In South Africa, parents of children with disabilities report that the monthly Care Dependency Grant of 2,400 rand is insufficient for transport, food, medicines and other needs. Daily Maverick reports on the difficulties faced by families caring for children with disabilities.
Cleon Tigirls, a resident of Eldorado Park in Johannesburg, receives the grant to care for her 13-year-old daughter, Lamisheya, who has permanent mental and physical impairments following streptococcal meningitis. The girl is mostly bedridden and needs help with eating and using the toilet.
According to Tigirls, school transport alone for her daughter costs 1,200 rand per month — half of the grant. If the family cannot pay for transport, Lamisheya does not attend the specialized school. The mother also cited diapers, nutritious food, trips to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital for check-ups and prescriptions among the expenses. She estimates that about 3,000 rand is spent on food each month.
Transport and medical care
Another grant recipient, Christina Mafunda from Marikana in the North West province, cares for her four-year-old daughter with Down syndrome. She said that because of unemployment, she cannot always afford transport to the clinic or medication. The woman is also concerned about access to a specialized school: the nearest institution able to accept her daughter is in Rustenburg, about a 45-minute drive away.
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Zara Traffort, a senior researcher at Stellenbosch University’s Institute for Life Course Health Research, noted that the fixed amount of the grant covers families’ needs differently. Some children need diapers and assistive devices, while others do not, and parents providing constant care find it difficult to seek additional income.
Growing number of recipients
According to the South African Social Security Agency, Sassa, 179,202 children received the Care Dependency Grant in August 2026. In 2021/22, there were 153,768 such recipients. The agency said there had been a noticeable and steady increase in the number of children registered for this assistance over the past five years.
Representatives of organizations working with people with disabilities drew attention to problems with accessible transport, uneven application of school transport subsidies across provinces, and service at Sassa offices. Sassa said it had introduced queue-management mechanisms that provide priority service for older people, persons with disabilities and people with mobility impairments.
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