Social grants
A dud Budget Speech: Black Sash not pleased with low increase on social grants
The organisation has criticised the low increase in social grants.
While South African Airways (SAA) will this year get R4.3 billion and Eskom more than R31 billion, this was money that was allocated in previous budgets and cannot be classified as new bailouts.
The Finance Minister announced minor increases to social grants when he delivered his Budget Speech.
Tito Mboweni delivered his Budget speech in Parliament on Wednesday.
The fiscal cliff study group first warned of the danger several years ago. It defines the fiscal cliff as the point that is reached when public servants’ wages, social grant payments and debt-service costs soak up all government revenue.
The social relief of distress grant was implemented last year for unemployed citizens who were not receiving any other forms of social relief. It expired on Sunday.
Saftu's Zwelinzima Vavi said the R350 grant cushioned the blow for many people who were destitute.
The struggling state-owned entity said it experienced a dramatic reduction in revenue during the lockdown period and is currently looking at ways to improve cash flows.
The social impacts of the coronavirus will leave a legacy long after the virus itself.
Government’s new unemployment grant of R350 has prompted officials to look more vigorously at payment options like vouchers and other electronic methods.
Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu announced on 11 May 2020 that more qualified social workers would be employed to assist in the fight against Covid-19. Zulu also explained the directives for people living with disabilities as well as amended regulations for the movement of children between parents and guardians.
Government - through interventions such as UIF benefits and small increases in welfare grants - has tried to cushion the blow for many people faced with financial burdens.
For the past two days, the elderly and the disabled have been able to collect their grants first.
Things got off to a shaky start on Monday in some parts of the country with hundreds of pensioners returning home empty-handed following a shortage of funds and payment glitches at several pay points.
Senior citizens queuing for their monthly social grants at a South African Post Office in Vosloorus have called for government intervention to cut down the waiting time for payments on collection day. Some of the elderly waited for more than five hours to collect their grants.
Economic distress was the norm for many before the coronavirus outbreak. The pandemic is an opportunity to provide an economically secure future for all.
The Home Affairs Department said that it expected a high demand for birth certificates as cash-strapped families look to take advantage of government’s social relief.
Organisations across Cape Town are working hard delivering food parcels to people struggling to survive during the lockdown but there's only so much they could do.
Some civil society organisations have highlighted how the COVID-19 relief scheme excludes the 3 million workers who are employed in the informal economy.