THE government has offered an increase of R20 on the Social Relief Grant (SRD) as of 1 April 2024.
The R350 grant will now increase to R370.
This sparked mixed reactions from unions.
Some saw it as a positive increase, while others deemed it a disappointment and a mockery.
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) said it is disappointed that the repeated commitments made by the president and other government leaders that the SRD will be used as the basis to introduce a Basic Income Grant (BIG) were empty promises.
The union said government had chosen fiscal consolidation by increasing the SRD grant by a mere R20 instead of keeping its promise to people with low incomes.
“This means the SRD is adjusted to a paltry and tokenish R370. It's a mockery to the recipients of the SRD grants, who are the overwhelming poor,” said Saftu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi.
He said Saftu and its working-class allies have been campaigning for the universal Basic Income Grant at R1 500 a month, and this R20 comes nowhere near this demand.
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“Just as the R350 grant is not enough to provide relief to persons with no income, the R370 will still not meet the daily necessities of the 8,7 million youth Not in Employment Education and Training (NEET).
“It will neither relieve the 11,6 million unemployed South Africans. The food poverty line, according to Statistics South Africa, has grown to R760, while the average cost of a nutritional food basket for an individual who is 18 years old is R1075,” Vavi said.
Meanwhile, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) welcomed the increase.
Cosatu acting national spokesman Matthew Parks said that they hoped such adjustments would have been made earlier and consistently with each Budget cycle.
“We nonetheless appreciate this increase by the government, in particular, due to the impact the rising cost of living has upon working-class communities.
"The SRD Grant, with all of its challenges, has been an invaluable poverty alleviation intervention by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration and enabled millions of recipients to put food on the table,” Parks said.
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