SA Pensioners Have New Hope As Civic Group Takes SASSA Grant Increase Proposal to Parliament

• A civic group called Math is not Mathing proposed raising South Africa's old-age grant by R600 to R3,000 a month
• Campaigner Geraldine Prinsloo challenged lawmakers to explain how pensioners survive on current grants amid rising costs
• The proposal was submitted during parliamentary hearings on the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement

A civic campaign group has formally asked South Africa's parliamentary finance committees to raise the monthly old-age grant to R3,000, arguing that the current payment leaves pensioners unable to meet even their most basic needs.

The submission was made during public hearings on the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement by a group called Math is not Mathing, represented by campaigner Geraldine Prinsloo. The group is calling for a R600 increase above the current baseline grant of R2,400, and it laid out a direct challenge to lawmakers: explain how elderly South Africans are expected to cover food, electricity, housing, transport and chronic medication on what the state currently provides.

Read also

South Africans may have to help fund taxi upgrades as government explores new plan

Pensioners supporting whole families on one grant

Prinsloo did not stop at highlighting individual hardship. She pushed fiscal authorities to account for where projected government savings are going, arguing that spending cuts identified across public departments should instead be directed toward the country's most vulnerable elderly citizens.

The appeal echoes a growing wave of grassroots pressure. Throughout the year, various civil society groups and petitions have called for increases of up to R5,000, pointing out that many grandparents effectively function as the primary breadwinners for extended, multigenerational families, often because of widespread youth unemployment.

What pensioners currently receive

At present, older persons between the ages of 60 and 74 receive R2,400 per month, while those aged 75 and above receive R2,420. The R80 adjustment that produced these figures came from an earlier national budget cycle, and many pensioners say it has done little to offset sustained consumer inflation, steep municipal rate increases and rising grocery prices.

Read also

Parliament urged to approve R600 SASSA old-age grant increase amid rising costs

The Math is not Mathing proposal is a civic recommendation, not approved government policy. Any formal increase to social pension payments would require National Treasury to allocate additional funds and receive executive approval through the standard budget process.

The presentation to Parliament nonetheless puts the debate squarely back in the public domain, sharpening the tension between the government's push for fiscal consolidation and the lived reality of millions of South Africans who depend on the state grant as their sole source of income.

More on SASSA grants and pension payments

• Briefly News recently reported that National Treasury extended the R370 Social Relief of Distress grant for another year after delays in developing a permanent replacement.
• SASSA warned beneficiaries that ignoring official review notices could put their grant payments at risk and urged them to update their contact details.
• Parliament has been urged to push for a R600 increase to the SASSA old-age grant, which would raise the monthly payment to R3,000.

Source: Briefly News