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President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the further extension of the R350 Social Relief of Distress grant introduced during the Covid19 pandemic.
In his State of the Nation Address on Thursday evening, he said the SRD grant would be extended for another year, to the end of March 2023.
“During this time, we will engage in broad consultations and detailed technical work to identify the best options to replace this grant,” he said.
President Ramaphosa said any future support “must pass the test of affordability, and must not come at the expense of basic services or at the risk of unsustainable spending.”
He said it remains the government’s ambition to establish a minimum level of support for those in greatest need.
Meanwhile, President Ramaphosa said the government was also expanding public and social employment, saying the first two phases of the Presidential Employment Stimulus programmes, launched in October 2020, have supported over 850,000 opportunities.
