CHILD SUPPORT GRANTS 'USED TO SUPPORT MOTHERS' TIK HABITS'

Community activists have called for a change in the way the child
support grant is paid, saying many young mothers addicted to tik are
using the money to feed their drug habit.

"There should be goals for those receiving child support grants -
there should not be a dependence on grants," said William Williams,
programme manager for job-creation NGO Self-Help Manenberg.

"The unemployed receiving social grants should be actively looking
for work," he said.

He also suggested that instead of cash payouts, grants be paid in
vouchers that could be exchanged at supermarkets.

He said parents using grant money to fuel their addictions was not new.

"It used to be alcohol, it changed to other substances and now it's
tik. Family members should report to social services anyone using
grant money to pay for tik," said Williams.

"Also, tik dealers target kids, and our job is to prevent kids going
in that direction."

Abeda Benjamin, who converted her Mitchells Plain home into a drug
rehabilitation centre, said there were "many cases" where mothers
used their child support grants to buy drugs.

"I once treated a tik addict with three children who would run to the
tik dealers whenever she got paid the child support grant," she said.

This had stopped only after the woman's mother reported her to social
services and the children were transferred into their grandmother's care.

"If Social Services does not do something about this it will get out
of hand, because a lot of tik addicts are giving birth to babies, in
some instances prostituting themselves for the drug," said Benjamin.

Ellapen Rapiti, a family doctor working in Mitchells Plain, said the
easy availability of child support grants worsened the problem of
young women abusing tik.

"The willy-nilly dishing out of money will not solve the problem [of
poverty]. We need to get the families [of these young women] involved."

Rapiti said in instances where it could be proved mothers were
addicted to drugs, they should be prevented from receiving child
support grants. "Social services should ensure that parents show they
are drug-free. The government needs to review and revamp its social
grants policy," says Rapiti.

Henry da Grass, general manager of grant administration for the SA
Social Security Agency, said no complaints had been received about
mothers using their grant payments to buy tik.

"We are aware of money-lenders at paypoints demanding money from
grant recipients and asking astronomical interest rates," said Da Grass.

He appealed to anyone with information about abuses to call 021 469 0256.