Organisations such as Black Sash, the ANC NEC and DA are calling on the government to increase and extend the R350 social relief of distress grant beyond January.
Other civil organisations including the former public protector Thuli Madonsela have endorsed the #PayTheGrant campaign, which is aimed to fight poverty in the country.
New applications for the grant have been ceased on January 31. Those who had applied in November, December and January and whose applications were rejected have been allowed to apply for reconsideration until February 28.
Meanwhile, the DA has also added its voice.
According to the DA, millions of South Africans are reliant on the grant to meet their most basic of needs.
“With a stricter Covid-19 lockdown and the economy deteriorating at an alarming rate, these vulnerable people are often unable to find other means of putting food on the table. With the haphazard payment of these grants already disrupting their lives, the recipients will now also have to worry about how they will provide for their families if the grant payment were to be stopped entirely,” the DA said in a statement.
The DA states that economic stimulation has not been the government’s priority. As a result jobs are hard to come by.
“This desperate situation is exacerbated by the continued irrational lockdown of sectors of the economy causing the shedding of even more jobs,” DA said.
The grant was introduced in May as part of the Covid-19 relief fund, which sought to assist unemployed people who were unable to look for employment during the lockdown.
The grant was supposed to cease in October, but President Cyril Ramaphosa announced an extension to January to help further ease the effects of the lockdown.
The Black Sash Trust is a 65-year-old veteran human rights organisation advocating for social justice in South Africa.
Also Read: Watch: Community expresses angst over end to Sassa R350 grant
Also Read: Calls for government to extend R350 relief grant beyond October
