MOKGORO J contribute to the welfare system through the payment of taxes, the lack of congruence between benefits and burdens created by a law that denies benefits to permanent residents almost inevitably creates the impression that permanent residents are in some way inferior to citizens and less worthy of social assistance.81 Sharing responsibility for the problems and consequences of poverty equally as a community represents the extent to which wealthier members of the community view the minimal well-being of the poor as connected with their personal well-being and the well-being of the community as a whole.82 In other words, decisions about the allocation of public benefits represent the extent to which poor people are treated as equal members of society.83 [75] Social grants in terms of section 3 of the Act can be claimed by “an aged person, a disabled person or a war veteran”. Child-support grants in terms of section 4 can be claimed by the primary care-giver of the child, and caredependency grants can be claimed by the parent or foster parent of a caredependent child. In terms of section 1 of the Act, a care-dependent child is one who requires and receives permanent home care owing to his or her severe mental or physical disability. 81 Rosberg “The Protection of Aliens from Discriminatory Treatment by the National Government” (1977) Supreme Court Review 275 at 311. 82 Chang “Immigrants Under the New Welfare Law: A Call for Uniformity, A Call for Justice” (1977) 45 University of California Los Angeles Law Review 205 at 223. 83 To use the terminology from Plessy v Ferguson 163 US 537, 551 (1896) and Brown v Board of Education 347 US 483, 494 (1954), the exclusion of foreigners from state welfare programmes not only operates to stamp them with a “badge of inferiority”, but marginalises them by sending a message of second-class status in the communities in which they reside. 47