If you’re a beneficiary of normal social grants in South Africa, such as disability and old age pension grants, you can now know the SASSA grant payment dates for December 2021.
SASSA published the schedule on its website earlier this year – and it covers the period until March 2022.
SASSA grant payment dates for December 2021
According to the official schedule, SASSA payment dates for December 2021 for ordinary social grants are as follows:
- Older persons’ grants (old age pension) will be paid from 1 December 2021. This includes any grants linked to these accounts.
- Disability grants will be paid from 2 December 2021. This includes any grants linked to these accounts.
- All other grants will be paid from 3 December 2021. These include children’s grants, foster care grants and care dependency grants.
According to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, a total of 27.8 million South Africans are recipients of social grants, amounting to 46 percent of the population.
“Our total spending on the social wage is also very high. This amount has grown from R860 billion in 2018/19 to R1.1 trillion in 2021/22,” he revealed during his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement earlier in November.
“Around 60 percent of total non-interest spending annually goes towards housing development, free basic services, employment programmes, health, education and social grants, among other things.
“Overall, the South African government is acknowledged as having one of the most comprehensive and expansive social security systems in the world, and there are ongoing discussions about the social safety net.”
Strain on the fiscus
Such high numbers of grant recipients continues to put a strain on the country’s fiscal position, Godongwana added.
He explained that although grants (including the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant) cushion the vulnerable in society from extreme poverty, they are not a permanent solution.
“Let me however reiterate that a permanent solution in responding to these challenges is to achieve high and sustained levels of economic growth,” the Minister reiterated.
In addition to the existing social grants system, there are government discussions around implementing a Basic Income Grant once the SRD grant comes to an end in March 2022.
However, Godongwana has insisted that a decision to implement a Basic Income Grant would mean cutting government expenditure in other budget items.