In today’s latest SASSA News – SASSA Increases Grants for beneficiaries. On October 1, 2023, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) formally increased the value of grants. More than 18 million grant recipients, who depend on grants to survive each month, will be relieved to hear this.
The majority of the grants that Sassa gives will increase. However, this month’s increases to the R350 grant and the Child Support Grant Top-Up are not planned.
Which Sassa Grants Will Be Raised?
The amount of all Sassa permanent grants, including those for older people, disabilities, child support, foster children, war veterans, and care dependency, will rise by R10.
As a result, the value of the War Veterans Grant will increase to R2110, while the Old Age Grant, Care Dependency Grant, and Disability Grant will all increase to R2090.
The Foster Child Grant will also be raised to R1130, while the Grant-in-Aid and Child Support Grant will remain at R510.
These Sassa grant increases were officially declared by the Finance Minister at the Budget Speech in February. Government spending on grants will increase from R233 billion to R248.4 billion as a result of an increase in grant recipients and an increase in grant values.
There will be no rise in the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, also known as the R350 grant, in October 2023.
The Department of Social Development claims that “fiscal constraints” are to blame for the lack of an increase. Due to these financial restrictions, the department’s request for an increase to the National Treasury was not favorably reviewed.
The department’s deputy director general, Brenda Sibeko, and social development minister Lindiwe Zulu have both stated that they favor increasing the SRD award. However, no official confirmation of a grant increase has been made, therefore it is still only worth R350 per month as of right now.
