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Swaziland: The old age grant: one step forward
01 January 2006
Country coordinator: Patricia Musi, RHVP Swaziland Country Co-ordinator
Following repeated calls for intervention, at the opening of Parliament in March 2005 King Mswati III stressed the need for new programmes and strategies to assist the elderly.
There is growing evidence that ageing is a source of vulnerability. Destitution and chronic poverty among the elderly has increased due to several factors: changes in family size and structure, migration of young, able-bodied family members to urban areas, HIV and AIDS-related deaths making the elderly primary care givers and providers for orphaned and vulnerable children, breakdown in the extended family system, a poor saving culture, and very few individuals retiring with an adequate pension.
Following the King's speech, the Minister of Finance pledged E30 million for the elderly. This raised expectations that the number of elderly receiving social grants would increase and that the monthly amount of the grant would also increase.
Prior to 2005, the Public Assistance Programme offered the only government cash transfer to the vulnerable. The Public Assistance Grant catered for a total of just 7,000 beneficiaries, including the elderly, widows, the destitute, the disabled and OVC. Very few of the elderly were beneficiaries. There were other challenges:
- Procedures for disbursement were not ‘elderly-friendly' as the system was highly centralized and required that the beneficiary travel to a bank
- The grant amount (E80 per month) was not based on a minimum basket of goods and services and fell short of providing the elderly a decent level of living
- Lack of capacity in the Social Welfare Department
To facilitate the development of strategies to assist the elderly, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare conducted a national survey to establish the number of vulnerable elderly and their living conditions.
By August 2006, 83,460 elderly persons had been enumerated, constituting about 7% of the total population. The Social Welfare Department's data base indicates that the number of beneficiaries is highest in the Shiselweni region (24,408) followed by Hhohho (20,806), Manzini (20,031) and Lubombo (18,215).
The expanded scheme started in October 2005. Disbursement procedures continue to be a challenge to the Social Welfare Department, with most of staff involved in disbursing grants for a month every quarter.
The study recommended the following criteria for qualifying to receive the grant: “must be a Swazi citizen, resident in Swaziland at the time of application, be 60 years or above, not a recipient of any other social assistance grant or pension, and must have Personal Identification Number (PIN)”. Many elderly did not have the PIN, delaying registration.
One of the recommendations of the study was that the grant should be a minimum of E200 per month. However, the expanded scheme has maintained the E240 every quarter which translates to E80 per month. While the assistance is appreciated, some say the grant is insufficient to provide for the elderly and, in certain cases, also to provide for OVC in their care.
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