The government’s failure to pay the R350 a month social relief of distress (SRD) grant during April and May — one of the most shocking things it has ever done — shows that the National Treasury only cares about ratings agencies and not the desperate poverty in which millions of South Africans live.
About half of SA’s population lives in poverty, and more than one in five have inadequate access to food. In 2021 the National Income Dynamics Study Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey said 1.8-million people and 400,000 children lived in households that were affected by perpetual hunger, which was defined as hunger every day or almost every day. Women were more likely than men to shield their children from hunger by going without themselves.
In his 2022 state of the nation address President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government would extend the SRD grant for 12 months. In the 2022 budget finance minister Enoch Godongwana allocated R44bn for the extension of the grant to 10.5-million beneficiaries — an arbitrary ceiling on the budget and the number of beneficiaries that was not based on any objective measure of poverty.
In a presentation to parliament social development minister Lindiwe Zulu said survey data showed that 18.3-million people live below the food poverty line of R624 a month and 13.4-million have no income at all. But the department only had a budget for 10.5-million people. It had to implement additional restrictions to remain within budget, she said.
Under the previous system about 15-million people applied for the grant but 4-million were rejected. “About 80% of the rejections were due to faulty government databases,” says Neil Coleman, a senior policy specialist at the Institute for Economic Justice.
In April the government introduced new regulations and a new system to verify applicants using bank statements rather than government databases. But using bank statements would result in millions more people qualifying for the grant and the government busting the monthly budget ceiling. Deliberate financial and bureaucratic measures were therefore taken to suppress the number of applicants.
The qualifying income threshold was reduced to R350 from R595 a month. But Godongwana dragged his heels and failed to secure the necessary agreements with banks, according to a statement by five civil society organisations. There was no warning, explanation or apology from the government about its failure to pay the grants. “About R8bn has been withheld from people who are confronting hunger and desperation,” the five organisations said.
During a press conference on June 10 Ramaphosa said: “I have now been given a report that they are going to start paying next week. This coming week, the payments will be done. And they will be backdated.” The president did not apologise. But the government has failed the people again. Payments for June started this week. April back payments will be made in July. May back payments will be made in August.
There have been 10.9-million applications, but more than 2-million people have excluded themselves due to their responses. Payments will be made to 8-million to 9-million people. Within the next month the government is expected to increase the income threshold to the food poverty line.
Government officials say that this will allow payments to settle at about 10.5-million people since survey data overstates the extent of poverty. Within the current framework, they say the income threshold should be increased next year to the upper-bound poverty line of R1,335 a month. This will require a far larger budget of R64bn-R74bn to pay the meagre R350 to more people.
There is no way out of this self-inflicted crisis except for the government to abolish complex means tests and introduce a basic income grant at the food poverty line at the end of March 2023.
• Gqubule is research associate at the Social Policy Initiative.
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