Cash Transfers and Citizenship: Evidence from South Africa

Theoretical research has assumed a role for cash transfers in forging a state-citizen contract, yet evidence is scarce regarding whether social protection promotes citizenship among claimants in practice. The article explores the implications of cash transfers for notions of citizenship in the narratives of transfer recipients in Johannesburg, South Africa. Cash transfers created a space for state-citizen exchange, helping topersonalise views of the state, and giving citizens grounds for holding the state accountable. However, boundaries between state and citizens' responsibilities were contested, suggesting that expectations of a contractual relationship with the state were weak. Cash transfers are an important but partial means of promoting citizenship.sch_iihAdato, M. (2000) The Impact of PROGRESA on Community Social Relationships. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC. Benequista, N. (2010) Putting citizens at the centre: linking states and societies for responsive governance. Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK. Corbridge, S., Williams, G., Srivastava, M. and Veron, R. (2005) Seeing the State: Governance and Governmentality in India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Cornwall, A. and Coelho, V. (eds) Spaces for Change? The Politics of Citizen Participation in New Democratic Arenas (New York: Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 226-239. Delany, A., Ismail, Z., Graham, L. and Ramkissoon, Y. (2008) Review of the child support grant: uses, implementation and obstacles. Community Agency for Social Enquiry, Johannesburg, South Africa. Devereux, S. and Sabates-Wheeler, R. (2004) Transformative social protection. IDS Working Paper 232, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK. Devereux, S. and Lund, F. (2010) Democratising social welfare in Africa, in: V. Padayachee (ed.) The Political Economy of Africa (London: Routledge), pp. 152-171. Eyben, R. (2006) Building effective states: taking a citizen's perspective. Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK. Farrington, J., Sharp, K. and Sjoblom, D. (2007) Targeting approaches to cash transfers: comparisons across Cambodia, India and Ethiopia. Overseas Development Institute, London, UK. Accessed at http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/ download/3004.pdf. Gaventa, J. (2010) 'Seeing like a citizen': re-claiming citizenship in a neo-liberal world, in: A. Fowler and C. Malunga (eds) NGO Management: The Earthscan Companion (London: Earthscan). Grosh, M., Del Ninno, C., Tesliuc, E. and Ouerghi, A. (2008) For protection and promotion: the design and implementation of effective safety nets. World Bank, Washington, DC. Hassim, S. (2006) Gender equality and developmental social welfare in South Africa, in: S. Razavi and S. Hassim (eds) Gender and Social Policy in a Global Context: Uncovering the Gendered Structure of 'the Social' (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 109-129. Hickey, S. (2007) Conceptualising the politics of social protection in Africa, in: A. Barrientos and D. Hulme (eds) Social Protection for the Poor and Poorest: Concepts, Policies and Politics (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 247-263. Hickey, S. (2010) The government of chronic poverty: from exclusion to citizenship? Journal of Development Studies, 46(7), pp. 1139-1155. Holmes, R. and Uphadya, S. (2009) The role of cash transfers in post-conflict Nepal. A report prepared for ODI, Overseas Development Institute, London, UK. Kabeer, N. (2005) Introduction, in: N. Kabeer (ed.) Inclusive Citizenship (London: Zed Books), pp. 1-27. Kabeer, N.,Myumtaz, K. and Sayeed, A. (2010) Beyond risk management: vulnerability, social protection and citizenship in Pakistan. Journal of International Development, 22 (1), pp. 1-19. Ku nneman, R. and Leonhard, R. (2008) A human rights view of social cash transfers for achieving the millennium development goals. Brot fu r die Welt and Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst, Bonn, Germany. Lister, R. (1997) Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives (London: Macmillan Press). Makiwane, M. (2010) The Child Support Grant and teenage childbearing in South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 27(2), pp. 193-204. Marshall, T. (1950) Citizenship and Social Class (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Mattes, R. (2002) Democracy without the people. Economics, governance and representation in South Africa. Journal of Democracy, 13(1), pp. 22-36. McEwan, C. (2005) New spaces of citizenship? Rethinking gendered participation and empowerment in South Africa. Political Geography, 24(8), pp. 969-991. Neves, D., Samson, M., Niekerk, I., Hlatshawayo, S. and Du Toit, A. (2009) The use and effectiveness of social grants in South Africa, FinMark Trust, South Africa. Norton, A., Conway, T. and Foster, M. (2002) Social protection: defining the field of action and policy. Development Policy Review, 20(5), pp. 541-567. Pauw, K. and Mncube, L. (2007) Expanding the social security net in South Africa: opportunities, challenges and constraints. Development Policy Research Unit, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Cash Transfers and Citizenship: South Africa 13 Downloaded by [Sophie Plagerson] at 11:02 27 May 2012 Piper, L. and Nadvi, L. (2010) Popular mobilization, party dominance and participatory governance in South Africa, in: L. Thompson and C. Tapscott (eds) Citizenship and Social Movements: Perspectives from the Global South (London: Zed Press), pp. 212-234. Plagerson, S. (2010) Does money matter for mental health? Evidence from the Child Support Grants in Johannesburg, South Africa. Global Public Health, epub. 11 Oct. pp. 1-17. Samson, M. (2009) Social cash transfers and pro-poor growth. OECD, Geneva. Slater, R., Farrington, J., Holmes, R. and Harvey, P. (2008) Cash transfers and their role in social protection. Inception report for SDC, Overseas Development Institute, London, UK. Statistics South Africa (2011) StatsSA mid-year estimates: statistical release P0302. Accessed at http://www.statssa. gov.za. Thompson, L. and Tapscott, C. (2011) Social movements in the global south: comparative perspectives on IBSA. African Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Accessed at http:// www.saopaulo2011.ipsa.org/sites/default/files/papers/paper-1424.pdf. Triegaardt, J. (2005) The child support grant in South Africa: a social policy for poverty alleviation? International Journal of Social Welfare, 14(4), pp. 249-255. Von Lieres, B. (2007) Citizen participation in South Africa: land struggles and HIV/AIDS activism, in: A. Cornwall and V. Coelho (eds) Spaces for Change? The Politics of Citizen Participation in New Democratic Arenas (New York: Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 226-239. Williams, J. (2007) Social change and community participation: the case of Health Facilities Boards in the Western Cape of South Africa, in: A. Cornwall and V. Coelho (eds) Spaces for Change? The Politics of Participation in New Democratic Arenas (London: Zed Books), pp. 95-113.48pub2981pub