The Universal Basic Income Coalition (Ubic) is calling on the Minister of Social Development to reject the R20 increase to the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, saying it’s an insult and should be increased by R90 at a minimum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addressing the National Assembly on Wednesday (13 March), Godongwana said that the minister of Social Development would soon be publishing a \u201ccomprehensive social security programme\u201d for public comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This plan would include regulation changes, among which will be changes to the \u201cnew grant\u201d \u2013 referring to the R350 SRD grant \u2013 and how much it will increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am pleased to say that, subject to the finalisation of the comprehensive social security plan, we will increase the R350 to R370 by 1 April this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika<\/a>, Ubic coordinator Bukelwa Hans said this increase is a meagre improvement and an insulting pittance given the cost of living and increases in inflation since 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “This grant was implemented in May 2020, and there has been no inflationary increase to the grant since then. To only increase this by R20 is an insult, and we cannot accept it,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hans added that, when considering inflation, the increase should be around the R90 mark at minimum<\/strong> (a 26% increase) \u2013 “so we’re not happy”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) agreed that an R20 increase is odd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is the first increase since the introduction of the grant in 2020 and does not make up for the full loss of purchasing power amid rising inflation, but the timing of the announcement can conceivably be linked to the upcoming election,\u201d the BER said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bureau added that economists estimate that the R20 rise will cost the fiscus about R2.2 billion extra in 2024\/25 than anticipated in February, which is concerning given South Africa’s precarious financial standing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked whether the government can afford the R90 increase – and how it would fund the proposed increase – Hans said the government can afford it and has various mechanisms to find the money, without elaborating further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n