State of the Nation: Ramaphosa extends R350 grant
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced an array of new plans which he believes will enable socio-economic growth during the State of the Nation Address on Thursday.
This included the extension of the R350 social relief grant.
“Mindful of the proven benefits of the grant, we will extend the R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant for one further year, to the end of March 2023,” he told MPs at the Cape Town City Hall.
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“Since the onset of Covid-19, the R350 SRD Grant has provided support to more than 10 million unemployed people who were most vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic,” said Ramaphosa.
However, Ramaphosa conceded that a further extension beyond March 2023 could be challenging as government faces "fiscal constraints".
“As much as it has had a substantial impact, we must recognise that we face extreme fiscal constraints.
“A fiscal crisis would hurt the poor worst of all through the deterioration of the basic services on which they rely.”
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Ramaphosa warned 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.
“During this time, we will engage in broad consultations and detailed technical work to identify the best options to replace this grant.
“It remains our ambition to establish a minimum level of support for those in greatest need.”
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