It looks like SASSA SRD grants here to stay, as government comes to terms with spending cuts ahead of the mid-term budget announcement. Picture: File/Fotor.
Good News: SASSA SRD grants are here to stay, claims insider
It looks like SASSA SRD grants here to stay, as government comes to terms with spending cuts ahead of the mid-term budget announcement.
It looks like SASSA SRD grants here to stay, as government comes to terms with spending cuts ahead of the mid-term budget announcement. Picture: File/Fotor.
Despite mounting pressure from the National Treasury, SASSA SRD grants are here to stay, reports Daily Investor. In this ever-developing story of government’s financial woes, an anonymous source within parliament cited by Bloomberg, said SASSA SRD grants are here to stay.
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The fate of the social grant scheme and others like it is to be announced on 1 November 2023. This is the date for Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). However, the insider says government spending will be diluted in other spheres to protect the popular social program.
SASSA SRD GRANTS HERE TO STAY
The National Treasury’s plans to slash the SASSA SRD monthly grant was allegedly rejected by ministers this week in a cabinet meeting, claims the insider. This is good news for more than 8.5-million South Africans who rely on SASSA SRD grants as their only source of income.
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But detractors of the social relief program (established during the COVID-19 pandemic) say it serves no other purpose than to drain government coffers. Every month the government spends more than R22 billion on social grants, which equates to 17% of the country’s tax revenue.
ON-GOING SOCIAL ILLS
Sadly, South Africa is in R2-billion-per-day debt to the National Treasury due load-shedding and a dysfunctional and corrupt government. One-third of the population is unemployed, and they rely on SASSA SRD grants to survive.
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Cabinet has reiterated that, “Any measures to address this year’s budget shortfall must not impact negatively on social service delivery.” Which sounds like a firm undertaking that SASSA SRD grants are here to stay.
WAGE DEAL IN JEOPARDY
However, the money to fund its R22-billion-a-month social program has to come from somewhere. And the Bloomberg insider believes the funds will be raised by reneging on a recent public-sector wage deal.
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Daily Investor says a pay agreement struck back in March 2023 gave workers an average 7% increase for the next year, at a cost of R37.4 billion. Should government back out of the deal, labour unions have vowed to go on strike.
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What do you think of this rock and a hard place SA finds itself in? Are you happy to see SASSA SRD grants here to stay if labour does not get its agreed-upon wage increase?
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