R350 grant: SACP wants Government to make it PERMANENT

The South African Communist Party (SACP) has made calls for Government to permanently maintain the R350 grant. The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant was part of the SACP’s discussions at it’s last ordinary session of its 14th national congress central committee.

SACP says R350 grant will benefit citizens in the long-run

The party believes the R350 grant should be gradually improved to become a universal, basic income grant. On Sunday, 3 April, the SACP’s general-secretary Dr Blade Nzimande stated that his party had concerns about Mzansi’s unemployment crisis.

This followed Stats SA’s data which revealed that South Africa’s unemployment rate went above the 35% threshold. The unemployment rate is the highest since Stats SA started its Quarterly Labour Force Survey back in 2008.

Nzimande shared that his party was concerned that the majority of those without jobs in SA are black women and the youth.

“The racial and gender dimensions of unemployment should be understood as drawing attention to the continuous reproduction of the legacy of apartheid in our economy post-1994. Therefore, we cannot overemphasise the importance of redress in employment creation programmes and interventions,” said Nzimande.

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The SACP noted that Government should not terminate the R350 grant but rather maintain it beyond March 2023. The party believes the money will help the more than 10 million South Africans who are unemployed and depending on it.

“Instead of terminating the SRD grant at the end of the first quarter of 2023, the government should maintain the grant and consider improving it gradually towards a universal basic income grant, as part of building a comprehensive social security system. This is what the continuing unemployment crisis calls for in the here and now.”

SACP on R350 grant

When did the SRD grant come into effect?

In April 2020, Government introduced the R350 grant. The monthly grant was supposed to be in for temporary relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant is given to citizens between the ages of 18 and 59 years old.

These individuals should not have any source of income support while those who faced undue financial hardships due to the pandemic were also offered the grant. The Citizen reports that Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana shared that the grant would cost R44 billion over the next 12 months.

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