Browsing by Author "Dowman, Charles Sydney"
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- ItemInvestigating social grant payment methods for old age grant recipients in the Western Cape(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-04) Dowman, Charles Sydney; Rabie, Babette; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research focuses on social assistance within the context of the developmental state. In South Africa, the Social Assistance Act, 2004 (Act No.13 of 2004) makes provision for the administration of social assistance and the payment of social grants. The Act provides for the payment of eight grant types including the payment of the Old Age Grant (OAG). The research focuses on the OAG and the payment methods exercised by OAG beneficiaries. The South African Social Security Agency is established in terms of the South African Social Security Agency Act, 2004 (Act No. 9 of 2004) and the payment of social assistance has been transferred to the Agency. The literature review revealed that African countries in particular have followed a different path to the rest of the development world with regard to social security. There is a strong reliance on community management involvement of social protection programmes in middle Africa. The South African system is more advanced and is legislated. South Africa’s social security system is a system of targeted social grants. It makes access to social security a basic human right, as it is contained in the Bill of Rights. The rise of the developmental state after World War 11 was championed by Japan, in particular, and this rise gave effect to the Asian Miracle. A comparison of different systems in the developing context is undertaken in the study. One of the criteria from the comparison of systems is that developmental decisions should be informed by a country’s vision or longterm strategy. The research is being undertaken at a pinnacle point in the history of South Africa, in particular of the Agency responsible for the administration and payment of these grants. The SASSA introduced the SASSA debit card (Appendix I) in 2012. Beneficiaries can use this card at any store with a point of sale device to make purchases and withdraw money at selected vendors published in the SASSA merchant list on the website of the Agency. The implementation of this decentralised system is however not without disagreement about the ideal path – questions about the advantages of electronic versus cash payments; and SASSA as ‘Paymaster’ versus the use of external service providers, is still being debated. This research attempts to assist in this debate through an investigation of alternative methods to disburse social grants, with specific focus on the old age grant recipients.