Media portrayal of orphaned and vulnerable children in the context of South African welfare policies

Abstract

The African National Congress (ANC) came to power in 1994, trumpeting an ambitious Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) that was to build a million homes, redistribute land, and provide clean water and sanitation to underdeveloped townships (Russell, 2009). The new government revisited policies to facilitate transformation towards a true democracy. A development policy for social welfare, adopted in the form of the White Paper for Social Welfare (RSA, 1997), embraced a social welfare system that is more just, equitable, participatory and appropriate in meeting the needs of all South Africans’.