ANC top brass want a hike in Covid-19 grant
The ANC’s top brass want to raise the Covid-19 social relief of distress (SRD) grant in line with inflation or to R480 a month to match the child support grant, as part of a laundry list of possible steps to cushion poor people from the soaring cost of living.
But any increase or extension of the grant will need approval from the National Treasury, which has said that a permanent extension or replacement will require permanent increases in revenue, reductions in spending or a combination of the two.
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said in his closing address to the party’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Sunday that he remained “committed to expand social security to protect the vulnerable and reduce poverty.
“This meeting reaffirmed that we will continue resolutely to implement a programme to tackle the triple faultlines of poverty, unemployment and inequality,” he said.
This was the final meeting of the ANC’s highest decisionmaking body before the elective
conference in December at which Ramaphosa is seeking re-election as party president.
Other suggestions to cushion consumers from the soaring cost of living include reviewing the fuel pricing regime with a view to reducing its negative effect on consumers; establishing a permanent national disaster fund; and lifting the age limit for participation in the Expanded Public Works Programme to 65.
“The estimated costs of extending the grant range from R44bn to R85bn, depending on the preferred scenario,” says a discussion document presented to the NEC. “The SRD grant should be adjusted to account for the erosion of its value [by] inflation since its introduction, as well as to equalise with the food poverty line.”
Rising consumer inflation, which eased to 7.5% in September from July’s peak of 7.8%, has eroded the value of the SRD grant. Increasing the grant to R480 is in line with the previous recommendations of the department of social development.
The existing R350-a-month SRD grant, which is set to be extended to March 2024 at a cost of R44bn, was introduced in May 2020 to assist SA’s most vulnerable working-age people who lost their jobs or could not earn a living due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
It has been extended twice as the lingering economic effect of the pandemic continues, along with other external shocks such as the 2021 riots and the April 2022 floods. “It is essential for the ANC-led government to ensure the continuation of income support beyond the 2022/2023 timeline,” says the NEC document.
The SRD grant is provided to people with a monthly income below R624, SA’s estimated food poverty line for 2022.
The government also distributes monthly welfare grants to about 18.6-million beneficiaries, supporting children, orphans, the elderly, veterans and people with disabilities from poor households.
The ANC discussion document says the SRD grant should pave the way for a permanent social security grant or basic income grant (BIG) for adults aged 18 to 59 who do not earn incomes. This was one of the resolutions of the ANC policy conference in July. “The BIG should be implemented within the context of the new macroeconomic policy framework, which has a 6% GDP growth target,” the ANC says. “During the implementation period, the government must also put in place measures to lock in the higher GDP growth rate until 2030 and beyond through a second stimulus package.”