Social justice groups have raised concerns about government’s plans to replace the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant with a new form of income support, believing that a shift from direct cash transfers could weaken one of the most important tools used to reduce poverty.
Kelle Howson, labour and social security researcher at the Institute for Economic Justice, said direct income support through SRD grant remains the most important intervention the government can make to reduce poverty, even as uncertainty continues over the programme’s long-term future.
She described the SRD grant as a more direct income support that remains the most important intervention the government can make to reduce poverty.
The SRD grant was first introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic as temporary support for unemployed adults.
She said such support addresses immediate hunger and exclusion while also giving people the stability needed to search for jobs or pursue small economic activities. “SRD recipients describe using the grant for transport to job interviews, to buy electricity, and to contribute to household food. It is not an extra income, it is often the only income, yet it is treated as temporary or marginal.”
This is in response to the government’s plans to shift away from direct cash transfers towards a livelihoods approach that links income support to employment or income-generating activities.
Songezo Zibi, Rise Mzansi leader, told Sunday World that the government wanted to repurpose the SRD grant and structure it in a way that would produce more economic activity for the same people that are getting it, especially the youth. “The thinking there was that part of the reason people are focused on removing foreigners is because they think their government has abandoned them. So, the government needs to make significant improvements in small family-owned businesses in general,” said Zibi.
However, Howson argued that linking cash support to employment outcomes could also create new administrative burdens. She said conditional programmes often require documentation and proof that vulnerable households may struggle to provide, which she believes could unintentionally exclude those in need.
Howson also raised concerns that the one-year extension of the grant creates uncertainty as it has not yet been made a permanent part of the social security system.
Unlike other social grants, she noted, the SRD payment has only been increased once over the five years since it was introduced. Howson argued that the grant would have been worth at least R460 a month if it had been adjusted in line with inflation from the start. Instead, she said its value has steadily eroded and now sits below half of South Africa’s food poverty line.
The Universal Basic Income Coalition, a civil society alliance, has also criticised the budget for lacking clarity on the conversion of the SRD into basic income while continuously making beneficiaries anxious about the future of the grant.
Anthony Mafume, a social justice marketing strategist, said it is alarming that the proposed basic income grant may be weakened by job-seeking conditions pushed by National Treasury. He said the department is overstepping the policymaking role of the Department of Social Development and that linking income support to job-search requirements is impractical.
“Earlier this year, the Department of Social Development told Parliament that the basic income policy would only be presented to Cabinet in March 2027. A single-year extension of the grant, therefore, does not ensure that coverage will continue until the new policy is introduced.
“South Africa’s unemployment crisis is structural; people are not unemployed because they are not searching hard enough; they are unemployed because there are not enough jobs. As the evidence clearly shows, conditionalities will only increase exclusions while doing nothing to improve labour market outcomes,” said Mafume.
The Department of Social Development is the lead department in this process, working closely with key partners such as the Department of Employment and Labour, the Presidency and the National Treasury.
“The extension of the Social Relief of Distress grant for another year until 31 March 2027 was specifically intended to provide the government with sufficient time to complete this policy work. The work is still underway, and as a result, the details sought cannot be provided at this stage. While no fixed timelines have been agreed on, the intention is to complete the policy refinement before the 2026 MTBPS to ensure alignment with fiscal planning and implementation of priorities,” the National Treasury said.
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