Finance Minister extends Sassa’s R370 Covid-19 SRD grant
The Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, announced that the Covid-19 social relief of distress (SRD) grant would be further extended to March 2027. The minister announced this while delivering the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBS) in Parliament in Cape Town.
Image credit: Sassa
The minister extended the grant to March 2026 in May’s budget speech.
The R370 grant was first introduced at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when most South Africans were unemployed. While the country’s unemployment rate dropped, many South Africans are still struggling to find permanent employment.
“The Covid-19 social relief of distress grant will be extended for another year, to March 2027, while proposals are finalised to link the working-age population to skills development and employment programmes,” said Godongwana.
Godongwana detailed that the government is assessing specific options to align the grant with employment opportunities. This process includes evaluating a job-seeker allowance and reviewing other measures within Active Labour Market Programmes.
More than R800bn has been allocated to the Department of Social Development over the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) period.
"Our commitment to support low-income and vulnerable households through education, health, and social protection remains,” said the minister.
Data from Statistics South Africa indicates that more than 40% of South African households depend on social grants as their primary source of income.
“The lion’s share of consolidated non-interest spending, approximately 61% over the next three years, continues to fund the basket of government-provided services and benefits that reduce the cost of living for our citizens," said Godongwana.
Last week, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) encouraged new SRD applicants to use accurate cell phone numbers and banking details, which are crucial particulars for the application process.