The Special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant was first introduced at the beginning of the hard lockdown in South Africa in 2020 and as time has passed, there have been calls to increase the amount which beneficiaries receive.
Senior government officials told the City Press that while they were certain the R350 grant would be extended beyond March 2022, there was a debate whether the grant could be increased from R350 to R460 as well.
At present, 9,5 million people receive the R350 grant every month. If the grant is increased to R460, then the annual cost to the government would be R52,4 billion.
Recently, the Department of Social Development launched a report written by a panel of experts about the appropriateness and feasibility of implementing a basic income grant for adults aged between 18 and 59.
The report recommended that the SRD grant be institutionalised and eventually form a template for an expanded system of basic income support, which could be improved gradually over time.
At the virtual report launch, the Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu said that the R350 grant should continue at this amount into the 2022/23 financial year and that the amount should be increased annually to an entry-level equivalent to the food poverty line at R595.
Wits School of Governance economist and social security expert, Alex van den Heever, agreed with the Minister that the grant should increase to R595 and added that it should eventually be increased again.
Van den Heever also believes that the number of grant recipients should be increased from the current 9,5 million to 13,4 million initially and then eventually to a maximum of around 18,3 million.
"That will be determined by affordability," said van den Heever.
City Press reported that if the grant was set at an amount of R595 per month then the government would need R56,2 billion a year for 13,4 million people and R78,8 billion for R18,3 million people.
