Poverty is a great problem in developed and under developed countries. We cannot help becoming emotional when on our way to school, we find people begging at the traffic signals or children begging for food. At the age when children are supposed to go to school, They go work at factories for survival. Hungry people find themselves hungry in crime for managing food. QUESTION

In all honesty our country is not very different from yours. South Africa has a high unemployment rate which leads to poverty. Many people in rural areas live in poverty due to the fact that there is a lack of development in these areas. People find it easier to beg in the streets than find jobs and fend for themselves. Some of the situations that South Africans face everyday.

Our country does have organizations that cater for homeless people such as old age homes, orphanages and homeless shelters. It is entirely dependent on the people whether they utilise these opportunities or not. The problems people face with these organisations The problems that these people face vary from organization to organization, some face abuse be it; sexually, emotionally or even physically. At times they feel that these homes or shelters are not adequate enough for them to live in. This is why we find that so many people prefer to live on the streets. Government The government gives out grants every month for people who are disadvantaged. Some government schools are now free and there are feeding schemes in schools for the disadvantaged children. HELP FROM ORGANISATIONS AND GOVERNMENT

ProvinceNo. of poor persons (million) % of population in poverty Poverty gap (R billion) Share of poverty gap Eastern Cape4.672% % Free State1.868%5.97.2% Gauteng3.742% % KwaZulu- Natal 5.761% % Limpopo4.177% % Mpumalanga1.857%7.18.7% North West1.952%6.17.5% Northern Cape0.561%1.51.8% Western Cape1.432%4.15.0% South Africa25.757% % STATISTICS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Economic interventions to expand opportunities for employment and self-employment in particular including improvement of the state’s capacity to lead in job-creating industrial development. Provision of quality education and skills and health care especially to poor communities; and Promotion of access to assets including social capital to the poor and reduction of Vulnerability

Yes there are. These children are mostly found at the CBD and the most busiest places in town, this is due to the fact that there are a lot of people that require such help and through this they get money. They help shoppers with their trolleys and get money for it. It is mostly black kids and old people that you find begging. Many black kids are not encouraged to attend school so they use their time to beg. A lot of communities in South Africa unconsciously allow this to happen, because they feel that they need the help from these children.

Child labour is forbidden by law in South Africa. Many people allow children that are supposed to be in school to do hard labour for them in the spirit of giving. For example children do people’s gardens to get money. Child labour happens without the citizens of our country being aware of this because they think that they are helping these children to make a living.

In South Africa the government provides senior citizens with pension, so that they can have some money to take care of themselves in their old age. However,the problems that they encounter include: The pension is not enough. Many senior citizens care for their grandchildren because parents can’t. Their children leave them at old age homes where they have to fend for themselves. These old age homes make them pay with all their pension money, and the services that are offered at these places are not adequate. These senior citizens’ health is affected because they always worry about their family members and who is going to bury them when they pass on. Most of the people that work at these places don’t give love to these old people, they only work for money. Lastly the old age homes are not state-owned

 South African Regional poverty network  Towards an anti-poverty strategy For South Africa pg 6  Statistics S.A. [Online] MORE INFORMATION.