Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s unexpected announcement of a R20 increase to the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant effective from April 1st has prompted scrutiny from economists due to its questionable timing.
The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant – popularly known as the R350 grant – is expected to be raised to R370 from April this year.
This was announced by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
“I am pleased to say that we have found consensus that in between, subject to the finalisation of the comprehensive social security [programme], we’ll increase the R350 to R370 by the 1st of April this year. That is part of the progressive realisation of the basic rights of our people,” he said.
The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) said this is the first increase since the introduction of the grant in 2020 and does not make up for the full loss of purchasing power amid rising inflation.
“The timing of the announcement can conceivably be linked to the upcoming election (especially given that the Budget Review was not so long ago, and it could have been announced then),” said BER.
“The rise will cost the fiscus about R2.2 billion extra in 2024/25 than anticipated in February”
