Reinstatement of R350 Social Relief Grant welcomed

Gungubele said despite all the challenges that the government’s service delivery is subjected to, the government is able to put a coherent plan that will benefit people for a period of time.

Portfolio Committee on Social Development Chairperson Mondli Gungubele has welcomed the reinstatement of the R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD) to caregivers who receive the child support grant.

Gungubele said despite all the challenges that the government’s service delivery is subjected to, the government is able to put a coherent plan that will benefit people for a period of time.

“We welcome the announcement and the commitment to help our people out of the jaws of poverty and in equal measure calling on the Department of Social Development and the South Africa Social Security Agency (SASSA) to be prudent and stricter when it comes to monitoring the grant. To those that the intervention is intended, must benefit,” Gungubele said on Monday.

 On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the reinstatement of the SRD, which will be paid to poor and unemployed South Africans until March 2022.

Gungubele said this was good news in the context that government policy is availing social assistance regularly and formally to unemployed people.

Committee to visit small businesses affected by looting

Meanwhile, the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development is set to undertake a fact-finding visit to KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng to assess the impact of destructions and looting on small businesses.

The visit aims to hear from small business owners on the intervention expected from the government.

This after recent incidents of riots and looting in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal have left devastation in communities and impacted negatively on livelihoods.

Committee Chairperson, Violet Siwela, said the committee needs first-hand information from business owners in order to recommend a tailored intervention that should come from the Department of Small Business Development.

“As the committee, we play oversight on the work of the Department of Small Business Development, but at this stage, we will be visiting these provinces to assess the situation only, and not to conduct oversight,” Siwela said. 

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)