Media Statement Civil Society Meets President On Extension of R350 SRD Grant and Pathways to BIG

A civil society collective met with South African leadership on 18 January 2022 to advocate for the permanent extension of the R350 Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant and the transition to a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG). The group highlighted that the SRD grant supports approximately 10.3 million people and has reduced poverty and malnutrition, particularly among women. Key recommendations include increasing the grant to at least the Food Poverty Line of R624, integrating the grant into the Social Assistance legal framework to avoid its termination alongside the State of Disaster, and establishing a Multi-Stakeholder Task Team and a Presidential Expert Panel to manage the transition to a BIG.

• The R350 Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant currently supports approximately 10.3 million people, and about 36 million people have benefited either directly or indirectly from the SRD and Caregivers' grants.
• The SRD grant has had measurable positive impacts: it prevented poverty from being 5% higher among the poorest households, increased the likelihood of job searches by 25 percentage points, and helped some women escape abusive relationships and reduce malnutrition.
• Civil society recommends immediately extending the SRD grant, expanding eligibility, and increasing the payment amount to at least the Food Poverty Line, which is currently R624.
• Because the SRD grant relies on regulatory powers from the State of Disaster, which may be cancelled, it must be adopted into the Social Assistance legal framework until February 2023 or until a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) is phased in.
• The implementation of a Basic Income Grant is estimated to have a multiplier effect between 0.8% and 2.52%, which would stimulate economic growth and recovery.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2022). Media Statement Civil Society Meets President On Extension of R350 SRD Grant and Pathways to BIG. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Joint-Media-Statement_-Civil-Society-Meets-President-On-Extension-of-R350-SRD-Grant-and-Pathways-to-BIG.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Media Statement Civil Society Meets President On Extension of R350 SRD Grant and Pathways to BIG. 2022. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Joint-Media-Statement_-Civil-Society-Meets-President-On-Extension-of-R350-SRD-Grant-and-Pathways-to-BIG.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Media Statement Civil Society Meets President On Extension of R350 SRD Grant and Pathways to BIG |date=24 January 2022 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Joint-Media-Statement_-Civil-Society-Meets-President-On-Extension-of-R350-SRD-Grant-and-Pathways-to-BIG.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2022media, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Media Statement Civil Society Meets President On Extension of R350 SRD Grant and Pathways to BIG}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2022}, month = jan, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Joint-Media-Statement_-Civil-Society-Meets-President-On-Extension-of-R350-SRD-Grant-and-Pathways-to-BIG.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }