<\/p>\n
The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant will be extended for another year, according to Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana\u2019s mini-budget announcement on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The grant was due to end in March 2027.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the government will continue with its plan to integrate the grant with \u201clabour market activation, skills development and enterprise support\u201d. Beneficiaries will be linked to job, training and business opportunities through a new government data platform, MzansiXchange.<\/p>\n
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National Treasury grilled by judges on SRD grant
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This platform will allow the government to check grant recipients against other public records to help identify duplicate and fraudulent claims.<\/p>\n
In his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) to parliament on Wednesday, Godongwana made no mention of President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s announcement in this year\u2019s State of the Nation Address that the SRD grant would become permanent and be transformed into a \u201clivelihoods\u201d grant.<\/p>\n
Godongwana had told reporters in February that the \u201cfiner details\u201d of the SRD grant\u2019s future would be announced during the MTBPS.<\/p>\n
Instead, the MTBPS focused on verification measures and savings across the social grants system.<\/p>\n
The Treasury says enhanced biometric enrolment and beneficiary verification will lead to savings of R13.1 billion over the three years from 2027\/28 to 2029\/30. The same process is to be applied to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and housing subsidies next.<\/p>\n
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Minister promises shorter Sassa queues and R1.5bn in savings
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The number of social grant beneficiaries is expected to fall from 17.8 million in 2026\/27 to 17.1 million by 2029\/30.<\/p>\n
The Treasury expects this decline to save R6.2 billion, which will be redirected towards preventing violence against women and tackling child malnutrition and stunting. This includes R1.6 billion over the medium term to support pregnant women and young children through district health programmes.<\/p>\n
The social assistance budget has been reduced from R292.8 billion to R289.8 billion in 2026\/27.<\/p>\n
The allocation for the SRD grant has fallen from R36.9 billion in February\u2019s budget to R35.6 billion because of fewer beneficiaries than expected.<\/p>\n
Read: Biometric crackdown on grants to save R3bn as fraud cases axed<\/p>\n
In January 2025, the high court ruled that provisions relating to the grant\u2019s means-test threshold, value and income rules were invalid. The government appealed, and the Supreme Court of Appeal heard the case in August 2026. Judgment is still pending.<\/p>\n
If the high court ruling is upheld, between three million and 13 million more people could qualify for the grant.<\/p>\n
Treasury estimates that its annual cost could rise from about R36 billion to R74 billion.<\/p>\n
Godongwana also announced further cuts to the fuel levy, to bring some relief to consumers.<\/p>\n
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He announced extra spending on fighting crime, especially against women, with R3.8 billion set aside to hire more than 3 500 social workers specifically to strengthen prevention \u201cin response to rising murders and attacks on women\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Godongwana slashes fuel levies
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An additional R21.8 billion would be allocated to local government to cover the higher bulk costs of free basic water, sanitation, electricity and refuse removal.<\/p>\n
But Godongwana also reiterated plans to tie local government funding to delivery, and announced legal reforms to tighten up municipal and state spending.<\/p>\n
Protests<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, about 500 activists marched to parliament, calling on the minister to prioritise poor and working-class communities.<\/p>\n
The groups marched under the banners of Cry the Xcluded and the Women on Farms Project, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the National Education, Health and Allied Workers\u2019 Union (Nehawu).<\/p>\n
In a statement, Cosatu called on the minister to fill vacancies for doctors, nurses, police, teachers and other essential workers, to \u201cfix\u201d local government, to ramp up the fight against crime, to reduce the \u201csuffocatingly high\u201d price of fuel and to adjust the SRD grant to take inflation into account, among other things.<\/p>\n
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Farm worker Engela van Schalkwyk said she had worked on a farm in the Hex River Valley since she was 14, and earns the minimum wage of R30.23 an hour, which she said is not enough.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMost of the time you can\u2019t even buy enough food in the shops.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khayelitsha resident, 26-year-old Wonkuthalo Manyamalala, said she had been battling to find permanent work for six years. She said she barely survived on the R370-a-month SRD grant. \u201cWe want permanent jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish that the government will increase the Old Age Grant as we support our families with this money,\u201d said Delft pensioner Prince Msindo.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur kids are sitting at home and can\u2019t get jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Pretoria, a coalition of trade unions, community organisations and civil society groups staged a picket outside the National Treasury offices, calling for increased spending on healthcare, education and housing, the expansion of public employment programmes, and a universal basic income guarantee.<\/p>\n
Read: Basic income grant policy will take another year at least<\/p>\n
It also called for expanded access to free basic services, greater funding to tackle gender-based violence and crime and progressive tax reforms, including a wealth tax on high-net-worth individuals.<\/p>\n
In Pretoria, activists called for a Universal Basic Income Grant. Image: Ihsaan Haffejee\/GroundUp<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 GroundUp. This article was first published here.<\/p>\n
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