Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that government will extend the R350 Social Relief Distress to the end of next year March.
The president said in the period between now and March the government will engage in broad consultations and “detailed technical” work to identify the best options to replace the grant.
He said that since the onset of COVID-19, the Social Relief of Distress Grant has provided support to more than 10 million unemployed people, who were most vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic.
“Any future support must pass the test of affordability and must not come at the expense of basic services or at the risk of unsustainable spending. It remains our ambition to establish a minimum level of support for those in greatest need,” he said.
“As we work to grow the economy and create jobs, we will expand support to poor families to ensure that no person in this country has to endure the pain and indignity of hunger,” he added.
The country’s social protection system was among the greatest achievements of the democratic government, reaching more than 18 million people every month, Ramaphosa said, adding that more people would live in dire poverty with government support.
Sunday World reported last week that the ANC is pushing for the R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant to be extended by a further year, amid increasing levels of unemployment and poverty.
The ruling party acknowledged that the rate of unemployment has increased “dramatically” over the past two-and-a-half decades, with brief declines in the mid-1990s and early 2000s.
Poverty has increased from 20% in 2014 to 24% in 2020 according to the food poverty line. Growth in food prices has exceeded growth in income, with most South Africans becoming poorer over the last decade, according to a document presented at the party’s national executive committee Lekgotla a fortnight ago.
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