By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says that work is underway to develop ‘targetted basic income support’ in South Africa – separate from the temporary Social Relief Distress (SRD) grant, which will be extended.
Speaking during his State of the Nation Address on Thursday (9 February), the president noted that 60% of the national budget is spent on social wages, which includes providing free services to indigent households and setting up social grants to support millions of South Africans.
He said that the government is working to counter the rising cost of living in the country and will continue with the SRD grant as well as increase existing grants to cushion the poor from rising inflation.
Further details on the grants will be detailed in the 2023 Budget, set to be delivered by finance minister Enoch Godongwana on 22 February.
National Treasury is also considering the feasibility of urgent measures to counter the effects of load shedding, he said.
On top of these measures, however, Ramaphosa said that the government is working on a basic income grant.
“Work is underway to develop a mechanism for targeted basic income support for the most vulnerable while within our fiscal constraints.
“This will build on the innovation we introduced with the SRD grant, including linking the data we have across government to ensure we reach all those who are in need,” he said.
Economists and analysts have for a long time taken the baseline that South Africa would get a basic income grant, and have so far been treating the SRD grant as a permanent fixture in the budget.
R350 SRD Grant
In a bid to mitigate the rising cost of living, Ramaphosa further announced that government will continue with the R350 SRD Grant which was extended to March 2024.
The R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD) currently reaches around 7.8 million people across the country.
Government introduced the SRD Grant in May 2020 as a temporary measure to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable, who were affected by COVID-19 induced lockdown measures.
The President noted that the rising cost of living is deepening poverty and inequality, with millions of South Africans unable to provide for themselves and their families.
“It is the job of the state to provide a minimum level of protection below which no South African will fall. Right now in our country, there are more than 25 million people who receive some form of income support.
“We will ensure that existing social grants are increased to cushion the poor against rising inflation. This will be set out in the budget by the Minister of Finance,” the President said.
In addition, the President highlighted that around two million indigent households receive free basic water, free basic electricity and free solid waste removal.
He noted that around 60% of government’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.