Social Development Archives - Voice of the Cape

Social grant beneficiaries achieve 8.7% matric pass rate increase

Social development minister Lindiwe Zulu has congratulated social grant beneficiaries who wrote their final grade 12 exams amid disruptions, including Covid-19. The minister said the results of social grant beneficiaries who wrote the 2022 examination showed an impressive increase in performance in 2021/2022 in all provinces. The overall increase was 8.7% compared with 0.2 % in 2020/2021. She urged caregivers and parents to support matriculants who may not have done […]

24 January 2023

Local

‘There’s been under-expenditure of close to R2 billion on Social Relief of Distress grant’

LOCAL Social Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu says there’s been under-expenditure of close to R2 billion on the Social Relief of Distress grant. Zulu says this was caused by the eligibility criteria for confirming bank accounts. The grant provides monetary assistance to the unemployed who were hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the minister, a huge number of applications were excluded due to the inadequate verification of bank accounts. The […]

19 November 2022

Local

Social Development commends national strategic plan on gender-based violence

LOCAL The Department of Social Development says much has been achieved in the two years since the national strategic plan on gender-based violence and femicide was adopted. This is despite a worsening rate of violence against women and children with recent cases including that of the murdered four-year-old Bokgabo Poo, whose recovered body was found missing some parts. The department says it has started a series of dialogues with communities, and […]

18 October 2022

News

South Africans urged to collect approved Social Relief of Distress grant

NATIONAL Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has called on South Africans who haven’t collected their approved Social Relief of Distress grant to collect it before the end of the month. Zulu says everybody must re-apply for the second round, even if they qualified and received grants the first time. More than half a million grants have not yet been collected from Post Office branches. Zulu was speaking to SABC Newson Thursday. […]

5 August 2021

Local

Some grants extended until 31 December, payment dates released

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has extended some grant payments until the end of the year after a government gazette was published on Wednesday. The new directives issued by Zulu mean that beneficiaries who either claim the temporary disability or temporary care dependency grants will be able to receive cash after the minister extend the payments to December. On page 4 of the gazette it reads: “Temporary disability grants which […]

9 October 2020

Local

Over 12 000 early childhood development centres have applied to reopen

At least 12 345 Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs) have, to date, completed the Department of Social Development's online self-assessment to operate under Level 3 lockdown, its spokesperson, Lumka Oliphant, has said. This week, Oliphant told News24 centres, which were compliant and safe, were able to reopen as per a High Court ruling in July. "ECDs were able to open immediately provided that they are complying with what we have […]

9 August 2020

Local

Basic income grant needs to be about more than just food, say researchers

Government's announcement that it is considering the introduction of a basic income grant has sparked debate, with some wondering how it would be implemented in order to address the country's poverty levels. Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu announced last week that the grant would assist South Africans between the ages of 18 and 59. She said the discussion for the introduction of the grant had been brought back, adding that […]

22 July 2020

News

NGO concerned over rise of baby abandonment during lockdown

More than three months into a nationwide lockdown and the month of July has been littered with crime scenes and the memorials of women and children across South Africa. As news of violent crime slowly begins to dominate coronavirus headlines, reports indicate another tragic set of statistics: an increasing number of babies being abandoned. Speaking to VOC’s Breakfast Beat on Monday, chairperson of the National Adoption Coalition of South Africa […]

22 June 2020

Local

No South African should be left hungry during the COVID-19 pandemic: Zulu

Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu says no South African must be left hungry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zulu held a briefing on the department’s COVID-19 programmes. Following complaints that food parcels don’t reach some communities, the minister appealed for a stronger effort to cater to the poor. More than R43 million from both the department and the Solidarity Fund have been made available for food relief. Zulu says, “In […]

30 April 2020

Social Development

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