The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) pays SRD grants to approximately 8 million people monthly. These payments were set to come to an end in March 2025 until Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced an extension period of 12 months.
Acting Minister for the Department of Social Development, Majodina proposed the deletion of Regulation 2, sub-regulation (3)(b) which set an income threshold for the SRD grant. Under the current regulations individuals must have income of less than R624 per month to qualify for the grant.
The removal of this provision may indicate a shift in eligibility criteria and potentially expand access to more applicants. However, further clarification from the Department of Social Development is expected.
Amendments to Regulation 5 provide for the SRD grant payments value to remain at R370 per month for the next 12 months.
However, amendments clarify that payments will be limited to the allocated budget for the 2025/2026 financial year under the Department of Social Development. Only applications submitted between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2026 and approved by the Sassa will qualify for payments.
Regulation 6C has also been amended to reflect new dates which will enable Sassa to use assessment data from March 2025 to continue processing applications until 31 May 2025. This will ensure that deserving beneficiaries receive SRD grant payments for the next few months.
Several regulations related to the SRD grant eligibility criteria were declared unconstitutional by the Gauteng High Court earlier this year. Judge ML Twala said the DSD and Sassa had ignored the significant hardships caused by their administrative failures regarding the SRD grant.
The Department of Social Development and Sassa seem to be oblivious to the human suffering and indignity caused by regulations that create barriers for eligible SRD grant applicants and by the inefficient administration and payment of the SRD grant to successful applicants,
Members of the public are invited to comment on these proposed regulations until Monday, 14 April 2025.
