Social relief distress grant beneficiaries queue at the post office to collect their R350. Picture: Soraya Crowie/African News Agency (ANA) Archives
Tarryn-Leigh Solomons
Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant, which was implemented since the onset of Covid-19, will be extended for another year.
While delivering his State of the Nation Address at the City Hall in Cape Town, the president mentioned that a fiscal crisis would hurt the poor worst of all through the deterioration of the basic services on which they rely.
The president shared the story of a man who had used his grant fund to improve his livelihood: "Mr Lindokuhle Msomi, an unemployed TV producer from KwaMashu Hostel, saved the R350 grant he received for nine months to start a fast food stall and to support his family."
More than 10 million unemployed people have benefited from the social grant since the start of the pandemic.
"Mindful of the proven benefits of the grant, we will extend the R350 SRD Grant for one further year, to the end of March 2023. During this time, we will engage in broad consultations and technical work to identify the best options to replace this grant.
"Any future support must pass the test of affordability, and must not come at the expense of basic services or at the risk of unsustainable spending," the president said.
He added that it remains government's ambition to establish a minimum level of support for those in greatest need.
tarryn-Leigh.solomons@inl.co.za
Political Bureau
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