Submission of the CWIU to the portfolio committee on Child and Family support
Item
- Title
- Submission of the CWIU to the portfolio committee on Child and Family support
- Date
- 1997
- Description
- Having studied and extensively discussed the new child support and benefit system as agreed by cabinet on 5 March 1997, the CWIU Western Cape Women's Committee at its seminar held on 5-6 April 1997, noted j:tee following: 1) That the pSC-cess leading up to this development was not transparent and democratic despite its far-reaching consequences for the poorest sections of our people. 2) That the new system is designed to meet the requirements set by the government's economic strategy - Growth Employment and Redistibution (GEAR) for "fiscal restraint" and reducing the budget deficit and not meeting the needs of the majority of South Africans. This economic strategy of the government is in itself its response to the demands of local and international capital and not in line with the promise of "A better life for all" as embodied in the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) and the new constitution which states the right for all "to have access to social security, including, if they are unable to support themselves and their dependents, appropriate social assistance". 3) That certain assumptions are made regarding the requirements of families, specifically women and their unsupported children, with regard to their survival, let alone decent living standards. In particular we refer to the new rates of R75 per child (under the age of 6 years) per month which is according to the government "slightly above the household subsistence level". This raises a number of serious questions and implications. Who determined these figures, what are they based on and who is it aimed at ? For years in the labour movement we have been confronted by capitalist bosses with similar "scientific statistics" across the bargaining table when fighting for decent wages. We have always rejected these as being based on existing poverty levels and seeking to perpetuate these conditions. These figures are also determined by academics hidden and protected by the privilege of the university environment, treating our poverty as mere scientific subjects for study to strengthen the ideological hand of their capitalist masters. We reject the figures and are convinced that the new rates will have the effect of increasing poverty. It has also been pointed out to us, for what it is worth, that the actual "Household Subsistence Level" figure is more than what the government has decided, ie. R96.83.
- Format
- Language
- English
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/170234
- Archive
- Cory Library for Humanitites Research
- Provenance
- The item is held at the Cory Library for Humanities Research, Rhodes University, on behalf of the Labour Research Service
- Extent
- 3 pages
- Rights
- Chemical Workers Industrial Union (CWIU)
- Rights Holder
- Chemical Workers Industrial Union (CWIU)
- Use/re-use
- The materials are made available explicitly for research and educational purposes. Any use of these materials must be cleared with the Labour Research Service.
- Publisher
- Chemical Workers Industrial Union (CWIU)
- Item sets
- General Materials
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