Move to raise child grant age to 21

THE ANC wants the government to extend the age limit for child social grant recipients from 18 to 21.

This decision was taken by the party’s social transformation committee at its national policy conference in Nasrec‚ south of Johannesburg.

The recommendation will be tabled at the party’s December national conference, where it is expected to be adopted as party policy.

Should this happen‚ more recipients may be added to the existing 17 million grant recipients’ register‚ putting strain on the country’s budget.

Speaking to reporters‚ Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said the extension would apply only to those who remained in school.

“We did not consider the financial consequences of increasing grants.

“We will then sit down and work out whether it is affordable or not‚” she said.

Sisulu conceded that often social transformation proposals were met with resistance from the national Treasury because of the added cost to the state.

Addressing the media alongside Sisulu‚ Deputy Minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela said that while the ANC did not want more people on social grants‚ it had to respond to the dire poverty of the population.

“It is not the desire of the ANC to keep people as long as possible on the social grant system.

“It is also not the desire of the ANC to see people die of hunger‚” he said.

Manamela announced that the ANC had agreed that sanitary towels should be free for girls at schools.

However, he warned that the argument that condoms were free therefore sanitary towels should be free was an unfair comparison.

“We must not see condoms as for men but for all sexually active people‚” Manamela said.

The conference did not agree to the decriminalisation of sex workers as proposed by Gauteng delegates.

“Plenary are not happy with decriminalising of sex workers … [because] it was sprung on us in conference‚” she said.

Sisulu said it was not agreed to because ANC branches did not sufficiently debate the issue. — TMG