“SOCIAL grants will disappear if the corrupt ANC is re-elected.”
This was said by Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen on Tuesday, 9 January.
He said the ANC corruption threatened the continued payment of social grants to millions of vulnerable South Africans.
“Yesterday (Monday), the party’s cowardly President Cyril Ramaphosa told a lie with his claim that social grants were likely to disappear when the ANC loses the fast-approaching 2024 election.
“The truth is the exact opposite of Ramaphosa’s claim, which reeks of growing desperation as the ANC realises that it has as little as five months left in government,” said Steenhuisen.
He said the single greatest threat to the sustainability of the country’s social grants system is Ramaphosa’s ANC.
ALSO READ: Delays anger grieving family!
He said for nearly three decades, they've looted and stolen the public resources required to continue funding social grants.
The party leader said as the money runs out, the ANC has already been forced to cut the budget for critical services such as education and healthcare.
“In fact, due to incessant ANC looting, Ramaphosa’s government is already dismantling social grants. The child support grant, which accounts for 71% of all expenditure on grants, has dramatically declined in real terms over the past decade.
“Year-after-year, the ANC has increased this grant by as little as 2% per year, while inflation has averaged 5,2% over the past ten years,” he said.
Steenhusien said the ANC has thus been systematically cutting the child support grant by up to three percentage points per year for at least a decade.
He said the only way to protect social grants from disappearing into the morass of ANC corruption is for Mzansi to elect a new government anchored by the DA.
“Social grants are not immune to ANC corruption. Their looting has already destroyed the electricity system, increased unemployment, collapsed basic services and hollowed-out institutions like the police," Steenhusien.
