Budget 2023/2024 and the SRD grant

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) warns that the 2023/2024 Budget may roll back the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, contradicting the President's commitment to a permanent basic income floor. The IEJ highlights systemic exclusions caused by restrictive regulations and underfunding by National Treasury, calling for the grant to be increased to the Food Poverty Line.

• The President has committed to making the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant permanent, intending for it to serve as an "income floor below which no one must fall" and the foundation for a system of basic income.
• National Treasury is accused of undermining the SRD grant through underfunding and the imposition of restrictive regulations. While 10.9 million people received the grant in March 2022, approved applications fell to 7.5 million by January 2023, with over 6 million applications denied in that month alone.
• Draft amendments to the grant's regulations freeze the value at R350, violating the President's commitment to inflation adjustments. The IEJ notes the grant's real value will have dropped by 20% by 2024 since it has not been increased since 2020.
• The IEJ identifies several barriers to grant access, including a low means-test threshold of R624 and an intrusive online application process. These factors, combined with bank account checks that exclude those receiving small amounts of family help or once-off payments, have led to a significant drop in approvals.
• There is a significant gap between approved applications and actual payments; SASSA reported that approximately 1.3 million people per month who were approved did not receive payments over a three-month period.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2023). Budget 2023/2024 and the SRD grant. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/iej_statement_budget2023-and-SRD_20-february-2023.docx.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Budget 2023/2024 and the SRD grant. 2023. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/iej_statement_budget2023-and-SRD_20-february-2023.docx.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Budget 2023/2024 and the SRD grant |date=20 February 2023 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/iej_statement_budget2023-and-SRD_20-february-2023.docx.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2023budget, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Budget 2023/2024 and the SRD grant}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/iej_statement_budget2023-and-SRD_20-february-2023.docx.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }