Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant recipients are calling for the R370 monthly payment to nearly double, saying it no longer covers even basic food.
Reacting on The South African’s Facebook page, Akwande Mawande Napogadi set out a clear figure.
“Increase R370 to R700 for 50 years old young grandpa,and grandma,” Napogadi wrote.
Napogadi added: “370 is too small I can’t even buy 50kg of meals.”
R370 stretched thin
The SRD grant pays R370 a month to unemployed South Africans between 18 and 59 who receive no other grant or income support.
Spread across a month, R370 works out to roughly R12 a day. That amount must cover food, transport and other daily needs for many recipients.
Napogadi’s point about 50kg of maize meal goes to the heart of the problem. For many households, a large bag of maize meal is the foundation of the monthly grocery budget, and recipients say R370 alone cannot cover it.
Grandparents in the gap
Napogadi’s comment highlights a group that often falls through the cracks: grandparents in their 50s.
Many South Africans in this age group are already raising grandchildren, yet they are too young for the Older Persons Grant, which only starts at age 60.
That grant pays R2 400 a month after old age, disability and care dependency grants rose by R80 earlier this year. SRD recipients in their 50s receive less than a sixth of that amount.
By calling them “young grandpa” and “grandma,” Napogadi points to people who carry family responsibilities but must survive on the smallest grant SASSA pays.
What R700 would mean
Napogadi’s proposed R700 would increase the grant by R330, an 89% rise.
At R700, recipients would receive about R23 a day, still well below the Older Persons Grant, but closer to covering basic monthly groceries.
The demand reflects a growing frustration among SRD recipients, many of whom rely on the grant as their only regular income while searching for work.
For now, the grant remains at R370, and recipients like Napogadi say every month on that amount is a struggle.
Win R2 000 in the South African SASSA grant survey
If you receive a SASSA grant and want to share your story, we want to hear from you.
Take part in our survey and stand a chance to win R2 000. Your responses help us tell the stories that matter.