Examining recipients’ experiences with the social grant in Polokwane, South Africa

Abstract

South Africa allocates a substantial portion of its social expenditure to grants, with nearly 18 million grants disbursed monthly. These include the care dependency grant, COVID-19 social relief of distress grant, child support grant, disability grant, foster child grants, grant for older persons, war veteran’s grant, and grant-in-aid (Patel et al. 2023). Despite this extensive welfare system, poverty remains widespread, with nearly half the population living in absolute poverty. Additionally, grant recipients frequently express dissatisfaction with the amounts received and ongoing issues of corruption, maladministration, and inefficiencies in the approval, payment, and appeals processes (World Bank 2020).This study examines the management of social welfare grants in South Africa and explores recipients' experiences, focusing on the Grant-in-aid as a case study in Polokwane. Adopting a qualitative approach, data was collected through interviews with 15 participants aged 18 to 60. Of these, five were between 18 and 25 years old, six were between 26 and 60, and four were aged 61 and above. The sample consisted of 12 females and three males. Thematic analysis revealed key insights into grant accessibility, financial adequacy, approval time, and the impact on recipients’ daily lives. While the grant improved recipients’ quality of life by providing essential support, many found the financial assistance insufficient due to low disbursement amounts and inconsistent processing times. The study recommended digitisation, public policy adjustments and enhanced administrative support as tools to improve the experience of grant-in-aid recipients.The study concludes that although the grant-in-aid has a predominantly positive effect, its limitations hinder its ability to fully address recipients’ financial challenge.