Black Sash

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Black Sash

• Submission to Social Development Portfolio Public
  Hearings on the Taylor Report
• 9 June 2003

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(No Transcript)
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Black Sash

• Human rights based NGO since 1955
• Access to justice through 7 paralegal advice
  offices
• Cases on the ground inform our advocacy work
• Underlying problem that presents rooted in
  poverty, which undermines dignity. Economic
  marginalisation leads to social marginalisation.
• Emphasis on access to social assistance and
  social security work due to delays in accessing
  grants
• 10 963 of 24 786 cases last year on social grants
• (44.2) followed by labour (dismissals) 18.3

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Beginning of reform to comprehensive social
security policy

• 1997 Welfare White Paper
• There will be universal access to an intergrated
  and sustainable social security system. Every
  South African should have a minimum income,
  sufficient to meet basic subsistence needs

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1998 Presidential Jobs Summit

• parties to the Jobs Summit commit themselves
  to implementing a comprehensive social security
  system aimed especially at those living in
  poverty and the unemployed. A basic income grant
  may be considered part of such a system. The
  process to reach agreement on the elements of
  such a system should begin with an
  investigation.

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Committee of Inquiry into a Comprehensive Social
Security

• Investigation to begin the process to reach
  agreement on implementing comprehensive social
  security system
• Terms of reference
• Options on ultimate objectives and targets for
  the social security system
• Options for immediate practical implementation
• Viability and implications of options considered
• Released report May 2002
• Should be seen as a thinking document, should
  feed into transparent consultative policy making
  process, with draft white paper published for
  comment.

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Black Sash submissions to Taylor Committee on
Social Security Reform

• Comprehensive social assistance for children,
  including children affected/ infected with
  HIV/AIDS
• Social Security in South Africa
• Unemployment Insurance
• Disability
• Basic Income (Citizens) Grant
• Unconstitutional aspects of the Social Assistance
  Act

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Constitutional Imperatives guiding development of
policy for social security

• Section 7(1)
• This bill of rights is a cornerstone of
  democracy in South Africa. It enshrines the
  rights of all people in our country and affirms
  the democratic values of human dignity, equality
  and freedom

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Section 7(2)

• The state must respect, promote and fulfill the
  rights in the Bill of Rights
• State cannot erode exisiting rights
• State must protect rights from erosion by third
  parties
• State has a positive duty to deliver in terms of
  the rights contained in the bill of rights
• All rights, including socio-economic rights are
  justiciable. Constitution is tool for social
  transformation

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Section 27(1)(c) and (2)

• Everyone has the right to have access to social
  security, including if they are unable to support
  themselves and their dependants, appropriate
  social assistance.
• The state must take reasonable legislative and
  other measures, within its available resources,
  to achieve the progressive realisation of each of
  these rights.

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Progressive realisation within available resources

• Set out in the Grootboom judgement
• State must design, implement and constantly
  review a reasonable policy to realise the right
  of access to social assistance
• Work within available resources
• Even if state can show statistical success, a
  policy will not pass test of reasonableness if it
  fails to address the needs of the most vulnerable

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Current Poverty (Taylor findings)

• 22 million people - 53 of the population -live
  on average on less than R144 per month
• 2 in 3 children live in poverty
• 25 of children under 5 have severe to moderate
  stunting
• 10 of Africans are malnourished
• 3.1 million workerless African households (1999)
  up from 1.9 million in 1995
• Long term structural unemployment
• One of the most unequal societies in the world

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Current Take up of grantsMarch 2003
Old Age Pension 2 000 041
Disability 897 050
Grant in aid 12 279
Foster Care 133 309
Care Dependency Grant 56 150
Child Support Grant 2 513 693
Total 5 617 151
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Gaps in current provisioning

• No income support for poor children between 7-18
  years
• No income support for poor adults between 18-59
  years
• No general assistance for poor households where
  no-one is employed
• Over 13 million people live below the poverty
  line (the very poor) with no access to social
  security

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Taylor findings on adequacy of current social
security provisioning

• Lack of policy to address income poverty has been
  a constraining feature of South Africas
  socio-economic programmes
• The gaps in social security leave the state open
  to constitutional challenges
• The committee therefore recommends that an
  appropriate social security concept for South
  Africa must prioritise the needs of people
  without any incomes, with insufficient incomes
  and those who are engaged in informal activities

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Taylor recommendations of Comprehensive Social
Protection

• Preventative interventions
• Developmental paradigm
• Empower the poor and socially excluded to move
  towards sustainable livelihoods

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Elements of Comprehensive Social Protection

• Income poverty - BIG, SOAP, extended CSG
• Capability poverty - Health care, education,
  water and sanitation, electricity, public
  transport, housing, jobs and skills training
• Asset poverty Land, credit and community
  infrastructure
• Special needs - Reformed disability, foster care,
  CDG
• Social insurance

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Income Poverty Basic Income Grant

• Recommended by Taylor Committee as the substratum
  to comprehensive social protection
• Effective direct payment provides immediate
  relief (Budget 2002)
• Empowers the poor by providing springboard to
  move beyond confines of destitution

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Cont.

• Universal, non means tested grant
• Taylor report found that the poorest decile fail
  to receive social assistance currently (which
  fails constitutional imperative to provide for
  most vulnerable)
• Universal entitlement target assistance through
  recovery of value of tax PROGRESSIVELY through
  the tax system

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Taylor Recommendations on Special Needs

• Need to distinguish between poverty alleviation
  and special needs
• Disabled need for uniform, needs -based
  assessment tool, taking into account
  socio-environmental needs of persons
• HIV/AIDS committee did not address issues of
  earlier intervention through state assistance to
  sustain healthy people keep people employable
  and reduce number of orphans

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Financing of CSP

• Taylor Committee found it was affordable
• sufficient fiscal capacity for improved social
  spending without adverse macro-economic impact
• R62 billion per year been given back in tax cuts
  to income earners since 1995
• Number of options for progressive financing
  financing policy is a political choice

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Administration

• Dove tailed system based on the HANIS smart card
• Financial Institutions 2002 Financial Sector
  Summit commitment to find inter alia, affordable
  delivery/ payment mechanisms e.g. co-operative
  banks
• Post Bank
• Multi purpose Community Centres
• Informal points of sale terminals

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Single Delivery Agency

• Committee recommends introduction of a single
  social security agency to administer all social
  security
• We do not believe this will solve problems of
  delivery by itself
• Way forward Set aside the assignment of the
  administration of Social Assistance Act to
  promote nationally enforceable norms and
  standards delegate necessary functions to
  provinces then review principle of single agency
  for broad social security, not just social
  assistance

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Conclusion

• Comprehensive approach of the Committee is
  developmental, aiming to move people away from
  dependecy on income poverty initiatives to
  sustainable livelihoods
• Need to address immediate needs caused by poverty
  while implementing initiatives that lead to self
  sufficiency asset poverty skills deficit jobs
  creation

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7 June 2003 Growth and Development Summit

• Recognition of role of social security measures
  to fight poverty
• All parties commit to address take up and
  overcome obstacles to accessing current grants
• Discuss extension of social protection framework

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• Government in process of finalising policy on
  comprehensive framework for social protection.
• Welcome announcement need for coherent policy
• Policy should be published in draft form for
  public comment
• Parliament should encourage executive to do so to
  facilitate oversight of passage of legislation to
  implement policy.