Tackling child poverty in South Africa: Implications of ubuntu for the system of social grants

Adam Whitworth and Kate Wilkinson

Development Southern Africa, 2013, vol. 30, issue 1, 121-134

Abstract: In South Africa both liberal and more communitarian and relational discourses of citizenship can be seen -- the latter in the form of the southern African idea of ubuntu . Policy for assisting children, however, is dominated by the framework of liberal citizenship, most clearly through the Bill of Rights and in particular the Child Support Grant. Using analyses from a purpose-built microsimulation model we show how a neglect of children's broader relationships in the current liberal citizenship inspired policy context limits the effectiveness of the child poverty strategy. The empirical analyses demonstrate how a greater recognition by policymakers of the relational principles of ubuntu could be expected to have more effect on reducing child poverty.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1080/0376835X.2013.756219

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