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

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.