‘Jobs need to be created’: Debate grows over SASSA Children’s Grants
· The South African
While some demand that grants be scrapped, others reacting to the SASSA Children’s Grants amendments say the government is treating the symptom, not the cause.
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Mapontsho Pearl pushed back against the idea that people have children purely for grant money, pointing out that R580 a month can’t even support a child on its own. She argued the real issues are a lack of jobs paying a liveable monthly salary and the R370 SRD grant, which she believes should be scrapped in favour of employment. She also called for child support laws to be amended so fathers face real consequences, rather than mothers having to chase absent parents for money.
‘You should only have what you can afford’
Heather Ann Beykirch took a different angle, arguing that pensioners have earned their support through a lifetime of work, and warning that unchecked population growth is unsustainable. Her view: people should only have as many children as they can genuinely afford to raise and educate.
Despite different starting points, both commenters land on a similar theme: responsibility, whether from absent fathers or from parents themselves, should carry more weight in the debate than the size of the grant itself.
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