The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant serves as a crucial relief measure for millions of unemployed people living in South Africa. However, the grant’s implementation is approaching its conclusion, leaving millions of vulnerable individuals wondering if they will have any financial assistance beyond 2024.
During the 2023 State Of The Nation Address, it was revealed the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) will continue paying the SRD grant to beneficiaries until the end of March 2024. However, it is not yet known if beneficiaries of the SRD grant will receive the SRD grant beyond this date.
The Department of Social Development (DSD) says the SRD grant remains a temporary grant. A decision on the future of the grant has not been made nor have plans been made with regards to a replacement for the relief measure.
They assured beneficiaries that work is underway to find a replacement for the grant. This replacement is meant to be a more sustainable permanent solution for the needs of the grant's current beneficiaries.
The Department is currently exploring options to introduce a more sustainable permanent intervention aimed at addressing the needs of [the] working-age population.
Grant Value
Concerns have also been raised about the amount of money beneficiaries of the SRD grant receive every month. Several stakeholders have called for the grant value to be increased from the R350 currently being received by beneficiaries.
The food poverty line in South Africa is R624. The food poverty line refers to the amount of money that individuals would need to purchase food to meet the required daily energy intake.
DSD Minister Lindiwe Zulu says the government has been unsuccessful in its attempts to increase the value of the grant. The minister was responding to a question in parliament.
The Department is also concerned that since its implementation in 2020, the value has remained unchanged and is not keeping pace with inflation, which directly translates to the value of the grant decreasing every year as the inflation increases.
They explained that their attempts to increase the value of the grant were unsuccessful due to fiscal constraints. The department approached the National Treasury with a proposal to increase the value of the grant. However, this request was not favourably considered.
This is concerning, as the value of the grant has not increased once since its introduction in 2020.
