R4,000 a month for pensioners and the disabled: The EFF’s plan for social grants

The EFF has vowed to double social grant payments if elected into power, saying the future of the country depends on looking after its young people.

Party leader Julius Malema launched its election manifesto at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday.

The event took place just months before South Africans head to the polls, with the date of elections set to be announced within the next two weeks.

The Manifesto includes several promises, such as 24-hour clinics, dedicated TB hospitals, imposing a minimum sentence of 25 years for anyone who points a gun at a policeman and the same sentence for law enforcement officers found to have committed a serious crime.

It also promises an end to load-shedding within 24 hours and a ban on lending money to the poor.

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One of the key areas it hopes to address is inequality and social relief, announcing plans to double all grants.

• Grant for older persons from R2,090 to R4,180 per month.
• Grant for War Veterans from R2,110 to R4,220
  per month.
• Disability grant from R2,090 to R4,180 per
  month.
• Grant for Care Dependency from R2,090 to
  R4,180 per month.
• Grant for a Foster Child from R1,130 to R2,260
  per month.
• Child Support grant from R510 to R1,020
  per month.
• Grant-in-Aid from R510 to R1,020
  per month.

It will also provide a grant for unemployed graduates, starting with R1,000 for those who pass matric and increase the more educated they are.

The party said those who get social grants will also be provided with free water and electricity. He did not explain how all these would be funded.

How many people get social grants?

Around 26.5 million people receive social grants every month, including the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant.

ALSO READ: OPINION: Social grants necessary, but not everyone deserves it

It costs government around R66 billion in the medium term to fund, with the National Treasury reportedly telling government last year it would need to find the money somewhere, and fast, to continue funding welfare efforts.

‘Tell them their father Malema will look after them’

Days before the manifesto launch, Malema hit back at those who called for a reduction or end to grants.

“When you give old people more money, you are guaranteeing that that money is feeding the black child.

“When you give old people money, they don’t gamble with it. They buy a bag of mielie meal so our children are well fed. Imagine if you increase that amount to R4 500 per person a month.

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“When they say to you; ‘Who is going to feed these children because you are poor and don’t have money, tell them their father Malema will feed them when he becomes president of South Africa,” he told a party gathering in the Makutha area in KwaZulu-Natal.