Joint Statement: Amendments to SRD Regulations do not respond to the plight of people living in poverty

The Universal Basic Income Coalition criticizes the South African government for extending the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant to March 2024 without increasing the payment amount or removing restrictive eligibility criteria. The Coalition highlights a massive rate of exclusion, noting that while 13.5 million people applied by January 2023, only 7.48 million were approved. They advocate for increasing the grant from R350 to at least the Food Poverty Line of R663 and eventually to the Upper Bound Poverty Line of R1417, while calling for the removal of barriers such as English-only online platforms and flawed verification databases.

• The only change made in the latest amendments to the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant Regulations was the extension of the payment expiry date from March 2023 to March 2024, leaving the grant amount, means test, and application mechanisms unchanged.
• There is a significant gap between the number of applicants and approved beneficiaries; as of January 2023, only 7.48 million people were approved despite over 13.5 million applications, representing a decrease of 3.5 million approved beneficiaries compared to March 2022.
• The Universal Basic Income Coalition identifies several exclusionary barriers to accessing the grant, including an English-only online platform, a low-income threshold of R624 that is no longer aligned with poverty measures, invasive questionnaires, flawed government databases, and problematic bank verification processes.
• The Coalition proposes increasing the monthly grant from R350 to at least the monthly Food Poverty Line of R663 (2022 Rands), with a long-term goal of reaching the Upper Bound Poverty Line of R1417 for adults aged 18 to 59.
• Despite National Treasury claiming the grant is unaffordable, the government reported a R94 billion revenue overrun in the recent Budget, suggesting that the Treasury is prioritizing debt reduction over the hunger crisis.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2023). Joint Statement: Amendments to SRD Regulations do not respond to the plight of people living in poverty. https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/joint-statement-amendments-to-srd-regulations-do-not-respond-to-the-plight-of-people-living-in-poverty/

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Joint Statement: Amendments to SRD Regulations do not respond to the plight of people living in poverty. 2023. https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/joint-statement-amendments-to-srd-regulations-do-not-respond-to-the-plight-of-people-living-in-poverty/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Joint Statement: Amendments to SRD Regulations do not respond to the plight of people living in poverty |date=4 April 2023 |url=https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/joint-statement-amendments-to-srd-regulations-do-not-respond-to-the-plight-of-people-living-in-poverty/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2023joint, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Joint Statement: Amendments to SRD Regulations do not respond to the plight of people living in poverty}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/joint-statement-amendments-to-srd-regulations-do-not-respond-to-the-plight-of-people-living-in-poverty/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }