Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan increased child support and welfare grants in the 2016 budget, tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.
“The old age, disability and care dependency grants will rise by R80 to R1,500 in April 2016, and by a further R10 to R1,510 in October,” Gordan told MPs as he delivered his first budget after returning to the finance portfolio in December.
The child support grant will increase by R20 to R350 in April and the foster care grant by R30 to R890.
The increases will therefore come into effect in the run-up to this year’s municipal elections, in which the ruling ANC faces fresh competition in the form of the populist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
Gordhan said government’s overall expenditure on social assistance would increase from R129 billion this year to R165 billion in 2018/19.
– African News Agency (ANA)
