Lindiwe Zulu R350
Lindiwe Zulu R350
Lindiwe Zulu is now the Social development minister in South Africa. Zulu is known for her advocacy on issues such as gender equality, social justice, and poverty reduction. She has been a strong voice for the rights of marginalized communities in South Africa and has worked to improve the lives of the country’s most vulnerable citizens.
The Social development minister Lindiwe Zulu has asked the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) to investigate the significant decrease in the number of people receiving the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant.
In answering questions in parliament on Wednesday, Lindiwe Zulu said: “With the new regulations and alterations, the numbers went down and I have asked Sassa to do an analysis on the decreased month to month and year to year [of the] the number of applications and what the variables are.”
Zulu was responding to Good MP Brett Herron, who asked her about statements she had made in October that changes envisaged to the regulations governing the payment of the R350 SRD grant would allow more people to qualify.
Lindiwe Zulu On R350 Grant Numbers
And she said “We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of eligible applicants since the implementation of the amended regulations. Before the amended regulations came into effect, the number of approved applications was: in April we had 8.1-million and approved 4.7-million, in May there were 7.6-million applications and we approved 5.7-million, in June 11.3-million applied and we approved 6.8-million.” When the grant was first rolled out, there were an estimated 10 million beneficiaries she said.
Lindiwe Zulu said she was unhappy with the large number of applicants compared with the number of recipients. “The number of people that were able to go back to work is still very low, and so once that Sassa report is available it will enable us to make a proper analysis.”
Lindiwe Zulu On R350 Grant Budget
Budget constraints were also a factor, she said. “It’s also about the budget that we get from the National Treasury,” Zulu said the number of applications was still as high as it was in 2020 and the application system was still effective. “The issue is the means test and the regulations we needed. That is why we had to change the threshold, which was making it difficult for us.” She said she did not want a large number of people depending on the grant to be excluded.
“We need to check the data against the department of home affairs and other departments because we do not want people who are receiving other grants to collect the R350. We cannot afford to have all of these people lost in the system.”
Herron said the declining number of applications was worrying but welcomed finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s recent announcement to extend the SRD R350 grant to March 2024.
He said the government had a legal duty to assist those who do not have access to a basic income.
“Once we have given support to that large proportion of society, we cannot simply withdraw it because social security is a right, it’s not a gift … We believe that it’s common sense and a legal imperative that we implement a basic income grant which will meet the lower bound poverty line of approximately R890 per person per month.”
Lindiwe Zulu On R350 Extention
He asked Lindiwe Zulu whether the department intended to implement a permanent social security plan which will use the SRD as a foundation.
Lindiwe Zulu said: “As a department of social development and Sassa, we have already indicated that we were happy with the extension of the social grant because that was a concern for us. “We do think that the SRD, which we started with as R350, is the stepping stone towards the basic income grant. The question we need to ask is: how we are going to make it happen and where we are going to get the money from? “We have gone past the point of asking whether we need it or not.”
Sassa Contact Details
- Toll-free: 0800 60 10 11 or CPS 0800 60 01 60
- Email: GrantEnquiries@sassa.gov.za
- WhatsApp: 082 046 8553
All active SRD R350 grant applications or reapplications made since April 2022 will automatically be considered for each month until March 2023. Existing applicants can update their responses to the screening questionnaire here, at any time, should their circumstances change or to correct errors. Visit the official website of Sassa For More Details.
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