STATEMENT: Vulnerable people will lose their grants so National Treasury can meet its R3 billion “savings” projection

The Universal Basic Income Coalition (UBIC) condemns the 2026 Budget for failing to increase the SRD grant and for maintaining the Child Support Grant (CSG) at levels well below the food poverty line. The coalition warns that the National Treasury's goal to save R3 billion through the Targeted and Responsible Savings (TARS) programme relies on flawed fraud assumptions and risks excluding millions of vulnerable people due to SASSA's capacity constraints.

• The Child Support Grant (CSG), set at R580, is significantly below basic nutritional requirements, sitting 32% below the food poverty line (FPL) of R855 and 38% below the cost of a nutritious food basket for a child.
• The Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant remains at R370 per month with no increase in the 2026 budget. It is funded only for the current financial year, and the Department of Social Development (DSD) indicated that the basic income policy would not be presented to Cabinet until March 2027.
• The National Treasury's Targeted and Responsible Savings (TARS) programme projects R2 billion in savings in the current financial year and R1 billion in 2027/28 through improved income verification. The UBIC disputes these figures, noting that SASSA reported savings of R500 million from 70,000 suspended and lapsed grants, which is far below the R2 billion projection.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2026). STATEMENT: Vulnerable people will lose their grants so National Treasury can meet its R3 billion “savings” projection. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/STATEMENT_-Vulnerable-people-will-lose-their-grants-so-National-Treasury-can-meet-its-R3-billion-savings-projection.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. STATEMENT: Vulnerable people will lose their grants so National Treasury can meet its R3 billion “savings” projection. 2026. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/STATEMENT_-Vulnerable-people-will-lose-their-grants-so-National-Treasury-can-meet-its-R3-billion-savings-projection.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=STATEMENT: Vulnerable people will lose their grants so National Treasury can meet its R3 billion “savings” projection |date=3 March 2026 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/STATEMENT_-Vulnerable-people-will-lose-their-grants-so-National-Treasury-can-meet-its-R3-billion-savings-projection.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2026statement, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{STATEMENT: Vulnerable people will lose their grants so National Treasury can meet its R3 billion “savings” projection}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2026}, month = mar, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/STATEMENT_-Vulnerable-people-will-lose-their-grants-so-National-Treasury-can-meet-its-R3-billion-savings-projection.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }