Organisations call for extension and R585 Covid-19 SRD grant increase

A total of 180 organisations along with 86 civil society organisations and numerous individuals have asked government for an increase of the Covid-19 SRD grant to R585 as almost seven million beneficiaries are set to suffer.

The organisations handed over an open letter through the #PayTheGrants campaign to the Presidency, National Treasury, Ministry of Social Development and Sassa.

As part of the campaign, several organisations on Thursday picketed outside the Department of Social Development (DSD) and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) head office in the Pretoria CBD.

Currently the Covid-19 social relief of distress (SRD) grant offers applicable recipients R350 and is set to end at the end of April 2021.

The following organisations support this call: the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Albert Luthuli Human Rights Advice Centre, Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC), Amandla.mobi, People’s Health Movement South Africa, Black Sash, Children in Distress (CINDI) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).

Black Sash spokesperson Ntsoaki Moreroa said, “Terminating the Covid-19 SRD grant would be a betrayal of the constitutional obligation to provide social assistance to those who are unable to provide for themselves”.

She said at the heart of their call was the constitutional obligation by the state to reduce poverty and inequality.

Moreroa said a failure to do so would increase suffering and further violate the human dignity of the most vulnerable.

“The reason for its existence has remained unchanged as the Covid-19 pandemic continues.”

Moreroa said the government had just extended the Covid-19 loan guarantee scheme to businesses.

“Support for households through income transfers is equally important and has been proven to benefit the poorest.

“A termination date for the Covid-19 SRD grant looms on 30 April 2021 and terminating this grant will be premature and reckless.”

She said South Africans still needed the grant due to the high unemployment levels, growing food insecurity and child hunger experienced in the nation.

“Since the pandemic is far from over and mass vaccinations have not yet begun, its termination will have long-term negative effects well beyond the pandemic.

“There is still no indication how long it will take to achieve population immunity and more waves of infections are expected, which is likely to be followed by tighter lockdown restrictions.”

She said that an NIDS-CRAM wave 3 study found that in October 2020, only 37% of the Covid-19 SRD grant recipients were women.

It further indicated that the proportion of households running out of money to buy food rose to a shocking 41%, while the number of households where a child had gone hungry, at least once in a week, rose to 16%. This follows the termination of the Caregiver Grant in October 2020.

“Over 11 million people are unemployed. It is impossible to create enough jobs in the foreseeable future for all those unemployed and therefore the prospect of full employment, as an alternative to social protection, is a myth.”

Moreroa said the socio-economic impacts of the crisis on mental health should no longer be underestimated.

“There are now about 23 suicides in South Africa a day. A number of these cases are linked to unemployment and the harrowing conditions facing many communities across the country.”

In the letter the organisations demand:

– an extension of the Covid-19 SRD grant until government provides permanent social assistance for those between 18 and 59 years;

– an increase of the Covid-19 SRD grant to at least the Food Poverty Line, currently R585;

– an expansion of the eligibility criteria and addressing administrative inefficiencies including the appeals process and the use of outdated verification databases, among others.

Moreroa said they had requested an urgent meeting to discuss the imminent termination of the grant four times already, however, “we still have not heard back from government”.

The DSD, through its agency Sassa has paid out R21-billion to approximately six million beneficiaries so far.

The DSD and Sassa department have since accepted the letter with demands and said they would respond soon.

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