Pretoria- Social Development Minister, Ms Lindiwe Zulu has welcome the social grant increases announced yesterday by the Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.
Delivering the 2020/2021 Budget Speech in Parliament, Minister Mboweni announced that with effect from April, social grants will increase as follows:
- R80 increase for the Old Age, Disability and Care Dependency grants to R1, 860 per month
- R80 increase in the War Veterans Grant to R1, 880
- R40 increase for the Foster Care Grant to R1, 040 per month
- The Child Support Grant will increase by R20 to R445 per month
Currently, the Department of Social Development through its agency, the South African Social Security (SASSA) provides social grants to over 18 million eligible beneficiaries. Of this number, close to 12.5 million are Child Support Grant, followed by the Old Age Grant at 3.5 million, Disability Grant just over 1 million and the balance covering Care Dependency, Foster Care, Grant in Aid and the War Veterans Grant.
Speaking after the tabling of the Budget Speech, Minister Zulu said the increase in social grants is part of Government’s social protection measures to fight poverty, with focus on the vulnerable and poor households.
“This is about helping families, particularly vulnerable families to provide care and support to those who need it most- children, persons with disabilities and older persons. We applaud this progressive measure, which is an act of compassion on the part of our government, especially in these hard economic times occasioned by the high unemployment amongst women and young people,” said Minister Zulu.
“We also welcomed Minister Mboweni’s indication that part of the R1 billion which was generated through the social grants efficiency will be used to raise the daily subsidy for children in Early Childhood Development centres. This Budget builds on our Government’s commitments to combat intergenerational poverty by investing in ECD services and strengthening our child protection measures,” added Minister Zulu.
Enquiries:
Ms Sharlene Naiker
Cell: 082 673 5849
E-mail: SharleneN@dsd.gov.za
Ms Nomfundo Xulu-Lentsoane
Cell: 066 480 6845
E-mail: NomfundoLe@dsd.gov.za
