Treasury extends R350 social relief grant until March 2024

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced the extension of the social relief of distress grant to March 2024, during his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement address in Parliament on Wednesday.

But according to the minister, the extension meant other grant recipients would have to make do with less in the coming years.

Amid persistent calls for a basic income grant, Godongwana said the National Treasury still had not figured out how it would replace, or finance, a replacement for the temporary COVID-19 grant.

Currently, 7.4 million people receive the commonly referred to ‘R350 grant’.

Around R2 billion, allocated for this purpose, has been unspent due to the introduction of more stringent criteria.

However, Godongwana said making it permanent, would require trade-offs.

“I want to reiterate that any permanent extension or replacement will require permanent increases in revenue, reductions in spending elsewhere or a combination of the two.”

Godongwana said while this latest extension would not impact fiscal consolidation, further extensions would involve difficult financing decisions.

-EWN

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