Abstract
The objectives of this study were to determine
the accessibility of services offered to rural
workers by government and to identify relevant
methodological issues pertaining to household
surveys. The study commenced in April 2001 and
was completed in August 2001.
In the early phase of the project, the workers
and their immediate families were surveyed to
determine their living conditions and access to
government services. This was followed by a phase
during which the intention was to assist workers
in gaining access to government grants. As events
turned out, only one household in the study was
clearly within the criteria for eligibility for
the Child Support Grant (CSG). They had not
applied for this grant, so they were assisted in
applying for the grant. Two other households were
on the borderline of the criteria for eligibility
for the CSG. Because of delays in gaining
formation from the Department of Social
Development (DSD), these households were
initially not assisted in applying for the grant.
They were later given information to guide them
in applying for the grants. The people in one of
these households left the farm before the end of
the study. It is not known whether they applied
for the grant or not. The process by which grants
are obtained was assessed in terms of whether it
allows for the easy access to grants for rural
workers.
In the final phase of the project, further data
was collected, specifically, detailed data on
household expenditure. This was compared with
data on income obtained in the earlier
interviews. The practicality and accuracy of the
method used in the earlier phase was assessed.
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