Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has denied that the National Treasury will introduce a family grant soon.
This comes after reports emerged that a family grant was on the cards and Godongwana was going to announce it. But he did not raise the issue when he tabled the medium term budget policy statement in Parliament last month.
The minister has since stuck to his guns that there would be no such grant to replace the social relief of distress grant.
Godongwana was replying to a written question in Parliament from IFP deputy leader Mzamo Buthelezi, who wanted to know if the National Treasury was crafting a policy on the family grant. Buthelezi also wanted to know if there would be a pilot project on this grant.
“National Treasury is not drafting a policy on a family poverty grant. There will be no pilot as National Treasury is not drafting the policy,” said Godongwana.
The government says a decision will be taken in March next year on whether to continue with the social relief of distress grant of R350 introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
In his budget speech last month, Godongwana said more than 9.2 million people had been paid through the grant. He said this had pushed the number of people receiving social grants in the country up to 27 million.
The social services budget is one of the largest expenditure items in the national budget, at well over R200 billion.
The social relief grant was started after the country went into lockdown due to the pandemic in March last year and was aimed at cushioning many families who were not able to earn a living.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
POLITICAL BUREAU