Abstract
This article reflects critically on the role played by religious networks – in particular the African Independent Churches or African Initiated Churches (AICs) – in enhancing social protection by means of informal coping mechanisms in the South African context. It also examines various factors that contribute towards informal social security dependency in AICs, namely the influence of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the limited scope of social security coverage, the restricted family concept (underlying much of the formal system which does not reflect the family context in South Africa), African traditional values, and Christian principles. In addition, the article investigates the nature of the relationship between informal coping mechanisms (such as those in AICs) and formal social security, i.e. whether informal social security strengthens or weakens formal social security. It finally explores ways and means of strengthening informal social security, in particular in the wake of challenges such as HIV/AIDS, urbanisation and migration.
Highlights
This article reflects critically on the role played by religious networks — with spe cific reference to the African Independent Churches or African Initiated Churches (AICs) — in enhancing social protection1 by means of informal coping mechanisms
The article examines factors that contribute towards informal social security dependency in AICs, including the influence of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), the limited scope of social security coverage, the restricted family concept, African traditional values, and Christian principles
It could be argued that the AICs endeavour to combine African traditional values and Christian principles
Summary
This article reflects critically on the role played by religious networks — with spe cific reference to the African Independent Churches or African Initiated Churches (AICs) (for a discussion of the terms used to describe these Churches, see Bongmba 2003:77; Anderson 1995:283; Hayes 1992:139) — in enhancing social protection by means of informal coping mechanisms The article examines factors that contribute towards informal social security dependency in AICs, including the influence of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) (hereinafter the Constitution), the limited scope of social security coverage, the restricted family concept (underlying much of the formal system which does not reflect the family context in South Africa), African traditional values, and Christian principles. It investigates the nature of the relationship between informal coping mechanisms (as found in AICs) and formal social security, i.e. whether informal social security strengthens or weakens formal social security. It explores ways and means of reinforcing informal social security, in particular in the wake of challenges such as HIV/AIDS, urbanisation and migration
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