Quoting Nelson Mandela as saying ‘we do not want freedom without bread, nor do we want bread without freedom’ the Minister of Social Development made a commitment to ‘share this report with the relevant mandates of government’, but did not go further.
Dr Kath Hall, a senior researcher at the Children’s Institute, presented “a wealth of evidence of the positive impacts of the CSG” since its introduction, in birth registration, nutrition, child health and attendance at Early Childhood Development . Hall said that child poverty rates had dropped by 20% as the CSG expanded between 2003 and 2013.
“Of the nearly eight million children in the former rural homelands, just over half are in food poverty, and three quarters are below the upper bound poverty line.” The report’s authors say this is a form of indirect discrimination against black children.
Here the report notes that the CSG “can bring children out of poverty only if they are not very far below the poverty line to start with”.The DSD admits that the CSG was last reviewed in 2010 and no longer meets the cost of the basic needs it was established for. In recognition of this deficit and its profound and far-reaching consequences on children’s lives, the Children’s Institute modeled the benefits and the financial costs of several options for increasing the CSG.
At the start of the launch, the DSD Director-General Linton Mchunu quipped, “We’ll share the report with them and debate later.” In their absence, Busi Sibeko, from the also commented that “fiscal consolidation is detrimental to children, and means that as a country we will not meet our national development plans.” Sibeko’s presentation was praised by Mchunu, particularly because it explained “the longer term implications of budget cuts.
“Our analysis shows that the much-discussed revenue shortfall is within historical norms and well within the government’s ability to close. The data does not support claims that we are standing on the edge of a so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ or ‘financial crisis’. National Treasury is likely stoking panic to push through unnecessary and unpopular budget cuts.
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