Authorities have extended the SRD COVID-19 grant to March 31st, 2024! This comes after the Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, gave the 2024 Budget Speech. This was on February 22nd, 2024. According to the National Treasury, over the medium term, R66 billion has been allocated to Social Development programs like the SRD grant. However, R36 billion of that will be going to the COVID-19 SRD fund for the next year.
This is great news if you are one of the R350 beneficiaries approved to receive payment to South Africans, mainly unemployed and those needing support from the government to weather through the negative economic impact of Covid, the pandemic, and the current economic crisis.
Is SRD Been Extended?
Yes, the Covid-19 SRD Grant has been extended by the government. He has been allocated R36 billion to support South Africans until March 31st, 2024.
This is good news whether you are a current beneficiary or not. You can apply to get a spot as a beneficiary. To check your eligibility or if you qualify for an SRD grant, visit the SRD grant page here. https://srd.sassa.gov.za/sc19
Will SRD Grant Increase In 2024?
If you have been wondering, “Will SRD Grant Increase In 2024?” all this while, here is your answer. There is good news for beneficiaries of the South African Social Security Agency’s (SASSA) Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in his recent State of the Nation Address that the SRD grant would continue and increase to account for inflation.
The SRD grant was initially implemented in 2020 as a temporary relief to help those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, it has been extended multiple times.
The Treasury budgeted a 2.3% rise in total expenditure on social grants (including the SRD) in 2024/24. Economists at the Bureau for Economic Research noted that this would decline by about 10% in 2024/25 as the SRD was assumed to fall away before increasing by 4.5% in 2025/26.
In 2022, the SRD grant reached 7.8 million people, costing the country R2.7 billion per month. However, the extension of this grant has been heavily criticized for placing an unsustainable burden on the national budget. In his speech, Godongwana acknowledged that “over the medium-term, more than 60% of non-interest expenditure goes to the social wage.”
While the SRD grant will continue and increase to account for inflation, how sustainable this extension will be in the long term remains to be seen. The government’s commitment to supporting those most in need is commendable. Still, it must also find ways to stimulate the economy and create sustainable job opportunities to reduce the country’s reliance on social grants.
How Much Is SRD Grant Now?
The SRD grant is currently R350. An estimated 8 million South Africans receive the grant monthly. However, SASSA has often received more than ten thousand applications every month. The approval rate has been said to be more than appalling as it excludes millions of people who need the grant to be able to get by. According to PMBEJD, about 25% of South Africans live below the poverty line.
This means about 13.8 million South African citizens live on less than R663 a month. If you tally this income level with the current cost of living, you will realize the huge discrepancy in grants. The PMBEJD released its Household Affordability Index by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity in February. The research showed that the Household Food Basket amounts to R4,928.34. This is a far cry from what the average household makes. What is worrying is that the cost of living is still on an upward trend making it difficult for a large portion of the population to live a decent life in the country.
The high cost of living aside, SASSA eligibility requirements, verification checks, and other bureaucracies have left many South Africans who would otherwise have been beneficiaries of the SRD R350 grant to depend on family and friends to survive. Even people who used to receive the grant have been cut off from time to time, making the lives of many uncertain!
This is primarily because of the approval rate. In April 2024, an estimated 8.1 million South Africans received the grant, down from 15.8 million in March 2024. This is amidst higher application numbers. The current approval cap is pinned at 10.5 million people. This number was agreed upon after the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) took the Department of Social Development (DSD) to court.
These economic realities have encouraged many to advocate for an immediate increment in the grant, with many suggesting it be increased to R624. The SRD R350 grant was originally aimed at the destitute who are on the brink of starving with no one to support them in any form.
How Long Is The SASSA R350 Grant?
The SASSA R350 grant has been extended to March 2024. This means we have a year to the end of this extension, as it was announced that the grant was permanently temporary and will end. Unfortunately, the problem of millions of South Africans living below the poverty line with no clear path to contribute to the necessary economic growth continues without a solution in sight. This obstacle slows the recovery from the COVID-induced economic crisis.
