Why R5 000 SASSA grant increases ‘simply unaffordable’

Any pensioner holding out for R5 000 SASSA grant increases better have good lungs, because it’s not going to happen any time soon. This is the word from Dr. Maureen Mogotsi, the Chief Director of Social Assistance at the Department of Social Development (DSD).

Speaking as acting chief director back in 2025, she told Parliament that: “The department cannot afford R5 000 SASSA grant increases. That amount for all 4.1-million elderly beneficiaries would require R246 billion and be impossible for the tax base to carry.”

However, factoring today’s roughly 4.26-million elderly beneficiaries at R2 400, the additional bill would be closer to R133 billion, with a total of R256 billion against the miserly R121.8 billion budgeted for 2026. So, as you can see, the numbers as they are will not add up …

R5 000 SASSA GRANT INCREASES

Further denials of R5 000 SASSA Grant increases were made in the media by SASSA Director of Marketing and Communications, Shivani Wahab. She insists setting grant values isn’t within the agency’s mandate. Any and all increases go through National Treasury’s budget process, and are approved in Parliament.

However, if elderly pensioners cannot get R5 000 SASSA grant increases, another want is fortnightly instead of monthly payments. We’ve had readers reach out to The South African and tell us that they’re miserly R2 400/R2 420 allows them to go shopping once a month. When they run out of food, that’s it, they go hungry and cannot shop again until more money comes in …

But the South African Social Security Agency would need to double transactions and card authentications for fortnightly payments. This, in turn, would not just cost more but strain administrative capacity already managing eLife certification and banking cross-referencing.

WHAT ABOUT BILLIONS IN UNDERSPEND?

Nevertheless, money already exists to fund improvements. According to parliamentary disclosures, the DSD underspent R4.8 billion on grants over the last financial year. And more than R1 billion still went to incorrect recipients including the deceased and government officials. If you spread this amount across South Africa’s 4.26-million state pensioners, you could theoretically fund a R100 monthly increase for a full year.

Plus, political accountability has already shifted at the top of the department with the removal of former Minister Sisisi Tolashe in favour of Dina Pule. Nevertheless, R5 000 SASSA grant increases and/or fortnightly payments all stretch far beyond the edge of what’s possible. The aforementioned has become something of a rallying cry when pensioner groups march on parliament. However, the simple math doesn’t align. A R2 600 increase is 108% in a single year, and government has never come close to an increase of that scale. It couldn’t even muster up R10 for the usual October top-ups.

But what do you think about R5 000 SASSA grant increases and/or fortnightly payments for the elderly? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below …