COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant Extended to 2027
- The Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, announced that the Social Relief of Distress Grant will continue
- Godongwana delivered his mid-term budget speech in Parliament on 12 November, and he revealed that the grant will be extended for two more years
- The grant was supposed to last for a few years into COVID, but it has been extended on numerous occasions
Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News’ Deputy Head of Current Affairs, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, has covered policy changes, cabinet reshuffles, the State of the Nation Address, parliamentary proceedings, and politician-related news, as well as elections, at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for over seven years.
Source: UGC
PARLIAMENT, WESTERN CAPE — The Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, announced that the Social Relief of Distress Grant will continue to be disbursed for the nex two years.
Godongwana delivered his Mid-Term Budget Policy Speech in Parliament on 12 November 2025 in the Western Cape. According to Eyewitness News, Godongwana extended it to the end of March 2206. This despite the busge documents not making provisions for the grant.
Godongwana on underprivileged households
Godognwana said that the government is finalising proposals to provide the working-age population with employment programmes and skills development opportunities. He also said the government continues to commit to supporting vulnerable and low-income households. He said that 61% of non-interest spending funds government's services that help reduce the cost of living.
3 Briefly News stories about the SRD grant
Godongwana considered removing the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant from the budget. Godongwana spoke after two of his budget speeches were rejected in February and March. Godongwana said that he was faced with increased expenditures which are not in the budget. He said that scrapping the grant to avoid implementing a VAT hike would have been ideal.
Civil groups also slammed Enoch Godongwana's statements about the SRD grant. This was after he said that a VAT hike would not be needed i the SRD grant was cut. Organisations like the Economic Institute for Economic Justice, Black Sash, and #PayTheGrants criticised him. In a joint statement, they called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to reprimand Godongwana for his statements.
The Department of Social Development requested that the SRD grant be extended beyond March 2026. The Minister of Social Development, Sisisi Tolashe, asked for it to be extended to allow the department to finalise the basic income grant policy. The policy aims to provide a basic income for citizens who qualify.
Government to take over private prison, including Mangaung
In a related article, Briefly News reported that Godongwana announced that the government will be making changes to the ownership of Mangaung Correctional Facility and the Kutama prison. Godognwana said that the government will be taking ownership of the partnership.
Mangaung and Kutama prisons are the only prisons that are managed by the private sector. Mangaung is managed by G4S security. Mangaung is the same prison where convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester escaped in 2022 with the help of his partner, Nandi Magudumana.
Source: Briefly News
