Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says disability social grants will increase by R100. Picture Supplied.
Members of Parliament exploded in excitement when the South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced an increase in social grant during his much-anticipated budget speech in Parliament, Cape Town yesterday, 21 February 2024.
Godongwana said:
But far in the rural areas of Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape, a 31-year-old Deaf grant recipient Modise Nqwala bemoaned that the amount is little.
Apart from the grant, Nqwala survives through part-time jobs.
Nqwala lives in Mthatha, Eastern Cape with his mother Nomveliso (58), his father Khaliphile Nqwala 73 and two siblings. The entire family is unemployed and depends on Nqwala’s disability grant and his father’s pension grant.
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) disability grant is currently R1,985 per month per recipient. This means the increment of R100 will result in the grant being R2,085.
When Godongwana announced the social grants’ increase, the room exploded in excitement, with parliamentary members cheering him on.
Godongwana said, “We are sensitive to the increase in the cost of living for the nearly 19 million South Africans who rely on these grants to make ends meet. In this regard, we have done as much as the fiscal envelope allows.”
However, Nqwala said he is not pleased with the increment.
Nqwala said:
Although his mother qualifies for grant due to illness, he said he is struggling to obtain it.
“My mother could have obtained a grant because she has been ill for long. She once went to Sassa to apply for grant but everything was unsuccessful and she gave up,” said Nqwala.
The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Federal Finance Chairperson, Dr Dion George said the DA will be holding the Minister of Finance to account for his little effort in increasing grants.
George said, “We were very disappointed that the Minister did not mention the social support reform that government has been talking about for a long time. So, what government has been saying is that they are going to look at the entire social support package and design something more suitable for South Africans. This is because we all know that social support of people living with disabilities is inadequate and that needs to be reviewed.”
He said the DA will pose these questions to the Minister during question and reply in parliament.
DA Finance Chairperson, Dion George. Picture Supplied.
Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi, deputy president of the Inkatha Freedom Party said, “It is nice to hear that in his speech the Minister did touch on a few things that people of the country want to hear, like the allocation of funds to different departments which is good. However, we know that some departments are underperforming while some cannot spend the money they have been allocated, which is a serious problem.”
IFP Deputy President and spokesperson of finance, Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi. Picture Supplied.
The Department of Social Development has had many issues with issuing payments further crippling the disabled recipients. Buthelezi also added, “It does not matter how much and what the Minister says, as long as people who are supposed to implement whatever decision that gets taken here are not doing that, we are yet to see ourselves in hardship.”
