National Welfare, Social Service & Development Forum - Role of NGOs in Social Welfare in South Africa: Are We Winning?

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Role of NGOs in Social Welfare in South Africa: Are We Winning?

Professor Ntomb’fikile Mazibuko asks to what extent are social welfare beneficiaries in post-apartheid South Africa becoming self-reliant, realizing their full human potential and contributing positively to national development?

SOCIAL WELFARE IN SOUTH AFRICA: ARE WE WINNING?

Keynote Address by Professor Ntomb’fikile (Fikile) Mazibuko
At The Forum’s 6th General Assembly, 21st February, 2008
ESKOM Conference Centre, Midrand

Summary

Since 1994, a developmental approach has been taken to social welfare in South Africa. This means that alongside the provision of a safety net through assistance to alleviate the immediate sufferings of the poor and vulnerable, welfare policy aims to empower people to lift themselves out of poverty.

Therefore, in assessing social welfare policy and its impact on society in general and the poor in particular, the litmus test is not whether social grants have moved the poor closer to the poverty line or enabled them to cross it, but to what extent its beneficiaries are becoming self-reliant, realizing their full human potential and contributing positively to national development.

There is evidence that the objective of providing a safety net to the majority of the poor has been largely realized - being able to provide social assistance to more than a fifth of the nation’s population is indeed an admirable achievement.

The goal of helping the poor become self-reliant remains a challenge however for social welfare policy in South Africa. Despite the importance attached by government to this component in its policy statements, the focus at progamme level has been extremely biased towards the safety net strategies. Unfortunately, civil society groups have also focused attention on social grants at the expense of developmental strategies and initiatives.

Civil society organisations such as The Forum can contribute significantly towards finding a balance between social assistance and developmental initiatives. Apart from monitoring and holding government accountable, civil society groups should focus on proposing alternative interventions. To this end it would be useful to explore ways in which models of intervention used in other development states can be adapted to address the challenges facing this country.

Professor Ntomb’fikile Mazibuko is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Head of the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), as well as co-founder of The Forum. Click here for full profile.

Full text of Professor Mazibuko’s Address. 244.89 Kb