R350 Covid SASSA Grant: Civil Rights Organisations March for Extension
- Mzansi civil rights organisations are currently marching to the SASSA offices in Pretoria to hand over their memorandum of grievances
- The organisations, led by Black Sash, want government to extend and increase the R350 Covid-19 grant
- Black Sash expressed that the grant should be extended until the promised basic income grant kicks in
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Civil rights organisations are marching to the Social Development Department and SASSA offices in Pretoria this Thursday, 22 April to demand the extension and increase of the R350 Covid-19 social relief of distress grant.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the three-month extension of the grant in February. Now that the deadline of the extension is looming, the organisations want the much-needed grant to be extended again.
Source: Twitter
SABC News reports that National Director of Black Sash, Lynette Maart, said the grant should be extended until the promised basic income grant is implemented.
EWN also reported that Black Sash wants the grant for unemployed South Africans to be increased to at least R585 a month.
The civil society groups participating in the #PayTheGrants campaign are expected to hand over a memorandum to the Social Development Department later on Thursday.
The #PayTheGrants Twitter account @PayTheGrants has shared a couple of pics and videos taken during the march. The movement captioned one of its videos:
"There is no way @GovernmentZA can justify terminating the Covid Grants! We want to see protection for the most vulnerable. We need the grants to be increased and extended and caregivers must be included until we have a comprehensive #UBIG #PayTheGrants."
In other news, Briefly News reported that acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshaveni announced earlier that the suspension of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines has been lifted.
Ntshaveni also confirmed that South African scientists reviewed the vaccine and found that it was not harmful despite claims that it was causing blood clots after six patients in the US are said to have developed a rare type of blood clot after being administered the vaccine.
She has announced that the roll-out of the vaccine will continue at a later date when the department is ready. She also added that the pause in the roll-out of the vaccine was part of a necessary precaution to ensure the safe administration of Covid-19 vaccines to South Africans.
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Source: Briefly News
