E-ISSN 2039-2117 ISSN 2039-9340 Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy Vol 4 No 13 November 2013 541 The Impact of Social Grants on Rural Women: Perspectives from ABET Practitioners Lineo Johnson Mpho Dichaba Dept. of ABET & Youth Development, College of Education University of South Africa Email address: dichamm@unisa.ac.za Doi:10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n13p541 Abstract The most recent census information available, as well as other reports and studies reveal that out of a population of about 52 million South Africans, approximately 30 percent live on social grants. This translates to at least 15.6 million social grant recipients countrywide. This study examines how social grants have contributed to the well-being and especially livelihoods of rural people. It also examines how the grants have enabled and empowered recipients, encouraged self-reliance and created opportunities for socioeconomic growth and development towards poverty alleviation for rural recipients. Proponents of Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) tend to link issues of education and development to literacy. This study examines how social grants contribute to improvements in families’ livelihoods and the well-being of individuals who receive them. In addition, it seeks to establish whether there is a link between the provision of social grants, as a social policy model, and literacy, development and education. While the social grant is meant to bridge economic disparities by assisting the poor, this study is located at an intersection of two schools of thought about this policy – those in support of and those against it. Jeffrey Sachs’ Millennium Villages Project underpins the theoretical framework of this study as it gives hope for those critics who believe that Africa will forever be dependent on foreign aid and hand-outs. Qualitative and document analysis methods were used to collate and analyse journals and diaries kept by grant recipients in fifteen (15) rural households in the Free State over a period of two years. The main findings of the study reveal that social grants, as an economic intervention, are contributing substantively towards poverty reduction. However, the recipients feel that the social grant is a gift from government and believe that it will be forfeited, if they become self-reliant. The study concludes that more income-generating activities should be encouraged through the provision of loans or seed-funds as CARE-South Africa had done in their community development interventions to grant recipients. Social grants are only a means of survival, but community education can bring about for development – along with other adult education programmes – and is a key element in addressing sustainable development. Keywords: social grants, self-reliance, poverty reduction, economic intervention, hand-outs. 1. Introduction and Background Since the transition to a new political dispensation in 1994, the post-apartheid South African government has been internationally commended for creating a conducive environment for the alleviation of poverty through various national legal and policy frameworks. In this regard Thompson (2001) mentions the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), later replaced by Growth Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) policy. The author indicates that through this policy evolution, the Mandela government was able to increase the annual budgetary allocations for welfare services and some progress was made in poverty alleviation. However, he also notes with concern promises yet unfulfilled where he is convinced too little was achieved, where the majority are still in similar marginalised conditions as before 1990. According to Thompson about 72 percent of the poor lived in rural areas; and although poverty was not confined to one racial group, it was concentrated among Africans of whom 61 percent were still poor. (Thompson (2001:275). An observation that was made during President Mbeki’s era was that the economic gap between the rich and the poor continued to widen. In order to alleviate abject poverty, the budget included hand-outs in the form of pensions, housing subsidies and childcare benefits. Thompson (2001), Statistics South Africa (2012) also featured on www.statisticssouthafrica.org and the National Development Plan: Vision for 2030 (2011) concur that much has not changed because the statistics still show the disparity where out of a population of about 52 million South Africans, about 30 percent live on social grants. Thus, at least 16 million South Africans are recipients of social grants. This study examined how social grants are used on monthly basis by their recipients, particularly rural women, in Thaba-Nchu in the Free State Province in South Africa. The article starts with giving an overview of what social grants