LISTEN | ‘28-million people rely on social grants’: Ramaphosa boasts about ANC’s efforts to prevent poverty
‘30 years later we can be proud,’ says ruling party’s president
Image: REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
A total of28-million South African citizens, or 47% of the population, rely on social grants.
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa hailed the governing party’s efforts to “tackle poverty head on”.
Listen to Ramaphosa:
He was referring to the monthly R350 social relief of distress grant government introduced in 2020 which about 10-million people receive and other social grants such as old age pension and child support grants from which 18-million people benefit.
He said the party’s approach to tackling poverty has been two-pronged: “First through the social wage, which involves a range of social and economic interventions, including expanding access to quality basic services, and second through direct transfers to households in the form of social grants.”
This year South Africans will head to the polls to vote for national and provincial governments.
As part of campaigning, a week ago Ramaphosa threatened that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme ) and social grants were likely to disappear should the ruling party lose power. He was lambasted for using scare tactics as part of electioneering.
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