New social grants plan cautiously welcomed

South Africa's Department of Health confirmed on Thursday that a new social grant system was on the cards for chronically ill people, including those living with HIV/AIDS.

At present, government policy stipulates that HIV-positive grant recipients be deregistered once antiretroviral (ARV) treatment restores them to good health and they are able to start seeking work.

However, local AIDS activists charged that with national unemployment estimated at around 35 percent, most beneficiaries were usually jobless and too ill to work before they started receiving the monthly stipend of US$109, which was often used to support their or their family's nutritional needs.

The AIDS Consortium, a coalition of South African NGOs working against the pandemic, said it welcomed the latest development, but "the sooner this can be implemented, the better ... it would also help eradicate the perverse incentive [of some grant recipients] to stay ill," Rhulani Lehloka, communications manager for the AIDS Consortium, told IRIN/PlusNews.

Widespread poverty is still one of the main challenges facing South Africa.

"We advocate for a maximum of six months as a timeline for the government to launch or start implementation of its new grants system," Lehloka added.

Researchers at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand found that 25 percent of the population relied on state assistance, and many deliberately contracted diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), or failed to take their medication so as to continue receiving government support.

Doctor Yogan Pillay, chief director of strategic planning in the health department, confirmed that a government task team was looking at ways of supporting all potentially eligible recipients.

"It is not just HIV-positive people, but numerous others with short-term disabilities who fall into the same temporary grant bracket, which pays out for between six to 12 months. When it [the new system] comes into effect, it would hopefully help alleviate the financial and nutritional burden of these people."

According to Pillay, 1.5 million people are accessing temporary and permanent social disability grants in South Africa, at an annual cost of around US$140 million.

The task team, which is made up of various government departments, including Agriculture, Labour and the National Treasury, is expected to consult with civil society organisations before submitting a proposal of their recommendations to the Cabinet for consideration.

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//This article is part of an IRIN/PlusNews series on HIV/AIDS and communities of humanitarian concern.

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