Well I am certain you think what the hell am I on about… Well the ANC has managed to survive as a feeder, provider and savior of the poor. The intentions might have been good, but we all know that it’s the selling point of the ANC, we have heard them threaten the poor that if they are voted out the FREE services/grants will be discontinued.
What is the best thing for a political party in the form of an NGO to do just to retain power? Disempowering the majority so they can continue depending on you is the best option, I want to question the continued failure of the government to empower young people. I want to believe they have done everything in their power to empower us.
The government is spending billions of Rands every year through the social development department. That includes SASSA grants that have helped millions of people in the country. Food parcels and disability grants are amongst the highlights of the great things the department is doing, but that is also a great area of concern. How long can the government maintain this system? I believe this system was never supposed to be a lifetime project. It was supposed to be a relieve program while new measures are being put into place to eradicate poverty.
You know what they say, teach a man how to fish, do not give him a fish; yes the grants were very necessary and personally I have been in a situation where the child support grant my mother received for my 2 siblings was the only thing keeping us away from total poverty. The point I want to put forward is that if the relieve program is not replaced fast or coupled with other poverty eradication techniques such as creation of jobs/supporting entrepreneurs, it will soon become too heavy for the government to carry. This is a future projection we also have to come back and look back at what happen when the grants are discontinued, when the granny who looked after the family of 12 passes away.
We have to act fast, we have to fight poverty head on or face the consequences.
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