SASSA R350 Grant News Today 22nd February 2023
In todays latest SASSA News – President Cyril Ramaphosa said earlier this month that the R350 grant would be maintained by the government. The cost to maintain the grant program has been detailed by the Minister of Finance.
For the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) award, often known as the R350 grant, the government has allocated R33 billion until 31 March 2024, as revealed by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwna.
The official outlined the plan, saying, “R66 billion is dedicated to Social Development over the medium term, with R36 billion to cover the extension of the Covid-19 social relief of distress grant through 31 March 2024.”
Government officials have said they want to keep paying the SRD grant for the foreseeable future, but they are also looking into other social security possibilities for those who get the payment.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) would be given R400 million in 2023/24 to manage it, Godongwana said. The government is still debating potential replacements for or additions to the current grant in order to ensure that people of working age have adequate social protection.
Almost 13.5 million people submitted SRD grant applications to Sassa in January. Seven point four million to seven point eight million clients had their monthly payments approved.
It was also disclosed by the minister that, throughout the course of the year, less money was spent on the SRD grant than had previously been thought. They claimed this was mostly attributable to stricter grant eligibility requirements.
A person must be between the ages of 18 and 59, unemployed, have a monthly income of less than R624, and not be receiving any other form of government support in order to be eligible for the SRD award. The National Student Financial Aid System (NSfas) and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) are two examples of the government programs that contribute to these funds (UIF).
