MIA SWART: A bird in hand — how ANC maintains a state of dependency

Over its 30 years in government the ANC has achieved two things: it has kept the poor poor, and it has made the poor dependent on the state by maintaining high unemployment and creating an extensive social grants network.

I predict that this dependency, coupled with the perception that it is only the ANC that will pay social grants, will again secure the governing party a majority in this year’s election.

President Cyril Ramaphosa kicked off this historic election year with the comment, made at the ANC’s 112th birthday celebrations in Mbombela, that social grants and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme would disappear should the ANC lose power. 

“I don’t know of any other country in the continent that has committed itself to 18-million people who receive grants, young and old, as well as an additional 10-million who get grants of R350,” he said.

The president seemed oblivious to the fact that keeping a high percentage of South Africans (about one in every two adults) dependent on social assistance is hardly something to brag about.

His words caused a stir in some circles, but not the broad outrage they deserved. His statement showed little respect for the state’s obligations under our social democratic constitution. The state’s responsibility to provide social assistance is a constitutional imperative.

Chapter 2 of the constitution compels the government to provide social assistance within its “available resources”. Any party coming into power will inherit this obligation. But a great number of South Africans will not know this.

After Mbombela the president was accused of fearmongering and scare tactics, but there is another, more serious, reason his words should be rejected in the strongest terms. His claims violate the spirit of free and fair democratic elections.

Spreading misinformation aimed at influencing voter behaviour damages the integrity of democratic elections. In the spirit of April 1994, ANC leaders such as Ramaphosa should have reverence for the process of democratic elections and not disrupt this process by spreading disinformation and mistrust.

Social grants cost the state more than R200bn annually. Launching his party’s manifesto over the past weekend, Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi expressed doubts about the state’s capacity to keep paying social grants. But in ANC-style economics it is worth servicing the debts incurred through the vast social grants system.

What has become of Ramaphosa’s elaborate promises of prioritising job creation, made in his maiden state of the nation address?

It is obvious that no social grants system, however robust, will replace the dignity and self-respect that comes with employment. In advanced welfare states such as Finland, social assistance is based on the principle that everyone should have an equal opportunity to take part in working life and society in general.

Finland even pays “preventive social assistance”, the purpose of which is to prevent marginalisation and long-term reliance on social support. But even within the constraints of a struggling and developing economy SA is failing. The grant system fails to even help people onto the ladder of social mobility.

Some would say there is no ladder. After all, how far can the meagre R510 monthly child support grant go in a country with soaring food prices and unusually high child poverty? 

The 2024 election may turn on social grants rather than on complex policies. And rather than believe the DA or any other party could provide equally well, I believe most are likely to opt for the bird in the hand.

The ANC has done a masterful job in maintaining and securing its power through increasing and maintaining dependency. Instead of trying to prevent long-term reliance on social support, it banks on it. And the country’s low level of voter education suits it perfectly. 

I doubt the electorate will bite the hand that it believes feeds it. How I hope though, that I am wrong. 

• Swart is a visiting professor at Wits Law School specialising in human rights, international relations and international law. She writes in her personal capacity.