The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has recently called on parents to apply for the Extended Child Support Grant on behalf of their children whose parents are both deceased or whose whereabouts are unknown.
This grant was introduced by the agency to avoid circumstances in which parents are forced to place their children in foster care as a means to receive financial support. The funds are intended as an addition to the caregiver-child support grant in the amount that is already provided.
Sassa has further stated that for social grant recipients to meet the required eligibility criteria for the Extended Child Support grant, the caregiver is required to provide the death certificates of both biological parents.
Alternatively, they can provide the death certificate that belongs to the primary parent along with an affidavit confirming that the location of the other parent is unknown and that he or she has no involvement in caring for the child.
The current amount of the extended child support grant is R720, which can be paid out in cash on specified days at pay points or can be paid directly into an applicant or beneficiary’s bank account.
Children must be under the age of 18 and meet the respective criteria to qualify and depending on the conditions either living with foster families or living with a disability currently in South Africa. The child support grant alone reaches 11 million beneficiaries.
Foster care grants benefits close to 500,000 children and the care dependency grant benefits 130,000 children. The right to social protection is enshrined in the South African Constitution. It requires the government to support children directly when their primary caregivers experience financial hardship.
