THE MATERNITY SUPPORT GRANT IS A GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE

By Lumka Oliphant 

• Government officials remain committed to realising the vision of social assistance articulated by former President Nelson Mandela, navigating significant challenges in the process.
• Recent discussions regarding the Maternal Support Grant (MSG) highlight the need for clarity on these important issues.
• The MSG draft policy, which aims to enhance maternal and child health services in South Africa, is now ready for tabling before cabinet.

The more we get things right and strengthen legislation and policies, the more the target seems to outpace the five years of any single administration.

One example is social assistance or social grants.

Last week, two issues related to social assistance caught my eye that I believe we need to discuss openly and honestly: 

1. The maternity benefits, or pregnancy grant, as it has been framed, and 
2. The supposed R4 billion underspending by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) on the grant, which is the more contentious issue.

Let’s address the first point quickly. I would have loved to delve deeper into the R4 billion supposed underspending, but it is currently a subject of a court challenge, and these facts will be part of the court case. Therefore, it would be premature to discuss them in the public domain.

The Maternal Support Grant (MSG) Draft Policy has been in development by the Department of Social Development since 2012, when the department commissioned a study on the feasibility of introducing maternity benefits in South Africa. At that time, the study aimed to investigate state support options for vulnerable pregnant women.

This study was necessitated by the acknowledgment of the constitutional provision that everyone has the right to access social security and that those unable to support themselves and their dependents should receive appropriate social assistance (Section 27, (1) (C) of the Constitution).

Following the conclusion of the study, an interdepartmental task team (IDTT) was formed, led by the departments of Health and Social Development and including SASSA, along with the departments of Basic Education, Higher Education, Home Affairs, Justice, and Labour, among others. The team was also supported by national and international organizations focused on addressing stunting in South Africa, providing technical support.

A workshop held in 2015 acknowledged the pregnancy-related services offered across government and concluded that there was a need to link them, leading to the establishment of the task team.

The central objective of the MSG Draft Policy is to provide comprehensive support to vulnerable pregnant women who cannot support or care for themselves. It intends to introduce a state social assistance provision for these women to improve the health and well-being of both vulnerable mothers and their unborn children.

The draft policy also aims to provide the MSG linked to related services from the first trimester up to the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. It is expected to assist the Department of Home Affairs in registering all births in South Africa within 30 days of birth.

Policy-making is a rigorous process that begins with research to gather evidence, followed by developing a discussion document and, subsequently, a policy document. This policy is no exception; the discussion and draft policy documents have been extensively consulted across government, civil society, organized labor, and potential beneficiaries.

After extensive consultations on the discussion paper prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the department conducted further consultations around the country between May 2022 and March 2023, completing a total of 27 consultations.

The draft policy has already been presented to the Social Protection, Community, and Human Development Cluster as part of the normal government policy process and has received the green light for tabling at Cabinet for consideration for public comments.

It should be noted that this is a government policy and should be contextualized as such. Should Cabinet support the draft policy for public comments, we encourage all interested parties to raise their voices at the appropriate time so that we can strengthen our child protection services within the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.

Lumka Oliphant is the Acting Deputy Director-General for Corporate Support Services at the Department of Social Development.