Grant to prevent malnutrition is in limbo
More than a decade since it was first proposed, the Maternal Support Grant (MSG) policy remains in limbo.
'Children of mothers who are malnourished in pregnancy have higher odds of poor birth outcomes, including low birthweight, undernutrition, poor neurodevelopment, and increased risk of chronic diseases in later life,' says Dr Wanga Zembe, senior specialist scientist at the South African Medical Research Council.
In South Africa, 29% of children under five are stunted, and 2.5-million live in nutritionally insecure households.
This comes as civil society groups have renewed calls for the government to fast-track the process to get monetary support to pregnant women. The current proposal suggests that the maternal grant be an extension of the existing Child Support Grant.
But this may not happen anytime soon. This week, the Department of Social Development (DSD) confirmed that the draft MSG policy, in the making since 2012, has not yet reached Cabinet.
In November 2024, the draft policy was submitted to the Social Protection, Community and Human Development (SPCHD) Cabinet Committee, but was 'sent back for further work,' said department spokesperson Bathembu Futshane.
He said the committee 'did not obtain general support' for the draft and raised several issues, including the need for a joint government approach to poverty, unemployment and inequality.
The current proposal suggests that the maternal grant be an extension of the existing Child Support Grant (CSG).
Other recommendations included factoring in fiscal constraints, avoiding 'creating a dependency syndrome,' considering conditions for the grant, and aligning with food security and economic transformation goals, he said.
But civil society groups believe this delay is 'deeply disappointing'. The MSG Advocacy Coalition, made up of organisations and researchers, said: 'It has been more than a decade since the DSD commissioned research on the benefits of a pregnancy support grant. That body of evidence has only grown stronger.'
The coalition said the South African Law Reform Commission had already identified the absence of income support for pregnant women as a gap in the country's social security framework and recommended a pregnancy grant. 'It is unclear what the binding constraint is, considering the coherent legal arguments in favour of the MSG and the urgent need to improve maternal and infant nutrition.'
The group urged the DSD to talk openly with other departments and prepare the policy for resubmission. 'While DSD has demonstrated support for the MSG, buy-in from across government is needed, starting with the Presidency.'
According to the group, the MSG would require between R1.89-billion and R3.26-billion annually. But potential savings to the public health system could exceed R13-billion by preventing low birth weight complications, the group said. 'Social protections are not acts of charity, they are critical investments.'
WHY SHOULD PREGNANT MOTHERS GET STATE SUPPORT?
According to Dr Wanga Zembe: 'It is essential for pregnant women to have access to nutritious food, as a baby's survival — both as a foetus in-utero and as a child once born — literally depends on it.'
Zembe said maternal nutrition is key to foetal development, immune systems and cognitive ability. She warned that poor maternal nutrition has 'far-reaching consequences' for a child's life, productivity and long-term health. 'Stunting has devastating impacts on child development, especially cognitive development, leading to delays, poor school performance and reduced productivity.'
Zembe referred to UNICEF's 2021 global guidance on maternal nutrition study, which highlighted the importance of improving women's diets before and during pregnancy as well as while breastfeeding.
A 2024 Global Health Action review found that conditional cash transfers for women in Sub-Saharan Africa were associated with improved child survival rates, reduced foetal and infant mortality, and enhanced functional health outcomes, such as decreased illness episodes. Unconditional cash transfers were linked to improved maternal well-being, including fewer symptoms of depression. (Conditional cash transfers require recipients to meet specific criteria, like attending health checkups, while unconditional grants would be given without any requirements.)
Nicola Eley, deputy director at the Grow Great campaign, said, '25% of all pregnant women in SA have reported going to bed hungry. That's not just a statistic. It represents thousands of mothers and their unborn babies and futures being shaped.'
She said the first 1,000 days, from conception to a child's second birthday, are critical. 'Stunting impairs both physical and brain development. It compromises learning, weakens immune systems and increases lifelong health risks.'
Eley said people can only apply for the child support grant once the child is born, with 52% of eligible children accessing it only after their first birthday. 'By then, the critical window for brain and body development has passed. It's like trying to build a house after the foundation has started crumbling.'
Meanwhile, the MSG Advocacy Coalition has refuted claims that the MSG will 'incentivise pregnancy and create dependency'.
This article first appeared on GroundUp. Read the original article here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Maverick
19 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Electronic death registration is a win-win for SA — let's make it happen
Several studies have flagged problems with South Africa's death registration processes. To address it, a critical first step is to replace our paper-based process with an electronic one. A recent report by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) highlights the underreporting of HIV in official mortality statistics. Official cause of death statistics are based on what doctors write on death notification forms. As part of the process of death registration, medical practitioners are required by law to provide information about the medical conditions resulting in each death. Multiple studies have identified concerns about the quality of the information provided by doctors and the Department of Health has been urged in a policy brief to address them as it clearly undermines the quality of data used by our government for health planning and resource allocation. The recently reported study found extensive underreporting of HIV as a cause of death. Only 28% of deaths that occurred in a national sample of public sector hospitals where the medical record had clear clinical indications of HIV, had HIV specified on their death notification form. Aside from ensuring that medical certification of the cause of death is part of the medical training curriculum, and that additional training is provided during internship periods, another key issue to address is that many doctors are reluctant to record HIV/Aids as a cause of death due to concerns about maintaining patient confidentiality. In 2014, a self-sealing section was added to protect information about cause of death on the death notification form, but this has clearly not had the desired effect. Following the deaths of at least 22 children from contaminated food in 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the Department of Health would develop an electronic system for recording causes of death as one of several responses to the emergency. The move to an electronic system offers a strategic opportunity to address the challenge around confidentiality and promises a lot more. It allows for secure, institution-based data management that protects confidentiality, encourages accurate reporting and strengthens the integrity of vital statistics. Benefits of this digital transition will include: Improved data quality and confidentiality, encouraging accurate reporting of sensitive conditions like HIV/Aids; Automated validation checks, reducing certification errors at the point of data entry; Real-time access to mortality data, enabling rapid public health responses; and A platform for quality assurance and feedback, currently not possible in the paper-based system. Ultimately, moving away from a paper-based process of death registration will reduce the administrative burden and improve efficiency across the system. This presents a timely and valuable opportunity to collaborate across departments, including health, home affairs and Statistics South Africa, to modernise the country's civil registration and vital statistics system. We are at a pivotal moment for such coordinated policy action. Investing in a robust electronic system for cause-of-death certification will strengthen South Africa's public health planning, improve disease surveillance and increase accountability. The long-term returns – through faster, more reliable data – are substantial for both governance and health outcomes. It is a win-win. DM Dr Pam Groenewald and Professor Debbie Bradshaw are with the South African Medical Research Council's Burden of Disease Research Unit. Note: Spotlight previously reported on the issues discussed in this opinion piece. That reporting included the sentence: 'In the meantime, routine mortality data from Stats SA should clearly be taken with a pinch of salt.' That sentence may have been construed as reflecting Groenewald and the SAMRC's views. Groenewald has asked us to clarify that it does not. She points out that Stats SA is obligated to process the data it receives and the quality issues stem from what doctors report.
Eyewitness News
a day ago
- Eyewitness News
Children's homes, rehabs and shelters face closure once again as Gauteng govt fails to pay
Two months into the financial year, which started in April, hundreds of non-profit organisations in Gauteng have not yet received their subsidies from the provincial Department of Social Development. 'These organisations include domestic violence shelters, child and youth care centres, inpatient substance abuse treatment facilities, and residential facilities for persons with disabilities,' the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee said in a statement on Friday. Organisations GroundUp spoke to say they only have enough reserve funds to last them two or three months before they will have to shut down. This echoes similar chaos last year, when organisations funded by the Gauteng Department of Social Development went unfunded for months. Many had to go into debt, from which they have not yet recovered. Premier Panyaza Lesufi intervened last year and a new MEC, Faith Mazibuko, has since taken the helm. But despite promises to restore the department's relationship with the organisations, problems with service agreements and late payments have not been curbed. At least 40 of the crisis committee's 114 member organisations have not been paid and 14 are still waiting for service level agreements (SLAs). According to a statement by the department on Monday, of the 1,640 SLAs issued to organisations, 1,424 have been signed and 818 payments have been made. That leaves more than 600 payments outstanding. And this excludes organisations who have not yet received SLAs, says committee chair Lisa Vetten. Department spokesperson Motsamai Motlhaolwa told GroundUp that late payments were due to challenges with the payment system. He also said some organisations had not signed the SLAs in time, and others were 'non-compliant' with municipalities and in some cases with the Children's Act. CHILDREN'S HOMES FACE CLOSURE Jacaranda Kinderhuis and Louis Botha Children's Home are two of the largest Child and Youth Care Centres in Gauteng and house more than 250 children. Neither centre has received an SLA for the new financial year, says Charlene Grobbelaar, CEO for both Louis Botha and Jacaranda. The subsidies received from the department usually cover 40% of their expenses. The SLA delays are apparently because the department said it requires a J738 form from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to show that no staff members are on the sex offender registry. The department initially accepted proof that the centres had applied for the form from the DOJ on 13 March. But since the start of May, they have received no update from the department. Without funding from the department, both homes are now running on reserve funds, which are quickly running dry. If the funding does not come through soon, the homes can only keep going for 'maximum a month', says Grobbelaar. Operations at both centres have been pared down, reserving the little funds available for food and salaries. Field trips and extracurricular activities have been cancelled. The centres have recently taken in children from small nearby centres that have closed their doors due to funding cuts. 'It's ridiculous, these are children's lives,' said Grobbelaar. Paul Kruger Kinderhuis in Gauteng with room for 63 children, which the department has funded for decades, received verbal indication from the adjudication panel that it would be funded but has not received anything in writing, despite repeated follow-ups. Manager Kobus Vorster said they have enough funds for another two months. Mothaolwa told GroundUp that all funded youth centres that have not received SLAs 'have been appraised on the reasons for the delays'. 'We would also like to bring to your attention that all the [organisations] that have worked with [the department] know our teams at regional offices … We are not sure why they asking us through the media, where we wont even give out information about them, because we respect the working relationship we have with them.' PAST UNDERSPENDING GroundUp previously reported that last year's funding crisis led several organisations to take the department to court over non-payments. Some have still not been paid despite having signed SLAs for the 2024/25 financial year and are still busy fighting for their money in court. The department has said that the reason it could not pay all NPOs was that it had run out of money and overcommitted its budget. GroundUp previously reported that organisations were dissatisfied with this answer. And on Monday, News24 reported that the department will have to return R102-million to the national treasury due to underspending in the 2024/25 financial year. Mothaolwa has previously said that underspending is mainly due to 'compliance' issues. This article first appeared on GroundUp. Read the original article here.
The Citizen
a day ago
- The Citizen
Deadly air pollution threatens lives
A new report from Greenpeace Africa and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), released on June 3, has sent shockwaves across South Africa, revealing a devastating public health crisis linked to air pollution. In 2023 alone, 42 000 South Africans lost their lives due to fine particle pollution (PM2.5), with more than 1 300 of those deaths being children under the age of five. PM 2.5 refers to fine inhalable particles in the air with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less. These particles can be inhaled and cause serious health problems. They are a common air pollutant found in various sources like car exhausts, coal-fired power stations, and industrial emissions. How small is 2.5 micrometres? Think about a single hair from your head. The average human hair is about 70 micrometres in diameter, making it 30 times larger than the largest fine particle. The report, titled Unmasking the Toll of Fine Particle Pollution in South Africa, paints a grim picture of the state of air quality in the country, with Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and the Highveld Priority Area bearing the brunt of the pollution's lethal impact. In Gauteng, over 16 000 deaths were attributed to the effects of PM2.5 pollution in 2023 alone. The province is home to some of the largest coal-fired power plants and industrial zones in the country, making it a hotspot for pollution. The findings underscore a growing concern that South African communities are living in an environment where the air they breathe is contributing directly to their deaths. The culprits behind this crisis are well-known: large industrial giants in the coal and energy sectors, particularly Eskom, which operates one of the world's largest fleets of coal-powered plants. The report shows in total, Eskom emits more sulfur dioxide (SO2). It is a gaseous air pollutant composed of sulfur and oxygen that forms when sulfur-containing fuel such as coal, petroleum oil or diesel is burned in the entire power sectors of the European Union, the USA or China. 'Ironically, while South Africa's Constitution guarantees the right to a healthy environment, this right is being trampled every day,' said Ibrahima Ka Ndoye, international communications co-ordinator at Greenpeace Africa. 'The corporations responsible for the majority of pollution are prioritising profits over people, and this is an unacceptable tragedy.' The report estimates that exposure to PM2.5 in South Africa costs the country R960-billion in 2023. This figure accounts for premature deaths, respiratory illnesses, lost workplace productivity, and strained healthcare systems. The pollution's toll on human life is deeply entrenched, as evidenced by the communities in the Highveld region, which have long been at the epicentre of South Africa's coal industry. The report specifies that in Gauteng cities like Johannesburg and Pretoria, industrial activity is a major contributor to the region's poor air quality. A total of 35% of the PM2.5 pollution in Johannesburg can be traced to power plants and other industries, according to the Clean Air Fund's report. The report also singles Pretoria out as a city grappling with fine particle pollution, of which a third can be attributed to mining activities. 'We have to ask ourselves: How many more lives must be lost before action is taken?' said Cynthia Moyo, Climate and Energy campaigner at Greenpeace Africa. 'The science is clear: the air in South Africa is toxic. But it's not just about environmental health. It's about social justice. The people most affected by this pollution are often those who are already facing economic hardships.' Despite mounting evidence and numerous calls for action, Eskom, the state-owned utility responsible for a substantial portion of South Africa's electricity generation, continues to fall short on pollution controls. Eskom has repeatedly sought exemptions from environmental regulations, citing the cost of upgrading emissions-control technology and delaying plant decommissioning. The report highlights that aligning South Africa's air quality standards with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines could prevent up to 33 000 deaths annually. 'The time to act is now. We cannot continue to allow polluters to profit at the expense of human lives,' said Moyo. 'Communities across South Africa deserve clean air, healthy environments, and a future free from the dangers of toxic pollution.' The situation has reached a breaking point, and Greenpeace Africa is calling for bold, immediate action. Ka Ndoye said the organisation's key recommendations include an immediate end to exemptions from air pollution limits for major emitters such as Eskom, enforcement of national air quality standards to ensure public health is protected, and a just transition away from coal to renewable energy. Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to bennittb@ or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
