How many South Africans now rely on social grants: 1996 vs 2020
Social Development minister Lindiwe Zulu has published new data showing the number of South Africans rely on grants given by the government.
Responding in a recent parliamentary Q&A, Zulu provided data on the numbers of grant recipients per year as at 31 March of each year from 1996/97. Zulu’s data further expressed this number as a percentage of the population based on estimates.
The minister said that data from 1994 is not available, as this had not yet been consolidated into a single database, but was managed provincially.
| Financial year | Daily stats as of 31 March | Population estimates (% share) |
|---|---|---|
| 1996/97 | 3 018 909 | 41 226 700 (7%) |
| 1997/98 | 2 832 156 | 42 130 500 (7%) |
| 1998/99 | 2 923 718 | 43 054 306 (7%) |
| 1999/00 | 3 034 381 | 43 685 699 (7%) |
| 2000/01 | 3 864 463 | 44 560 644 (9%) |
| 2001/02 | 4 033 384 | 45 454 211 (9%) |
| 2002/03 | 4 969 666 | 46 429 823 (11%) |
| 2003/04 | 6 494 115 | 46 586 607 (14%) |
| 2004/05 | 9 421 654 | 46 888 200 (20%) |
| 2005/06 | 10 974 076 | 47 390 900 (23%) |
| 2006/07 | 12 015 059 | 47 850 700 (25%) |
| 2007/08 | 12 423 739 | 48 687 000 (26%) |
| 2008/09 | 13 072 173 | 49 320 500 (27%) |
| 2009/10 | 14 057 365 | 49 991 300 (28%) |
| 2010/11 | 14 935 832 | 50 586 757 (30%) |
| 2011/12 | 15 407 194 | 50 586 757 (30%) |
| 2012/13 | 16 106 110 | 52 982 000 (30%) |
| 2013/14 | 15 932 473 | 54 002 000 (30%) |
| 2014/15 | 16 642 643 | 54 956 900 (30%) |
| 2015/16 | 16 991 634 | 55 908 900 (30%) |
| 2016/17 | 17 200 525 | 56 521 900 (30%) |
| 2017/18 | 17 509 995 | 57 725 600 (30%) |
| 2018/19 | 17 811 745 | 58 775 022 (30%) |
| 2019/20 | 18 290 592 | 59 622 350 (31%) |
The increasing reliance on grants can be partially attributed to the change of power in 1994 and the fact that many South Africans would not necessarily have been given access to grants under the apartheid government.
However, the opposition Democratic Alliance has been critical of the figures, noting that nearly a third of South Africans now rely on grants according to the data.
“For many households grant payments have replaced salaries as their source of income. While the DA supports the payment of grants, the creation of jobs is of the utmost importance. South Africans need jobs, not just for financial stability but also for the dignity it provides, and the government has utterly failed to stimulate job growth,” it said.
While a natural inclination would be to blame the Covid-19 pandemic, the DA said that the first sharp increase to 20% of the population receiving grants happened in the 2004/05 financial year and has been steadily rising ever since, with 30% of South Africans having to rely on grants since 2010/11.
“The data clearly indicates that the ANC government and its policies have had an active hand in impoverishing South Africans long before global economic implosions, State Capture or the Covid-19 pandemic made their marks in the history books,” it said.
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