder and public education about the Child Support Top - Up, including the eligibility criteria. We therefore believe that overtime, there will be tangible movement.
(ii) The Child Support Top-Up Grant is included in the report. The data is on page 45, table 27 of the attached report.