Staff Reporter
The Department of Social Development has taken training on the Child Support Grant Top Up to St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape, as it tries to improve low take-up of the grant among eligible orphaned children.
The Child Support Grant Top Up became operational on 1 June 2022 and is available to orphans in the care of relatives and to children in child-headed households, the department said on Thursday.
It said the intervention increases the value of the Child Support Grant by 50% above the base grant for qualifying beneficiaries.
The department said the programme formed an important part of South Africa’s social protection system because it allowed relatives caring for orphans to access a social grant more quickly by applying directly through the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), without first requiring a social worker’s investigation, report and court order.
But the department said take-up of the grant remained low across the country.
It said the latest training programme targeted officials from the Department of Social Development and SASSA in the Eastern Cape because of “challenges emanating from lack of an understanding of roles and responsibilities between SASSA & DSD in implementing the CSG Top up”.
The department said it had been conducting training for social workers and SASSA officials across the country to address those implementation problems.
It said the training was especially important in the Eastern Cape, where child malnourishment is high.
“The DSD will ensure that no one is left behind and we will drive the message throughout the country until every deserving child is covered.”
The department said training would take place in all nine provinces through capacity-building sessions. In the new financial year, it will expand the target group to include civil society organisations and community members, it said.
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