R350 grant proves government continues to protect women, says Lindiwe Zulu

The continued provision of the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant is proof government stands ready to protect its citizens, especially women, against social issues, says social development minister Lindiwe Zulu.

According to Zulu, the sixth administration continues to prioritise the provision of all categories of the social wage despite the global sharp economic growth slowdown.

She said the monthly basic payment shows government buffers citizens against economic, health, social, climate change and similar shocks.

“The responsiveness of our government to novel challenges is courageously and visibly forthcoming while its long-standing commitments to continually pay the nearly 19-million disability, foster care and child support grants to eligible South Africans is unfaltering,” she said.

“Nearly all the young people who receive grants on behalf of children are young women. It is imperative that they be meaningfully empowered to improve their dignity and remove most of the socially-constructed vulnerabilities that bedevil women.”

According to Zulu, government considers the dignity of each South African as indispensable, and for this reason all efforts are targeted at realising a dignified life.

“On account of the complex nature of social ills, the department of social development continues to support more than 20,000 non-profit organisations annually with more than R8.2bn. In return, these social partners become the extension of the state’s capacity and attend to varied social challenges in communities.”

Last week, the minister revealed that the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) received more than 13.5-million applications for the SRD grant as of the end of January, and more than 716,000 tertiary graduates applied.

Zulu said between 7.4-million and 7.8-million applications were approved every month.

“All our assessments and payments are up to date and running smoothly from one month to the next.

“As far as payments are concerned, about 95% of approved applicants were paid for the early months. This coverage dropped to about 90% in August 2022. We experienced a further drop to 85% in more recent months,” she said.

According to the department, most people applying for the SRD grant were youths between the ages of 18 and 35 years.

It said 921,154 applications were made by applicants with no schooling, 1,063,718 with primary school education, 5,296,937 with grade 10 and 5,476,511 with grade 12. A total of 716,200 tertiary graduates applied for the grant.