The mayor of Makhado Municipality, Cllr Mavhungu Luruli, says it is high time that women stop abusing their child grants. She was speaking during a Children´s Day Celebration and a Christmas Party that was held at the Makhado Caravan Park last Saturday.

At the event, which was attended by both women and children, Luruli said that although the child support grant was aimed at benefiting children, some people had resorted to abusing the system, defeating the primary objective of fighting poverty. She said that it was bad that the grant, which is supposed to be used to look after the welfare of the children, is normally misdirected to address other needs which, in most instances, have nothing to do with the principal mandate.

"We need to work together and report these kinds of tendencies through government hotlines and other law-enforcement agencies," said Luruli, adding that people must not allow these challenges to limit their ability to improve the lives of vulnerable children in society.

She urged all the women during the event to take good care of their children. "No children should live without shelter, clothes, access to education and proper parental guardianship. We must continue assisting the children who have no shelter, food, clothes and other essential needs," she said.

Currently, the social grants programme is benefiting over 1.6million children through the child support and foster care grants.

Luruli also handed Christmas presents to all the children during the event. The event was held in line with the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children.