#PayTheGrants Joint Statement: Response to State of the Nation Address extension of the Covid-19 SRD

The extension of the COVID-19 R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant for the next three months is a relief, as it buys time, but it is short-sighted and, in its current form, excludes Caregivers who are mostly women. The eligibility criteria for this grant must be amended so that caregivers are included; and the grant should be increased to at least the Food Poverty Line of R585 p/m. The economic crisis we face preceded the pandemic and will be long-term. We are therefore long past the instruments of “temporary relief”.