R350 social relief distress grant increases by R20

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said government always intended to raise the R350 social relief of distress grant this year despite the hike not being announced last month when the finance minister tabled the budget.

Instead, Enoch Godongwana informed parliament of the R20 hike as from the first of April, on Wednesday as he wrapped up debate on the fiscal framework.

On Thursday, Ntshavheni said the delay in the announcement has been to allow Treasury more time to crunch the numbers.

"So where will the money come from? For the minister of finance to announce on Wednesday means they have an allocation, and that’s why they said they will delay the allocation until they’ve done their reassessment of the budget allocations and provide for it," said Ntshavheni.

Treasury has allocated R33.6 billion rand in this financial year to cater for the grant that was introduced during the covid-19 pandemic.

Similar allocations have also been made for the subsequent two years.

For now however, the grant is in effect until March 2025.