Abstract
M.Com. (Economics).
The purpose of this study is to examine some aspects of development of social
welfare policy and expenditure from the Apartheid years to the present, in order
to assess the extent to which the priorities of the White Paper for Social Welfare
(1997) are being implemented.
Chapter 1 explains the rationale of the study and provides an outline of the
presentation. Chapter 2 examines the rationale for government intervention in the
provision of social welfare services. Eight considerations are used to rationalised
government intervention in a market-orientated economy, namely, market failure,
imperfectly competitive markets, public goods, non-existence of markets, merit
goods, income redistribution, stabilisation and regulation. The argument here is
that the market is characterised by inefficiencies. This necessitates the need for
the government to play a decisive role in ensuring that the inefficiencies are
corrected. Welfare services represent an attempt by government to deal with the
effects of market failure on the welfare of citizens, and to support those who are
least able to protect themselves. Chapter 2 explains and compares the different approaches to promoting social
welfare services i.e. institutional, residual and social development approach.
Chapter 3, which focuses on the historical and current overview on social welfare
services, describes firstly the impact of the Apartheid system on the provision of
social welfare services in South Africa. During the Apartheid system, the.
structure of social services in South Africa was not based on the assessed needs
of the individual and the resources available to meet those needs, but were
structured according to the state's funding policy. The impact of the Apartheid
system was that South Africa had a structure of separate services for the
different race groups within a defined magisterial district, with much
fragmentation and duplication of services. The Apartheid system has resulted in an inadequate and inappropriate welfare system which did not meet the needs of
the majority of people in South Africa.
The second section of the Chapter offers an overview of the constitutional and
legal framework pertaining to social welfare services. It overviews specific
provisions in the Constitution governing social welfare and legislation pertaining
to social welfare services. This section argues that current welfare legislation
enshrines the fragmented welfare system of the past, when different government
departments operated in isolation from each other and stakeholder's involved in
the legislative process was negligible. It was formulated to support racial
segregation. Existing legislation is not based on the planned implementation and
continuous evaluation of a comprehensive welfare policy. Important pieces of
current legislation do not contain adequate policy guidelines on issues such as
the values and principles underlying welfare services or the responsibilities which
belong to the government. The third section of Chapter 3 provides an overview of the current White Paper
for Social Welfare (1997) in South Africa. It also provides a brief critique of the
White Paper.
The final section provides a discussion of social and community development
experiences in other countries and application possibilities for South Africa. This
section shows that other countries have been successful in implementing the
social developmental approach. Lessons for South Africa are spelled out.
Chapter 4 offers an analysis of provincial and racial differences amongst
provinces. This section shows that differences exist amongst provinces in terms
of the number of available welfare facilities. For example, most of the Children's
Homes are in KwaZulu-Natal (29%), Western Cape (25%) and Gauteng (23%).
Mpumalanga has only one Children's Home. It also reveals that there are fewer
children (13,203) in children's homes compared to the number of beds provided for (13,565) in children's homes, particularly in provinces such as Eastern Cape,
Northern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.
This section also notes that in terms of access to welfare facilities based on the
population profile of each province, differences exist amongst provinces. For
example, in terms of the population spread of the appropriate age group (children
aged below 19), Mpumalanga has the lowest access rate to Places of Safety
amongst the provinces, while Eastern Cape has the most facilities as weighted
by its population size. In terms of access, based on the population profile the
province with the highest access to Homes for the Aged is Gauteng, while those
with very low access are Northern Province and North West.
The second section of this chapter provides an analysis of social welfare
budgets. The section shows that, at the moment, social security absorbs 90% of
the total welfare budget while 2.8% is spent on social welfare services. While
there has been a significant increase in social security budget, the social welfare
services component of the welfare budget has remained static. There are also dramatic differences in the provinces, with some budgets
expanding rapidly (Eastern Cape 30.7%, Gauteng 16% and KwaZulu-Natal
10.9%) and other showing significant decline.(Free State —14.6%, Mpumalanga —
19.3%). Vast differences in the per capita expenditure also remain, with Northern
Cape spending R1 250 person while Mpumalanga on the other extreme spends
only R370 per person. Amongst the provinces, there is also a significant
difference between actual and budgeted expenditure.
The third section provides an overview of social welfare personnel. It shows the
provision of personnel is unequal amongst provinces. The average caseload per
social worker is the highest in Western Cape followed by Gauteng. North West
has the lowest caseload per social worker (39) and the lowest number of cases
(5650) and 146 social workers providing services. North West is well serviced or under utilised. In contrast Gauteng has 314 social workers who have to provide
services to 202849 and a caseload of 646 per social worker. The worst scenario,
Western Cape with 323 social workers, has handled 422306 cases and a
caseload of 1307 caseload per social worker. This is an indication that people
are not effectively serviced and service providers are overloaded.
The fourth section of Chapter 4 reflects racial disparities in the provision of social
services, particularly with respect to old age homes. It shows the number of
people occupying Homes for the Aged for the various 'race' groups by province.
Old age homes and service centres for the elderly are occupied and used largely
by Whites.
The last section of this chapter looks at the question of whether welfare
objectives/policy priorities of the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997) are
reflected in provincial statistics. It argues that the objectives/policy priorities of the
White Paper are not reflected in provincial statistics. Chapter 5 sets out the recommendations based on the analysis of the proceding
chapters:
Social welfare services funded by government are much smaller in expenditure
size, still contain great discrimination, and are presently still poorly targeted at
particular vulnerable groups. Provinces should be encouraged to reorganise
social welfare services in a manner they deem appropriate, given national
guidelines.
In terms of access based on population profile of each province, differences exist
amongst provinces. The national government should remove all barriers which
have made it difficult for some population groups to have access to welfare
facilities. Facilities should be easily accessible and responsive to all people in
need. To ensure that the budgetary problems of the provinces are addressed, an
adjustment should be made to ensure that budgeted expenditure and actual
expenditure reconcile. Parity amongst the provinces should take account of both
weighted population size and welfare needs. The present racial and provincially
biased service provision should be addressed.
It is the role of the government to make sure that there is a balance in terms of
personnel amongst provinces. The government should employ more service
providers in provinces with a large number of caseloads per social worker: In this
case people will be effectively serviced and service providers won't be
overloaded.
On the policy side, as the White Paper recognises the importance of the labour
market when developing a system of.social transfers and the role of welfare in
alleviating the failures of the market and of government policies, these role
should be taken as the starting point for policy development. On the finance and
budgeting side of social welfare services, the consistent divergence between
actual and budgeted expenditure and the manner in which provinces are
addressing this problem needs to be discussed. In promoting social development at the local level, cooperation amongst the
members of the community plays a role. The community should work very closely
with government officials and spent some time visiting them to secure improved
services. Local governments should also be strengthened in a way that will allow
them to have capacity to help the community improve social development
through economic development projects.
Social development at the national level can be promoted through economic
growth, investment in human capital and employment generation. South Africa
could promote economic development through increased growth rates combined with social policies that maximised investments in human capital and enhanced
levels of welfare.