A shadow minister has accused the ANC of ‘setting out on a mission’ to STOP all R350 grants in the near future. Dianne Kohler-Barnard, who is the DA’s representative for communications, fears that another planned bailout for the Post Office will kill-off SRD funds.
Is the ANC planning to stop payment of all R350 grants?
The R350 grants were introduced in April 2020, after the start of our first COVID lockdown. During a pandemic where all decisions were fiercely contested, the introduction of these payments was hailed as a masterstroke. However, they came at a multi-billion rand cost to the economy.
Millions of households are now reliant on the grants as their only source of financial support. They have been extended from their initial expiry dates on three separate occasions. But will these payments last beyond March 2023? Kohler Barnard isn’t too sure.
Her opposite number in government, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, is said to be hellbent on funding a Post Office bailout – despite a recent R8bn rescue package failing to ease any woes. The Communications Minister has allegedly been warned about the pitfalls of more state intervention.
Post Office bailout ‘could crush SRD funds’, DA warns
It’s said that the Treasury ‘noted all R350 grants would have to be stopped’ if another bailout gets arranged, due to the government’s already-overstretched budget. With Ntshavheni reportedly keen to go ahead anyway, the DA have sounded the alarm for SASSA beneficiaries.
- According to Dianne Kohler Barnard, up to 50% of all South Africans could be affected this potential payment termination.
“It has recently come to light that the Post Office is seeking an additional bailout from the National Treasury (NT). However, the Treasury has warned that this bailout would mean that all R350 grants would have to be stopped, due to an overstretched budget.”
“They must liquidate the Post Office. Most South Africans only use the Post Office to receive their R350 grants, but if they want to stop these payments, there is no real reason for the government to keep beating this dead horse.” | Dianne Kohler Barnard
By Khamisi
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