Draft amendments to the Social Relief of Distress grant regulations

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) and #PayTheGrants (#PTG) submitted a response to the draft amendments of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant regulations on 7 March 2024. The submission argues that the proposed regulations fail to meet government commitments to improve the grant, risk increasing exclusion errors, and introduce punitive measures that unfairly penalize vulnerable beneficiaries.

• The SRD grant is characterized by a high rate of exclusion errors, estimated at approximately 50% of eligible persons, which the authors attribute to systemic barriers in application, approval, and appeal resulting from inadequate budget allocation.
• The draft regulations propose maintaining the SRD grant value at R350 per month, which the IEJ describes as unlawful, irrational, and discriminatory. The IEJ notes that the real value of the grant has decreased by approximately 16% since 2020 due to inflation.
• The IEJ proposes a two-phase increase for the SRD grant: Phase I (April 2024) would increase the grant to R530 to equalise it with the Child Support Grant (CSG) and compensate for inflation; Phase II (2024/5) would benchmark the grant to the Food Poverty Line (FPL), which is currently R760.
• The submission opposes the proposed amendment to end the grant in March 2025, arguing that one-year increments create uncertainty. They recommend extending the grant to the end of the 2025/26 financial year, consistent with the Department of Social Development's (DSD) stated policy.
• The authors strongly object to the insertion of Regulation 6A, which allows for the recovery of monies from beneficiaries deemed to have benefited irregularly. They argue that flawed verification procedures—including inaccurate database and bank verification—could lead to the unfair recovery of funds from deserving beneficiaries.
• The submission criticizes proposed clauses that would cancel applications if an applicant is untraceable after 90 days or hold the applicant solely responsible for incorrect mobile numbers. The IEJ argues these clauses shift blame for systemic administrative failures and digital exclusion onto the poor, noting that a 2018 study found only 45% of people with incomes below R1583 owned a smartphone.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2024). Draft amendments to the Social Relief of Distress grant regulations. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IEJ-PTG_SRD-submission-March-2024.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Draft amendments to the Social Relief of Distress grant regulations. 2024. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IEJ-PTG_SRD-submission-March-2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Draft amendments to the Social Relief of Distress grant regulations |date=7 March 2024 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IEJ-PTG_SRD-submission-March-2024.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2024draft, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Draft amendments to the Social Relief of Distress grant regulations}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2024}, month = mar, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IEJ-PTG_SRD-submission-March-2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }