Private Lives, Public Issues: Childbearing Experiences of Adolescent Mothers in the Era of Hiv and Aids in Bhambayi, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Economic Experiences of Single Mothers in Bhambayi, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

“…All of the women rationalised the need to supplement their menial income received from the state child support grant by engaging in a livelihood activity such as sewing, knitting, bead-making, cooking and baking, gardening, hairdressing and vending. These single mothers were doubly disadvantaged, as they were expected to put food on the table while retaining the overwhelming burden of child care and household responsibilities (Raniga & Mathe, 2011). (2006:34) argues that despite the African woman's increasing participation in the labour market, existing gender inequalities have intensified with respect to working conditions and compensation.…”

“…For example, in the 1980s, as a consequence of the global economic crisis (similar to what we are currently experiencing), many African nation states bore the brunt of structural adjustment programmes imposed by the World Bank and the IMF, which led to mass job losses for women in the public sector and which had negative implications such as state cutbacks on essential services including health, education and welfare (Sewpaul, 2005). Such cutbacks also led to reduced training and economic opportunities for women, while increasing their responsibility as primary caregivers of children and families infected with HIV (Raniga & Mathe, 2011;Raniga & Motloung, 2013).…”

Early Motherhood in Soweto: The Nexus Between the Child Support Grant and Developmental Social Work Services

“…Broadly, South African social work and development literature acknowledges that youth exclusion from education and work is both pervasive and problematic, and is largely structural in nature (Bloch, 2009;Booyens & Crause, 2012;Maposa & Louw-Potgieter, 2012). There are some calls for specifically targeted interventions for youths who live on the margins, because broad social services often miss these young people, leaving them to fend for themselves (Booyens & Crause, 2012;Raniga & Mathe, 2011). In particular, developmental and community-level interventions, such as the establishment of youthfocused community and recreation facilities, or accessible and affordable training opportunities, are recognised by social workers focused on youth as critical for highimpact benefits for young people.…”

Participatory Experiences of Women in Economic Development Cooperatives in Bhambayi, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

“…While the rollout of commendable policies and legislation is in place to prioritize social and economic opportunities for poor women, the gaps remain with implementation and patriarchal institutions that historically marginalize women (Raniga & Ngcobo, 2014; Sewpaul, 2013; Turok, 2010). In fact with little access to microcredit and savings schemes in South Africa, poor women who are dependent on state social grants and who reside in low-income communities bear the brunt of dire poverty and are subject to the exploitative rates by money lenders or having to resort to transactional relationships as survival strategies (Raniga & Mathe, 2011; Raniga & Ngcobo, 2014). Group or cooperative economic development projects provide a valuable network for women who are attempting to supplement their household incomes received from menial state social grants (Raniga & Ngcobo, 2014).…”

“…In the second decade of democracy, it is commendable that the South African government has supported the human rights function of social protection through assisting 16.4 million people with cash transfers through the payment of social security grants (Social Assistance Act, amended 2008). Recent empirical evidence by Raniga and Simpson (2011), Raniga and Motloung (2014), Raniga and Mathe (2011), and Raniga and Ngcobo (2014) revealed that social grants do provide an important economic safety net for female-headed households in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. In the same breath however, the findings of these qualitative studies revealed that the cash transfers of social grants were menial and insufficient to assist women to lift the households out of poverty.…”