• During the government budget speech for 2024, the Finance Minister announced that a few social security grants would see increases.
• These include grants for elders, war veterans, the disables, and child support, among others.
• There will be no increases for the COVID-19 SRD grant, but government will continue to disburse this grant until at least 2027.

On Wednesday evening, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered the government’s budget for 2024 in Cape Town, and among the announcements made was a series of increases to South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grants.

The minister said that the increases do not apply to the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant which was spun up during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that government grant expenditure in general would increase from R217.1 billion in 2023 and 2024 to R259.3 billion in 2026 and 2027.

South Africa currently has around 18.8 million grant recipients, excluding SRD recipients, according to National Treasury projections. This figure is expected to reach nearly 20 million in 2026 to 2027.

“We are sensitive to the increase in the cost of living for the nearly 19 million South Africans who rely on these grants to make ends meet. In this regard, we have done as much as the fiscal envelope allows,” explained Godongwana.

According to the minister, these are the following SASSA social grants that will receive increases:

• The old age, war veterans, disability and care dependency grants will receive an increase of R100 (increasing by R90 from April 2024, and then increasing an extra R10 from October 2024),
• The foster care grant will increase by R50,
• The child support grant will increase by R20.

As for the COVID-19 SRD grant, government has allocated R33.6 billion in the 2024 to 2025 period, with provisional allocations until 2027. This means that the grant will continue to be distributed by SASSA at least until 2027.

Government is looking to adjust and improve the SRD grant by April of this year. “These improvements will be within the current fiscal framework. For the extension of the grant beyond March 2025, the social security policy reforms, together with the funding source, will be finalised,” said Godongwana.

Additionally, the minister revealed that government has allocated R1.4 billion towards the controversial National Health Insurance (NHI) project. He said that before the NHI could be rolled out, essentially taxpayer-funded medical aid scheme issued for free, some improvements had to be made in the public health sector.

These include the establishment of a digital national health information system, upgrading public health facilities around the country, the granting of semi-autonomous status for central hospitals and the development of reference prices and provider payment methods for hospitals.

“Many of these activities are already underway but require further development before the NHI can be rolled out at scale,” said Godongwana.