While delivering the 2022 Budget Speech in Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana stated that the Social Development Department will receive the largest allocation of R58.6 billion over the medium term.
As of April, old age and disability grants will increase by 5% from R1 890 to R1 985. Within the same period, grants for persons over the age of 75 and war veterans will also see a 5% increase from R1 910 to R2 005.
Care dependency will also increase from R1 890 to R1 985 as a result of the 5% increase. The foster care grant will experience the smallest increase, moving from R1 050 to R1 070, with a 1.9% increase.
Care dependency will increase by 5% from R1 890 to R1 985. Child support will increase by 4.3% from R460 to R480.
Godongwana also stated that over the MTEF period, R1 trillion will be provided to the social grants function to facilitate access to social grants and welfare services in order to eliminate poverty and inequality, safeguard children, empower women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
He added that the three new allocations made to social grants include the following:
- R44 billion in 2022/23 to continue the special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant (R350 per beneficiary) for another 12 months.
- A total of R1.6 billion in the two outer years to initiate a new extended child support grant for double orphans, in order to encourage the care of orphans within families rather than foster care.
- A total of R13.1 billion in the outer years to offset budget reductions made in the 2021 Budget and provide for inflationary increases to permanent grants.
During its 2022 Budge Review, The National Treasury Department had also stated that it expects the total number of grant recipients to increase by an average annual rate of 1.5%, from 18.4 million in 2021/22 to 19.2 million in 2024/25.
