Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu emphasised the significant impact of social assistance programmes, including the provision of social grants, on education and economic participation in South Africa. The Minister was speaking at the State of the Nation Address (SONA) Debate on Wednesday.
In his recent SONA speech, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the extension and improvement of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. He highlighted its crucial role in assisting the unemployed who faced challenges in seeking employment during the pandemic and related lockdowns.
Additionally, the President praised the positive impacts of the country's social grant system, administered by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), which include increasing school enrollments, attendance, and pass rates, as well as reducing dropout rates.
Minister Zulu further underscored the performance of social grant beneficiaries in the 2023 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams. Out of the 897,775 Grade 12 learners who participated, 543,786 were full-time learners benefiting from social grants and 62 out of the top 110 performers were social grant beneficiaries.
202,156 social grant learners received a Bachelor's pass, which gained them access to further their studies at institutions of higher learning through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
The Minister also criticised members of opposition parties for overlooking the government's commitment to supporting vulnerable citizens
Members of the opposition want to conveniently forget about all that because of selective memory. This is a fact, and facts do not lie.
Minister Zulu pointed to the implementation of the SRD grant as an example of the government's dedication to mitigating the pandemic's impact on lives and livelihoods.
Currently, more than 8 million unemployed adults receive income support, totalling a budget of R266 billion this year. Approximately R22 billion is injected directly into the economy monthly, targeting those most in need.
This injection stimulates key sectors of the economy, resulting in what economists refer to as the multiplier effect. The positive outcomes of this investment are evident in numerous local reports and international studies.
Minister Zulu emphasised the effectiveness of social assistance programmes in poverty alleviation and redistribution, highlighting that the social assistance programme stands as one of the most enduring and significant poverty alleviation and redistribution interventions by the current administration.
