**

FYI

  Dear colleagues

 Attached herewith please find the new regulations to the Social Assistance
Act extending access to social grants to refugees. Congratulations to
everyone both within and outside the sector for all the hard work over the
years for reaching this point. Let us spread the good news to our clients
and colleagues. The struggle continues...

 Kind regards

 Mpilo

 ---------------------
 Sicel’mpilo Shange-Buthane (Ms)
 Executive Director
 Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA)
 5th Floor, Braamfontein Centre
 23 Jorissen Street, Braamfontein
 Tel: +27 11 403 7562/0
 Fax: +27 11 403 7559
 Cell: +27 83 257 9015

http://www.lhr.org.za/news/2012/social-relief-made-available-vulnerab...

SOCIAL RELIEF IS MADE AVAILABLE FOR VULNERABLE REFUGEES
in

   - Press release <http://www.lhr.org.za/news>
   - Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme
RMRP<http://www.lhr.org.za/programme/refugee-and-migrant-rights-programme-...>
   - Strategic Litigation
Unit<http://www.lhr.org.za/programme/strategic-litigation-unit>

LHR welcomes the extension of social grants to recognised refugees in South
Africa. The Minister of the Department of Social Development (DSD) has
finally promulgated amendments to the regulations of the Social Assistance
Act 13 of 2004 which will take effect from the 1 April 2012. This came as a
result of sustained advocacy from various rights groups, which culminated
in LHR pursuing public interest litigation to give effect to elderly
disabled refugees and refugee children rights to access social assistance.
LHR and Refugee Social Services welcomes this progressive amendment from
the Department.

 *Background to the matter:*

On 6 June 2011 LHR brought a high court application in Durban, on behalf of
an elderly disabled refugee women and Refugee Social Services, a non-profit
organisation that provides social and integration assistance to refugees,
based on Section 27(1)(a) of the SA Constitution which provides that
everyone has the right to have access to “social security, including, if
they are unable to support themselves and their dependents, appropriate
social assistance.”

In addition, Section 27(b) of the refugees Act 1998 states that a refugee
enjoys full legal protection, which includes the rights set out in Chapter
2 of the Constitution.

 As a result of previous litigation brought by LHR the Minister of Social
Development amended regulations to the Social Assistance Act to grant
refugees access to certain social grants, such as, disability grants and
foster care grants but these amendments failed to benefit other vulnerable
refugee groups (the elderly and children) by giving them access to an older
persons grant, care-dependency grant and a child support grant.

In this case, the elderly women qualified for a disability grant but she
was refused access to the grant because she reached the age of 60. All
other disabled elderly refugees therefore were in the same predicament. Had
she been a South African citizen her disability grant would have been
automatically converted to an older persons grant. LHR considered this to
be a constitutional violation of her rights and other elderly disabled
refugees’ rights are facing the same predicament. We therefore intervened
in her case to challenge this violation of her rights.

Yasmin Rajah, Director of Refugee Social Services, state, “Many refugees
find themselves in a similar situation where they are unable to work as a
consequence of their disability. They are also unable to secure employment
due to their respective ages. Refugees are therefore left in a precarious
situation where they are unable to maintain themselves or care for their
families”.  Similarly vulnerable refugees who cannot access care dependency
grants and child support grants also face extreme hardships in South Africa.

According to LHR Attorney, Sherylle Dass “ The Minister had previously made
several promises to amend the regulations to the Social Assistance Act but
had not taken adequate or reasonable steps, until faced with litigation, to
realise the rights of refugees”.

Despite the Minister choosing to oppose the application brought by LHR and
it being set down for determination on the 16 April 2012, LHR is of the
view that the Minister chose to rather effect the amendments before the
Court makes a determination which may have forced her to do so. Dass
continued, “We are confident that our legal challenge has led to the
Department’s amendments of the Act. We are very pleased that the Department
has chosen to take proactive steps to amend this legislation which has
given recognition to the situation of refugees who also need to access
social grants”.

LHR welcomes the decision by the Minister to finally promulgate legislation
that realises the constitutional rights of refugees to access social grants.

Contact Lawyers for Human Rights:

Sherylle Dass:            Tel:             076 22 33 674
Shery...@lhr.org.za

Iqbal Suleman            Tel               072 2247696       /
Iq...@lhr.org.za