Grants under attack in South Africa: How to save social protection

This concept note describes a discussion series episode titled "Grants under attack in South Africa: How to save social protection," which examines the National Treasury's instructions to the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to reduce the number of social grant recipients to protect the fiscus.

• The National Treasury has directed the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to decrease the number of social grant recipients by implementing verification procedures, such as facial recognition and bank account checks, under the threat of withholding SASSA's operating budget. SASSA is required to provide quarterly reports to the Treasury detailing the number of cancelled grants and the resulting savings.
• Verification procedures previously used for the R370 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant resulted in the wrongful rejection of up to 90% of applicants, according to research by the Institute for Economic Justice. Although the High Court ruled several of these procedures unconstitutional and invalid, the government is extending them to Disability, Child Support, and Older Persons grants while the case is with the Supreme Court of Appeal.
• South Africa is facing worsening poverty and food insecurity: the expanded unemployment rate has reached 42.9%, and the proportion of children living in poverty rose from 55.6% in 2019 to 69.9% in 2022. Additionally, the percentage of children covered by the Child Support Grant fell from 69.1% in 2021 to 65.5% at the time of writing.
• Social protection advocates propose the implementation of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) for all working-age adults in South Africa to eliminate onerous means-testing and verification. Proponents suggest this could be funded through additional taxation on the wealthiest citizens to address historical inequality and stimulate the economy.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2025). Grants under attack in South Africa: How to save social protection. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Concept-note-IEJ-SMWX-grants-crisis.docx.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Grants under attack in South Africa: How to save social protection. 2025. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Concept-note-IEJ-SMWX-grants-crisis.docx.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Grants under attack in South Africa: How to save social protection |date=14 September 2025 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Concept-note-IEJ-SMWX-grants-crisis.docx.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjustice2025grants, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Grants under attack in South Africa: How to save social protection}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Concept-note-IEJ-SMWX-grants-crisis.docx.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }