Huge reliance on social grants, survey reveals

[caption id="attachment_36662" align="alignright" width="405"] HELPING HAND: Long queues are a feature of social grant payout days throughout the country[/caption]

WHILE the Eastern Cape continues to enjoy steady improvement in the general standards of living, unemployment and poverty have dramatically increased reliance on state financial assistance.

This is one of the key findings of the annual General Household Survey (GHS), conducted between January and December last year, and released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) yesterday.

Essentially measuring development and service delivery, the household survey addresses the country's access to critical services from education and health to transport, energy and communication, among other sectors.

The survey found the number of people who benefited from social grants had nearly tripled since 2003 when 12.7% of the overall population were receiving grants, to 30.2% who were receiving these benefits last year. During the same period, the percentage of households that received at least one grant increased from 29.9% to 45.5%. - Shaun Gillham