The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) will soon hear a critical appeal impacting at least 16 million South Africans dependent on government social assistance.
The case, scheduled for August 25 at the SCA, originated in the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, in 2024. The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) and #PayTheGrants initiated the legal challenge, citing concerns over the R370 Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant's low value, its means-test threshold, access barriers for vulnerable individuals and the failure to pay people who had already been approved for the grant.
The SRD grant, introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic to aid the impoverished, has since been extended annually. The IEJ argues that the grant value has been eroded by inflation as it remains at R370 per month while the food poverty line stands at R855, despite rising inflation and living costs. The institute said if the grant had kept up with inflation since 2020, it would now be over R470.
In 2025, the high court ruled that the grant's online-only application system is irrational and illegal. It also declared regulations limiting grant access unconstitutional and invalid, ordering the government to progressively increase the grant’s value and means-test threshold.
The government has appealed this ruling, bringing the matter to the SCA.
On Thursday, Social Development Minister Dina Pule was asked if she had discussed the matter with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. This followed reports that the National Treasury intends to argue before the SCA that any grant increase would be unaffordable and that the grant was not designed to be permanent.
Regarding the appeal, Pule stated: "We are waiting for that case. Probably we will talk once the outcome comes."
The IEJ executive director Gilad Isaacs said that the stakes could not be higher.
“As the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant lifeline dwindles amidst food and fuel price escalation, desperation simmers, and millions of impoverished adults remain arbitrarily excluded."
The institute's senior researcher Kelle Howson said the appeal is not a technical legal dispute.
"It is a fight over the constitutional right to social assistance and whether the government can evade that obligation through administrative barriers and arbitrary budget caps, devoid of any clear policy considerations or assessment of demonstrable and growing need."
Meanwhile addressing the issue of grant reviews, which have caused delayed payments for thousands of grant beneficiaries, Minister Pule called the verification process necessary.
“We want to make sure every year that the people that we are paying are the rightful beneficiaries and therefore it is very important for all the beneficiaries of Sassa, to come to the offices because we want to do biometrics and verify that you are the right person."