It’s that time of the month when old age pension and other grant recipients in South Africa need to know the SASSA payment dates for August 2022.
Conscious of the need to give grant beneficiaries certainty in this regard, the South African Social Security Agency maintains a schedule on its website showing the dates for every month.
SASSA payment dates for August 2022
As per the official payment schedule, the following are SASSA payment dates for August 2022:
- 2 August – Old Age Pension Grant.
- 3 August – Disability Grants.
- 4 August – Children’s Grants and other grants.
Grant spending to increase
The Department of Social Development projects that government spending on social grants will increase at an average annual rate of 7.5 percent over the medium term (2022-2025).
This is according to the its 2022/2023 Annual Performance Plan published recently. Social grants already account for around 94.5 percent of the Department’s annual budget, or R175.3 billion per annum on average.
Annual inflationary adjustments and a predicted growth in the number of grant recipients are the main reasons behind the projected spending increase, the Plan explained.
“The elderly population, that is people older than 60, is growing by 3 percent per year. As the elderly population grows, the number of beneficiaries who receive the old age grant is expected to increase,” it added.
“As the child population grows, the number of beneficiaries who receive the child support grant is expected to increase. The high levels of unemployment and poverty in the country, combined with high wage inequality and low labour market participation, are contributory factors to the growth of social grants to children.
“Furthermore, the continuing trend of generally low wages paid to those who are working means that a high proportion of working parents do not earn sufficient wages to adequately provide for their children.”
Basic income grant feasibility assessment
The Plan also stated that the Department will initiate a feasibility assessment of a basic income grant “during this financial year.”
“The severe impact of the pandemic on the economy and its ability to create jobs has raised new questions about the reliance on economic growth to address unemployment and poverty, and revived interest in the prospect of a basic income grant as another lever to tackle poverty and inequality and engender a more inclusive growth path,” it explained.
Discussions on a potential basic income grant have been ongoing since 2020, with affordability thought to be the main stumbling block.