SRD grant legal battle heads to Supreme Court of Appeal
The Supreme Court of Appeal will hear the Social Relief of Distress Grant on August 25th, 2026
The legal dispute over the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant is set to reach the Supreme Court of Appeal later this month. The government has chosen to contest a harsh High Court ruling that deemed aspects of the grant's administration unlawful and discriminatory. Civil society groups, PayTheGrants and the Institute for Economic Justice, are prepared to fight the appeal, defending the grant's necessity given the widespread poverty and unemployment.
In January, Gauteng High Court Judge Leonard Twala ruled the grant's current online-only system as irrational, exclusionary, and unconstitutional, affecting approximately 14% of eligible recipients without internet access. The government's stance is that complying with the court's decision would be financially unsustainable. Dr Kelle Howson, an Advocate at the Institute for Economic Justice, argues that even with the recent increase to R370, the grant's value has not kept up with inflation and falls far short of covering basic food costs.
Additionally, the civil society groups highlight the non-payment of approved beneficiaries, with about 10 to 15% of approved applicants not receiving their payments each month.
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