According to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Social Relief of Distress grant reaches approximately 7.8 million people this year. There has been a proposal to amend the grant published recently by the government.
New amendments to the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant have been published by Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
New Sassa SRD Grant Changes Could Threaten Food Security
This draft clearly states that the SRD grants, which are paid to individuals on a monthly basis at a value of R350, will be unaffected.A deadline of 7 March 2023 was set for interested parties or organizations to submit written comments on the draft regulations.
A number of civil society groups welcomed the opportunity to comment on the proposed amendments to the 2022 Regulations regarding the SRD grant, but were deeply concerned that the extension was only for twelve months.
In a joint written comments submission by the Institute for Economic Justice and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute, the two civil society groups have expressed key concerns relating to the government handling this grant, as well as the failure of the regulations to address systemic issues that have been repeatedly raised over the past year.
In a statement, the groups have mentioned
- The removal of the SRD grant will worsen already alarming levels of food insecurity.
Food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation is at its highest level since May 2008 and is more than double the upper inflation target.
In March 2022, more than 10 million people relied on the SRD grant to survive, but those numbers plummeted when the means test was amended to R350, and later raised to R624.
In an interview with Dr. Maureen Mogotsi, Acting Chief Director of Social Assistance, she revealed that research shows that the grant is being used for basic needs, and the department is trying to ensure that beneficiaries’ basic needs are being met through the SRD grant.
In order to link SRD grant beneficiaries with job opportunities, other departments will need to get involved and help absorb the grant recipients.Since 10% of beneficiaries have migrated into employment, the number of beneficiaries receiving grants has declined.
