Latest news on SASSA R350 SRD Today 6th April 2022

The South African Communist Party is calling for the government to consider making the R350 grant permanent. The party has expressed concern about high unemployment in South Africa.

Speaking during an interview Economist, Duma Gqubule says that, although this should not serve as a permanent solution to unemployment. It would do a lot to curb the country’s unprecedented levels of poverty.

In South Africa today we’ve got unemployment of 46.6%. I don’t use the official definition and the expanded definition that Stats SA talks about is 46.6%. Unemployment for African people is 51% and for African females 5.7%

He also went on to point out that the country has high levels of poverty adding that half the population lives in households that are in the upper poverty line of R1300 a month, and about a third of them live in households that are below the lower poverty line of R890 a month.

Gqubule further states that the country would not be in its current precarious position if the economy had been managed properly, as there are little to no job prospects in the country’s current economic policies.

Meanwhile, the country’s biggest trade union, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has gone on to intensify its call for the special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant of R350 a month to be made permanent.

During a television interview The Union’s spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla, welcomed the country’s recent exit from the National State of Disaster.

He further stated that they are pleased that the SRD grant has been extended but it should be adjusted to R670 to meet the criteria of the country’s current poverty levels and should be used as the foundation for the introduction of the Basic Income Grant.

South Africa has so far spent R45 billion on the R350 social relief of distress grant since the start of Covid-19.