By Theodorah waga Mawasha
POLOKWANE-The Social Relief of Distress grant of R350 will be increased to R624 while the child Support grant will receive a top up of R720 a child a month, said Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu.
“We increased the means teast threshold from R350 to R624 that is in line with the estimated food poverty line for 2022. We may have to consider a further adjustment to the threshold to enable more applicants to qualify for the benefit”, Zulu said.
According to Statistics South Africa, 3.5 million adults live in adverse poverty lines thus, the number of people who are in need of monthly grants from government.
The adjustment to the criteria of who qualifies for the grant comes after millions of people have been denied the grant. The adjustment will consequently allow for more people to be eligible.
“Having noted the public outcry regarding the qualifying criteria that was introduced during the third iteration of this benefit.
As of October 2022, nearly 7.5 million have received the social relief of distress grant monthly, but the department envisages supporting 10.5 million applicants who qualify for the grant”, she concluded.
