8 million South Africans forced to live on R34 a day or risk starving
· The South African
The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) keeps millions of South Africans in abject poverty.
This is according to the government’s own definition and limits.
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But the grant’s eligibility criteria prevent 8.2 million South Africans from earning more.
8 million South Africans living in poverty
To get the R370 SRD grant, a beneficiary cannot earn more than R670 in 30 days.
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) strictly enforces these rules.
Beneficiaries are approved for three-month periods and agree to have their bank accounts reviewed during this time.
Going over R670 means they lose the grant.
But R670 a month means the beneficiary is starving.
According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the 2026 food poverty line is R868.
An adult in South Africa needs to spend at least that amount on food only to avoid starving.
The R670 limit puts beneficiaries nearly R200 below that.
In fact, the last time the food poverty line was below R670 was April 2021.
Realities of Living on R1040 a Month
If a beneficiary remains in these limits, the most they’ll get in a month is R1 040 a month.
With this, they can get food, but not much else.
To buy some food and non-food items, an adult needs at least R1 457 a month, according to Stats SA.
Stats SA assumes that those spending R1 457 on a mix of food and non-food basics like transport are going hungry.
To avoid hunger and have enough money to spend on basic non-food items, what Stats SA calls the Upper-bound Poverty Line (UBPL), an adult must earn at least R2 962 a month.
That’s R2 252 less than minimum wage, for someone working 40 hours a week.
Unfortunately, for the 8.2 million getting this grant, finding a job won’t be easy.
Rather than employment increasing, unemployment is rising.
One-third of working-age South Africans are unemployed.
What’s Next for the SRD Grant?
National Treasury has suggested making the SRD grant permanent.
But the 2026 Budget shows plans to remove millions of beneficiaries.
Treasury budgets R1.72 billion for the grant in 2027.
In 2026, Treasury budgeted R36.88 billion.
That’s a 95.33% decrease, which could mean 7.8 million people won’t get the grant after February 2027.