Back to drawing board for 2026 revised SASSA SRD grant

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Parliament sent back the revised SASSA SRD grant to the Department of Social Development this week. It’s touted to become a Basic Income Grant for the unemployed in 2026. However, the working group wants to see urgent changes before it is approved.

As such, a draft policy for the revised SASSA SRD grant was initiated with the committee for Social Protection, Community and Human Development back in November 2024. However, the committee sent it back to the DSD on Wednesday this week, citing ‘affordability and economic opportunities for beneficiaries.’

REVISED SASSA SRD GRANT

The none-permanent COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant has been extended every year since 2020. Image: File

Before the new-look stipend is approved, it must survive various engagements. Like with the Office of the Presidency, National Treasury and Department of Employment and Labour. The South African Social Security Agency believes this will be concluded within a few months. From there a draft will be published for public comment.

Policymakers from the DSD were told to ‘better integrate pathways from income support to employment.’ Currently, the grant pays out R370 each month to roughly 9-million beneficiaries living below the poverty line. However, the committee wants to see it become better ‘aligned with broader economic objectives,’ like jobs …

BASIC INCOME GRANT TO OFFSET UNEMPLOYMENT

South Africa’s unemployment rate has only been increasing in the last decade, forcing many to exist in the informal sector. Image: File

Essentially, the 2026 Basic Income Grant will be for those without jobs, but not to the point of creating long-term dependency on the grant. Therefore, the DSD and SASSA have to improve their data systems and align government programmes to make it work efficiently. Government is concerned that if and when they make the grant permanent, it must be budgeted for every year to remain viable (unlike the current R370 SRD which isn’t permanent).

While the department sets to work ‘tightening’ the revised SASSA SRD grant, it has requested that the National Treasury extend SRD for two more years. However, the Treasury has only approved the continuation of the current SRD grant until March 2026.

DRAGGING ON

There’s simply not enough taxpayer money to ensure everyone who applies for a SASSA grant will be approved for one. Image: File

In response to yet another delay to the revised SASSA SRD grant, many MPs were scathing of the DSD’s work. The EFF’s Noluvuyo Tafeni noted the policy has been in development for over two decades and was still not ready. Likewise, the DA’s Alexandra Abrahams questioned whether the revised SASSA SRD grant policy would ever see the light of day. Finally, the MK’s Nhlanhla Gcwabaza argued that SASSA should work to help people exit the grant system, not make them dependent on it …