Public Services

SACSIS promotes the fundamental right of the poor to services such as clean water, sanitation, waste management, affordable energy, public transport, health, education and social security.

What's Wrong With the Social Grants System in South Africa?

Picture: Julia Cumes Karen Peters - According to the 2008 Budget Speech, currently there are 12.4 million grant beneficiaries in South Africa, with national expenditure on social assistance to the tune of 75.3 billion Rand. However, despite spending on social security remaining a significant proportion of our GDP, an important segment of the population still slips through the social security net. What's wrong with the social grants system in South Africa? To start with, the targeted nature of our social...

Levelling the Playground: A Review of School Funding

Picture: www.imrs.ie Russell Wildeman - Idasa believes that the time has come for the development and implementation of free quality basic education for all. However, we remain committed to researching key aspects of current education policy and its implementation in order to encourage policy initiatives that will result in better opportunities for poor children in the future. A major piece of research that Idasa recently undertook was an inquiry into the reforms to the school funding policy. We enquire into whether the...