Payments delayed by means testing processes By Marecia Damons Payments for the new cycle of the Covid R350-a-month grant will be made from mid-June, according to deputy director-general of the Department of Social Development Brenda Sibeko. The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, introduced in May 2020, was due to come to an end in March 2022 but was extended in February this year to...

Social protection provides a lifeline but it’s not enough, say researchers By Marecia Damons The Black Sash has called on the government to set up a task team to work out how to increase the R350-a-month Covid Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant to the food poverty line of R624. Speaking at the launch of a research report on social protection, Black Sash national director...

Following a meeting with organisations last week, the presidency acknowledged the impact the grant has had in reducing poverty and hunger By Masego Mafata Civil society organisations met the President and relevant Ministers to plead for the R350 Covid Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant to be extended beyond the state of disaster. They want the president to set up a...

SASSA says only 8 million of the 13 million people who applied for the R350 grant were approved By Masego Mafata About 20 activists picketed outside the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) offices in Pretoria on Thursday, demanding fixes to flaws that they have identified in the R350 Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant application system. Many of the activists, affiliated...

Long queues, no toilets: the closure of the old paypoints leaves pensioners in the lurch By Madison Yauger Every month an elderly woman called Nanna (surname withheld) pays R70 to have a taxi drive her around the mountain from Genadendal to Caledon before standing in a queue for upwards of two hours to collect her South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) social...