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Does the SRD Grant Extension Indicate a Rise in Payments?,Rise in Payments,SRD Grant Extension
Does the SRD Grant Extension Indicate a Rise in Payments?
The government created the Social Relief of Distress grant in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The grant has since been extended several times, and with each extension, there have been more requests for an increase in the grant’s amount. Does the SRD Grant Extension Indicate a Rise in Payments?
Does the SRD Grant Extension Indicate a Rise in Payments?
As a response to the economic ripple effects of the pandemic, the government created the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant to provide financial assistance to those without financial means.
Statement of Cyril Ramaphosa
Cyril Ramaphosa revealed in this year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the grant reaches approximately 7.8 million people.
Although it was assumed that the SRD grant would be increased in recent months, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has clarified that it will remain at R350 a month.As some experts have pointed out, this grant is not charity, but rather an opportunity for people to start doing things for themselves.
Isobel Frye, Executive Director of Social Policy Initiatives, said in an interview:
It is great that the extension was granted. The only concern we have is how much the extension will cost.
what Ramaphosa said about existing social grants
Does the SRD Grant Extension Indicate a Rise in Payments?
The government will also increase existing social grants to cushion the poor against rising inflation, Ramaphosa said.It is expected that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will outline this in his National Budget Speech on 22 February 2023.
Despite limited resources available to the National Treasury, the budget allocation speech aims to strike a balance between competing national spending priorities.
As a human rights organization, The Black Sash is eagerly awaiting the announcement of the increase and also demands that social grants increase at least at the inflation rate, with no grant below the Food Poverty Line.
Ayanda Sishi Wigzell, an activist for youth and gender rights, said there would have been a universal Basic Income Grant a long time ago had there been decent politicians in South Africa today.
This is why the SONA of 2023 revealed that work is underway to develop targeted basic income support within the government’s fiscal constraints for the most vulnerable.
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