The Minister of Finance is going to court to try to prevent people in poverty from getting access to the lifesaving Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant.
The Institute for Economic Justice and #PayTheGrants launched legal action against the Department of Social Development and South African Social Security Agency in July, on the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. The purpose of the litigation is to correct injustices that have prevented people in poverty, including food poverty, from accessing the grant, as well as the unconstitutional retrogression in the grant’s value. This refers to the fact that the grant cannot buy as many basic essentials now as it could in 2020 due to inflation, and thus has gone backwards in terms of its ability to mitigate hunger; and the fact that millions have been unlawfully excluded from accessing the grant.
Last week, we were notified that the Minister of Finance has applied to intervene in the court case as a respondent (Treasury’s founding affidavit in this regard is available on request). This means that the Minister plans to oppose our efforts to get Government to extend the grant to rightful beneficiaries facing desperate hunger. We do not know yet the arguments that the Minister plans to advance against our case, including the issue we raise of about 50% of rightful beneficiaries currently being prevented from accessing the grant.
As the applicants in the case, we have consented to the Minister’s application to intervene. The deadline for the Minister to file his full answering papers is on 24 November. This comes after government (DSD and SASSA) failed to meet the deadline to file their replying affidavit at the beginning of September, leading to us approaching the court to set the matter down on the unopposed roll, as well as a request to the Deputy Judge President that he place this matter under case management.
It is well known that decision makers in the National Treasury have repeatedly opposed extensions and improvements to the SRD grant, which is the only form of social assistance available to working-age able-bodied adults. Ultimately, the government has the Constitutional obligation to progressively realise basic rights (including the right to adequate food, and the right to social assistance) within available resources.
We have argued that resources are available both to extend and improve the grant. We will be watching the MTBPS today to see if the President and ANC’s commitment to provide for those who have been unfairly excluded, and to improve the value of the grant, have been catered for in the medium term budget.
Discussions about the future of the SRD grant have largely been happening behind closed doors. We hope that the latest intervention in our case will facilitate greater transparency as to Treasury and the Minister’s involvement in social protection policymaking, and the basis on which decisions relating to the basic rights and nutrition of millions of vulnerable South Africans have been made.
[ENDS]
For further comment:
Elizabeth Raiters | #PayTheGrant Deputy Chair | Elizabeth@paythegrants.org.za | 078 617 5489
Dalli Weyers | IEJ Advocacy and Communications Manager | dalli.weyers@iej.org.za | 082 460 2093
Amaarah is a Junior Programme Officer in the Rethinking Economics for Africa project. She is currently studying towards her Masters in Applied Development Economics at Wits University. 
Dr James Musonda is the Senior Researcher on the Just Energy Transition at the IEJ. He is also the Principal Investigator for the Just Energy Transition: Localisation, Decent Work, SMMEs, and Sustainable Livelihoods project, covering South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya.
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Juhi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Sociology from Wits University and an Honours degree in Development Studies from the University of Cape Town. Her current research focus is on social care regimes in the South African context, with a particular focus on state responses to Early Childhood Development and Long-Term Care for older persons during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her other research areas include feminist economics, worlds of work and the care economy.
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