President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: AFP/Ludovic Marin
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday evening announced the return of the R350 Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, as well as the Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (Ters).
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Ramaphosa said these measures would support the recovery of the economy and provide relief to the poor and those who are vulnerable due to lockdown measures initially imposed to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Social Relief of Distress Grant – a monthly payment of R350 – will be reinstated until the end of March 2022, and will be expanded to allow for unemployed caregivers who currently receive a Child Support Grant to apply.
The grant is administered by the South African Social Security Agency [Sassa]. Ramaphosa said the extension was “made possible by the slight improvement we have seen in our revenue collection.”
“We are expanding the number of people who are eligible for this grant by allowing unemployed caregivers who currently receive a child support grant to apply.”
Ramaphosa also said applications for the current period of Ters payments remained open, while the Unemployment Insurance Fund would facilitate payments swiftly for those unable to earn a living due to lockdown regulations.
“The Covid-19 Ters scheme applications are open and the UIF will facilitate payments as quickly as possible for workers who have not received income and those who have lost their jobs,” he said.
An agreement to extend the Ters payment was initially proposed at the start of July but required Cabinet approval. At the time, Cosatu’s Matthew Parks said “people should apply because […] as time progressed, less and fewer companies and workers applied and there is money available”.
“I would hope that despite all the bureaucracy and the hassles, and the nightmares people do apply. Despite all the chaos, five million workers did receive money, totalling about R60 billion, and that’s a huge amount of money.”
Additional reporting by Earl Coetzee
Also read: Sassa warns citizens of fake news posts about R350 grant, food vouchers
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