ANC looking to extend the qualifying age for child grants from 18 to 21: report
The ANC has indicated that it will be extending the age limit for child social grant recipients from 18 to 21, according to a report by BusinessDay.
The recommendation, which was raised on the last day of the party’s national policy conference in Nasrec, will again tabled at the party’s December national conference where it is expected to be adopted as party policy.
Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said the limit extension would only apply to those children who remained in school.
“We did not consider the financial consequences of increasing grants … We will sit down and work out whether it is affordable or not‚” she said.
Social grants in South Africa
According to a June 2017 report by the IRR, there are currently more people receiving social grants in South Africa than there are people with jobs.
“In 2016, there were 15,545,000 people with jobs in South Africa while 17,094,331 people were receiving social grants,” said IRR analyst, Gerbrandt van Heerden.
“The numbers are a recipe for social and political chaos. With South Africa formally in recession, the government will find it difficult to afford the cost of its social grants programme.”
“As the economy stagnates, and tax revenue slows, demand for more grants will increase. The government will then have to cut other areas of expenditure to meet popular demands for more and higher grants. We predict that this will lead to much higher levels of violent protest action.”
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