A large portion of the population of South Africa is made up of people who, due to
poverty, disability, old age and/or lack of education, rely solely on social assistance
provided by the government for their survival. The issue of the welfare state in terms
of responding to these issues has been subject to increasingly heated debates
especially with regard to long-term socio-economic improvements, moral obligations
and economic sustainability.
This dissertation generally explores the status of social welfare in South Africa, and
more specifically, South Africa's socio-economic status as a welfare state against
the backdrop of selected philosophical arguments used to justify and criticize
existing social welfare laws in South Africa, whilst keeping South Africa's unique
history in mind.
Although South Africa already has a detailed set of social welfare laws and policies,
the social and economic needs of the country are ever evolving and therefore it is
important that these laws and policies be constantly re-evaluated in order to ensure
that they are effective in addressing and meeting the changing socio-economic and
other demands.
