Stopping of grant slammed

A DEMONSTRATION was held at Delft Mall and nearby Blikkiesdorp yesterday, as part of a nationwide protest against the termination of government’s Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRDG) and to drum up support for a basic income grant (BIG).

#PayTheGrants, supported by human rights organisation the Black Sash, the Institute for Economic Justice, the C19 People's Coalition, among others, demanded the indefinite continuation of the R350 SRDG. Around 180 organisations have endorsed the movement, including the SA Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union and union federations Cosatu and Saftu.

#PayTheGrants said the discontinuation of the SRDG would increase child malnutrition, food insecurity and poverty, and have far-reaching effects on gender-based violence and mental health distress.

“Freedom Day is a day that honours the first democratic elections of South Africa in 1994, but without economic freedom, the people of South Africa are not truly free. Many call this day Un Freedom Day, because the vast majority … still live without basic dignity or food security. What freedom do they enjoy?,” said #PayTheGrants spokesperson Julia Eccles.

“To add insult to injury, the government is about to take away the one form of income assistance that almost seven million people have been relying on since Covid-19 ravaged the country, namely the Covid-19 SRDG.”

Today, the Black Sash and #PayTheGrants are expected to hold a joint press conference concerning the termination of the SRDG on April 30. Faithbased groups, trade unions, and civic groups are expected to participate.