SASSA gold cards

If you have access to one of South Africa’s social grants, one of the ways to get your money paid to you is through the official SASSA card
Image: Adobe stock

‘To cushion the poor’: Social grants set to INCREASE, R350 SRD to CONTINUE

President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that social grants will increase in order to cushion the poor against rising inflation.

SASSA gold cards

If you have access to one of South Africa’s social grants, one of the ways to get your money paid to you is through the official SASSA card
Image: Adobe stock

President Cyril Ramaphosa says social grants will increase in order to cushion the poor against rising inflation.

The President said this on Thursday night, 9 February as he delivered the State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Cape Town City Hall.

SOCIAL GRANTS SET TO INCREASE

The President revealed that around 60 percent of the country’s budget is spent on what is known as the social wage, providing
various forms of support, basic services and assistance to households and individuals to
combat poverty and hunger.

You need to be a South African citizen, permanent resident, or refugee in order to qualify for any of the social grants by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).

ALSO READ: SONA 2023: Ramaphosa CONFIRMS Basic Income Grant for SA

Currently these are the social grants South Africans benefit from:

Child Support Grant – R480
Care Dependency Grant – R1,990
Foster Child Grant – R1,070
Disability Grant – R1,990
Grant in Aid – R480
Older Person’s Grant – R1,990 and 75 years the grant R2,010
War Veterans Grant – R2,010
Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant – R350

social grants increase
Sassa social grants are targeted at categories of people who are vulnerable to poverty and in need of state support. Image: Mary-Anne Gontsana

UNIVERSAL BIG FOR SA?

During his address, Ramaphosa revealed that work is underway to develop a mechanism for targeted basic income support for the most
vulnerable aside from the Social Relief of Distress (SRD). Does this mean poor South Africans will finally have a Basic Income Grant?

“Work is underway to develop a mechanism for targeted basic income support for the most vulnerable, within our fiscal constraints. This will build on the innovation we have introduced through the SRD Grant, including linking  the data that we have across the government to make sure we reach all those who are in need,” he said.

Furthermore, Ramaphosa said to counter the rising cost of living, the Social Relief of Distress Grant, which is currently set at R350 and reportedly reaches around 7.8 million people, will continue.

ALSO READ:  Basic Income Grant for SA ‘will be worth over three times more’ than R350 grant