R350 social relief distress grant increases by R20

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the government always intended to raise the R350 social relief of distress grant this year despite the hike not being announced last month when the finance minister tabled the budget.

Instead, Enoch Godongwana informed parliament of the R20 hike as from the first of April, on Wednesday as he wrapped up debate on the fiscal framework.

On Thursday, Ntshavheni said the delay in the announcement has been to allow Treasury more time to crunch the numbers.

“So where will the money come from? For the minister of finance to announce on Wednesday means they have an allocation, and that’s why they said they will delay the allocation until they’ve done their reassessment of the budget allocations and provide for it,” said Ntshavheni.

Treasury has allocated R33.6 billion rand in this financial year to cater for the grant that was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similar allocations have also been made for the subsequent two years.

For now, however, the grant is in effect until March 2025.

-EWN

In other news – WATCH: Babes Wodumo involved in a fight with a costume designer after no pay

A clip of popular Mzansi singer, and dancer Babes Wodumo has gone viral after she was seen confronting a costume designer as seen in a post shared by MaphephaNdaba on Wednesday, 13 March.

According to the gossip blog, a costume designer who owns SK’Dee Designs shared that on 28 February this year, Babes Wodumo’s dancers, Smiso Zulu and Sanele Smallz hired a few costumes from her store as they were booked to perform at the IFP Manifesto in Hammersdale. Read More