Increases in the different state social grants are expected to take effect over two periods this year, April and October.
This excludes the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant of R350, which was introduced in 2020 during the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, announced this during the national budget speech for 2024, delivered in Cape Town on Wednesday, 21 February, and stated that the adjustments were in line with inflation and the ever-rising costs of living in South Africa. The biggest influencing factors on the high costs of living include the ongoing fuel hikes, interest rates, and the country’s prolonged load shedding.
According to Godongwana, approximately 19 million South Africans are depending on state welfare grants to make ends meet.
Early in 2023, Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that 29 million people in South Africa received monthly state grants. Of this number, he said 11 million were relying on the R350 grant.
The increases in the different state social grants to be implemented during this year are as follows, taking into account an increase of R100 in the old age, war veterans, disability, and care dependency grants (This amount will be divided into R90, effective from April, and R10 effective October.):
- Old age grants will rise from R2 090 to R2 180 in April, and to R2 190 from October, after a R10 adjustment.
- The child foster care grant will be increased by R50, while the child support grant will increase by R20.
- The disability grant will increase from R2 090 to R2 180, while the care dependency grant will increase from R2 180 to R2 190.
- War veterans’ grant will be adjusted to R2 200 in April and then R2 210 in October.
In the expanded Budget 2024 review, the National Treasury explained that social grant expenditure would increase from R217,1 billion in 2023-’24 to R259,3 billion in 2026-’27.
The SRD grant of R350 was not increased – this despite repeated calls for an increase.
The state introduced this grant of R350 a month as a temporary measure to help those individuals who were severely impacted by Covid-19’s hardships. The government extended the grant until March 2025 with a budget of R34 billion to continue supporting individuals who rely on it for their basic needs.
A large number of young people nationally depend on the R350 in the face of the ever-rising unemployment rate. The official unemployment rate has risen to 32,1% in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to Statistics South Africa’s (StatsSA) quarterly labour force survey. Free State youths make up the largest number nationally (roughly 60% of people) who are dependent on the SRD grant and also unemployed, in comparison to the other eight provinces in the country.
As confirmed by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), the number of young people who are reliant on the grant in the Free State, stands at 533 625. Of the beneficiaries approved for the R350 in the province, about 18 096 reportedly have tertiary qualifications.
