ABSTRACT
The Child Support Grant (CSG) is a state-funded cash transfer disbursed to over 12 million poor children in South Africa every month. It forms part of a set of pro-poor and progressive social policies and offers demonstrated material support and economic redistribution. Drawing from data gathered in a qualitative, narrative study, I argue in this chapter that while the extensive cash transfer programme is laudable, it is not sufficient to deliver social justice, defined as redistribution, recognition (or dignity and respect) and representation (the links between political and social entitlements). Institutional obstructions, service delivery problems, and political failures, as well as the negative views of recipients and social judgements about who is worthy of the support and who is not, are all strong forms of misrecognition and misrepresentation, and lead to political and social insecurities that belie the excellent policy framework of this democracy.
