some aspects of this system were inherited from the predemocratic era however the postapartheid state has been very active in reforming and adding to this system there has been a rapid expansion in spending on social assistance over the last between and while spending on most budget items eg education and health have remained fairly constant in real terms consolidated expenditure on welfare and social assistance has increased from r billion per cent of gdp in to r billion per cent of gdp in national treasury and this is shown in figure below