Court ruling on SRD grant has put significant pressure on the budget, says Steenhuisen

CAPE TOWN - As Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday attempts to balance what is arguably his most complicated budget yet, he has the added headache of finding more money to increase the number of beneficiaries of the social relief of distress grant by more than double.

In January, the North Gauteng High Court ruled that government had unfairly excluded millions of eligible recipients for the R370 grant first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initially only for six months when it was introduced in May 2020, it's been extended several times and in last year's budget, Godongwana increased what became known as the R350 grant by R25.

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Lobby groups and some political parties have for some time been pushing for this grant to be evolved into a basic income grant, which the Treasury has repeatedly said is unaffordable.

The court ruling now forces Godongwana's hand with the threat of hiking taxes to pay for it.

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said that these two factors arguably make this Godongwana's most difficult budget yet.

"We haven't been helped as well by the recent court judgment on the SRD grant. It's put significant pressure on the budget. I've never seen anything quite like it - budgeting through litigation, and it’s put us in a very, very tight spot as a result of that."

Steenhuisen said that his party would continue to push for structural reforms rather than burdens on citizens to spur on the growth needed to generate more revenue for the state.

"We’ve got to do the bold, brave things like concessioning the Cape Town port, like concessioning rail. We musn’t just talk about it, let’s do it, because it's these things that will become the catalytic growth opportunities for the country."