10. Needy persons to be relieved
In every case in which a person applies for relief, the Secretary to the Board shall enquire into the circumstances of the applicant, and shall, if he or she appear to the Secretary to the Board to be a person legally entitled to relief, furnish him or her with interim means of subsistence until the next meeting of the Board and such secretary to the Board shall continue to afford to such person such interim maintenance as may be necessary until his or her claim to relief is dealt with by the Board, and the Secretary to the Board shall return an answer to such application within 48 hours from the time that it was made.
However, if the necessary means of support are afforded to the applicant in the meantime, the Secretary to the Board may delay giving a final answer to such application for any period which to him or her may seem necessary for prosecuting his or her enquiries.
In addition, any applicant as aforesaid shall give to the Secretary to the Board and the Board all information and assistance which it is in his or her power to give on every matter regarding his or her case which the Secretary to the Board or the Board may desire to ascertain.
It is hereby declared that it is no answer to a claim for relief that the claimant has relatives able or bound to support him or her and assistance cannot be refused when the applicant is in such a state of necessity bodily or mentally, as fairly entitles him or her to relief. In all such cases it is the duty of the Secretary to the Board to provide the needful sustentation in the first instance, and afterwards to proceed against those persons who are bound by law to aliment or assist the person relieved.
(Amended by Act 34 of 1999)