Cape Town - Initiatives including skills development are in the pipeline to assist R350 Covid-19 social relief of distress grant (SRD) recipients gain access to employment opportunities, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said.
Zulu revealed this when responding to parliamentary questions from EFF MP Laetitia Heloise Arries.
Arries asked about interventions Zulu’s department would take to accommodate the more than 500 000 people that would be excluded from the SRD grant due to budget constraints.
When Zulu tabled the department’s budget vote during a mini plenary of the National Assembly earlier this year, she said R44 billion was allocated for the grant while millions of people were applying.
“For the 2022/23 financial year, the South African Social Security Agency’s (Sassa) has been allocated a budget that can accommodate approximately 10.5 million Covid-19 SRD eligible applicants, which is slightly less than the previous iterations of the SRD grant. It is also important to note that the National Treasury has made additional budget allocation to various government departments to create the much-needed job opportunities,” Zulu said.
According to Zulu, Sassa was in the process of establishing a data sharing relationship with the departments of Public Works and Infrastructure, and Employment and Labour, with the goal of assisting recipients to gain access to employment opportunities.
“These initiatives are complemented by a sustainable livelihoods programme that empowers vulnerable individuals, with particular focus on youth and women who are disproportionately affected by unemployment. Through this programme, the department and its entities, working development agencies, provide skills development projects that have a potential to generate income and create employment opportunities” said Zulu.
Civil society organisation Black Sash said their advocacy was for permanent social assistance for those who earn little to no income in a country where unemployment was staggeringly high.
Its national advocacy manager, Hoodah Abrahams-Fayker, said while they would cautiously welcome an additional budget allocation, it would not immediately address the urgency of hunger and food insecurity.
“Transitioning the SRD grant to a Basic Income Grant is the solution to address the challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. The National Treasury must have political will to allocate a budget for a Basic Income Grant. We have seen additional constraints to the delivery of the grant system, so we urge those inhibitions to be addressed as well.
“The SRD Grant is not a handout or a burden, public perception needs to shift in this regard, the department can do much more to dispel this sentiment. The SRD grant is a constitutional imperative which has potential to aid economic growth,” said Abrahams-Fayker.
Cape Times