The Covid-19 social relief of distress grant will be raised by R20, or 5.7%, to R370 from April 1, finance minister Enoch Godongwana announced in the National Assembly on Wednesday evening.
About 9-million people receive the grant, which the ANC uses as a strong point in its favour in its electioneering in the run-up to the May 29 general elections.
No announcement of an increase was made in the budget that Godongwana presented to parliament at the end of February. An amount of R33.6bn was allocated for the 2024/25 financial year for the grant and a provisional allocation of R35bn for 2025/26 and R36.8bn for 2026/27 pending a decision on the continuation and funding of the grant beyond March 2025.
The 2024/25 allocation for the grant was a decrease from the R36bn allocated in 2023/24,
Concluding a debate on the fiscal framework, Godongwana said social development minister Lindiwe Zulu would publish a comprehensive social security programme for comment, which would define a better future for the social security net in SA. She would also publish regulations announcing the increase in the grant.
“I am pleased to say we have found consensus that subject to the finalisation of the comprehensive social security, we will increase the R350 to R370 by April 1 this year,” Godongwana said. “That is part of the progressive realisation of the basic rights of our people.”
Godongwana said President Cyril Ramaphosa had announced in his state of the nation address that the social relief of distress grant would continue and be increased.
The increase is unlikely to satisfy civil society organisations, which have called for the social relief of distress grant to be increased to the food poverty line of R760 a month pending the introduction of a universal basic income grant.
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