Statement | SRD hearing date set

Statement | SRD hearing date set, government continues to dismiss realities of grant applicants

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) and #PayTheGrants, who are represented by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI), note that the Social Relief of Distress (SRD, R370) grant court case has drawn renewed media attention recently since we lodged our Heads of Argument and the state respondents lodged theirs. The hearing will take place in the Pretoria High Court on 29 and 30 October. We are pleased that the case is progressing following lengthy delays from the respondents. We are looking forward to the opportunity to make our arguments before the Court, as those impacted by these issues will have waited 16 months for the case to be heard, during which time their situation has worsened. 

The case challenges various procedural barriers that have been put in place which prevent eligible persons in desperate need from accessing the SRD grant. In addition, we challenge the fact that the grant has been rolled back, both in terms of purchasing power and in terms of the number of people eligible, since it was introduced. This contradicts the government’s constitutional obligation to progressively realise (advance) the right to social assistance within the maximum available resources.

After reviewing their Heads of Argument we are again dismayed by the government’s dismissive attitude towards the rights and needs of impoverished communities, their unwillingness to engage constructively, and their denial of basic realities. 

Out of touch with the reality of adult poverty

The government’s responses show they are out of touch with the realities and experiences of SRD grant applicants and beneficiaries. DSD and SASSA’s Heads of Argument go so far as to suggest that the overly restrictive online-only application system is good because people can apply for the grant from their own “comfortable homes”. 

The government has determined that only people who have less than R624 flowing into their bank account in a month (from any source, for any purpose) can receive the R370 SRD grant. According to Statistics South Africa, a person needs R796 per month in 2024 just to afford enough food. Anyone with income less than this objectively cannot afford housing, internet access, electricity, data, transport, and clothing. They most certainly are not living in a “comfortable home” and by the government’s own criteria, they cannot afford the costs associated with applying for the SRD grant, and thus face insurmountable barriers to access. The government fails to address—even to deny—this plain fact in their response. 

Inconsistency in government positions

The government says one thing publicly and the opposite in their court papers. We have heard time and again from the President, the Minister of Social Development as well as the Minister of Finance that the SRD grant will not be removed, and will form the foundation for a more expansive system of basic income. Yet, government continues to allege in their response to our case that the grant is “temporary”, and can be withdrawn at any time. The papers filed by the National Treasury deny that the President’s clear commitments, including in two SONAs, have any bearing on official government policy. DSD and SASSA now argue, in their heads of argument, that all the public statements by the President and the Minister of Social Development over the last two to three years about retaining and improving the SRD grant were just “what has been said by the ANC during their rally for the elections”. Government is trying to have their cake and eat it by publicly advancing policy positions in line with the Constitution and then behind the scenes claiming it is not bound to them. 

Even if it were true that there is no publicly stated government policy on the future of the SRD grant (it is not)—that in itself would be unacceptable and threaten the advancement of constitutional rights. Internal squabbles between government departments are no justification for failing to uphold basic rights and are of less-than-zero interest to the vulnerable South Africans to whom they are accountable. 

Willfully ignorant of the real-world evidence

The government also claims that the SRD grant remains a response to Covid-19 circumstances (particularly unemployment caused by the pandemic) and that those circumstances are abating. This is patently false. Unemployment was at crisis levels before the pandemic and remains at crisis levels today. 42.6% of working-age adults are unemployed. The vast majority of these have been unemployed for a year or more. 

Claims that the SRD grant is temporary because it is designed to respond to circumstances which are temporary or changing cannot be taken seriously. Moreover, even if unemployment was at 4.2% rather than 42% – the unemployed would still have a right to assistance from the state. In any event, the SRD grant is intended to address poverty and hunger experienced by anyone of working age, regardless of their employment status, including for instance unpaid caregivers.

We put up detailed supporting evidence to demonstrate that procedural barriers to access to the SRD grant have been put in place and that these have served to exclude up to 50% of eligible beneficiaries. The government has not engaged with this evidence at all and has instead just brazenly denied the facts, without supplying any supporting evidence of their own. This shows a lack of accountability and disinterest in evidence-based debate. SRD grant beneficiaries and the South African public deserve much better from their elected officials and public servants. 

79 individuals provided supporting affidavits when this case was launched, detailing how they have been affected personally by the injustices in the administration of the grant—for many it has meant going hungry. The government simply ignores these testimonies, failing to acknowledge them at all in their responses. DSD and SASSA—the agencies charged with helping the most vulnerable in our country—at no point show any sympathy or concern in their court papers for the plight of these impacted individuals. 

Despite what the respondents claim, the relief we seek is not to get the court to set the value of the grant. We are not asking the state to implement our preferred policies. We are simply asking for the government to implement its own policy, in line with constitutional prescripts, rather than undermining it. The remedy we seek is for the Court to direct the government to develop a reasonable plan that provides for the grant on more than an annual basis, taking into account relevant cost of living factors and other real-world evidence of need; and seek orders remedying the unlawful aspects of the SRD grant administration. 

These are the bare minimum steps the government can take towards fulfilling its responsibilities to the millions of adults in South Africa who face daily poverty and hunger, are shut out of the labour market through no fault of their own, and will continue to be for at least the medium-term. We look forward to the Court providing clarity on the rights of grant beneficiaries. 

[ENDS]


All papers filed to date can be accessed below:


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