On Wednesday afternoon, the Minister of the Department of Social Development (DSD), Sisisi Tolashe, tabled the Social Development Budget Vote for 2024/25 to the National Assembly. The DSD was allocated a budget of R275 billion.
Under the theme of “Reigniting the Role of the Family”, the Department wants to strengthen vulnerable families by providing access to a range of essential support services that build resilience and self-reliance within families.
Budget cuts were seen across the South African government as we see an increasingly constrained fiscal environment and a decline in revenue. Along with this, inflation is at it’s highest, causing a cost of living crisis. Contributing to this is the rise of social ills which the Minister says “places a huge demand for social services which requires more not less funding”
These budget cuts have significant consequences for the social sector, most notably, for the employment of service professionals who are at the time at the center of service delivery for this sector.
The Minister has said that she intends to engage with MECs to discuss how to deal with these challenges.
South African Social Security Agency (Sassa)
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) falls under the Department of Social Development. The Minister revealed that R266 billion has been allocated for payments of 28 million social grants, with 9 million of this total being the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant.
Currently, social grants are a major source of income support for 45% of South Africa's population.
“Our investment in the social assistance programme is working because it has lifted millions of our people out of poverty. This includes 13.2 million recipients of the child support grant and over 4 million adults receiving old age grants. This is why we will continue working even harder in the coming months and years,” said Tolashe.
Digital Technologies Introduced
As we move further into a world reliant of digital technologies which aims to provide greater access to services, Tolashe has said that the Department has introduced digital technologies to assist Sassa grant beneficiaries.
Sassa will digitise operations to ensure customers have access to online services from home.
The Agency has also piloted the queue management system (QMS) in 66 Sassa offices nationally. This QMS will be rolled out to an additional 45 Sassa offices in the current financial year.
60 self service kiosks will be rolled out in local offices across the country as well.
The cornerstone of these initiatives is the business process reengineering which involves the integration of cutting-edge digital technologies streamlining operations, enhancing efficiences and leveraging digital tools to redefine service delivery standards.
The Minister emphasised that every social grant beneficiary has access to a bank account due to the phasing out of cash payment points for Sassa grant payments.
“The shift away from high risk payment instruments like cash aims to enhance financial inclusion for social grants beneficiaries with the national payment system, the primary payment system used by everyone in South Africa.”
Once your money is deposited into your bank account, it’s yours. We encourage Sassa beneficiaries to use their bank cards for payments. Only withdraw small amounts of cash for purchases that can be made with your card to minimise risks.
Basic Income Grant
Many organisations and politicians have been calling for the Basic Income Grant to be introduced, to replace the current SRD grant. Acknowledging this, the Minister said:
The extension of the SRD grant until March 2025 has given us adequate time to finalise the draft policy on basic income support which will be tabled in cabinet this financial year.
"This forms part of our social security reforms towards establishing the comprehensive social security system envisioned in the National Development Plan."
