Court rules that SRD subsidy is 'not a fundamental human right'

It was responding to arguments from the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) over what the Institute claims is the sole administration of the South African Social Relief of Distress grant.

Respondents included the Department of Social Development, South African Social Security and the National Department of Finance.

The IEJ has taken the government to court over digital exclusion, inaccurate income assessments and unjust income tests, which it says have prevented many from accessing the SRD grant.

The grant was initially introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and aimed to provide millions in relief through a disaster management fund.

Lawyer Gilbert Marcus argued that the SRD subsidy is not a fundamental human right that needs to be urgently realized, but that it is a progressive realization initiative.

“This is not an example of a socio-economic right being realized immediately. The right to education is realized immediately. The right to social security is subject to gradual realization,” Marcus explains.

In response to IEJ’s question about the stability of the subsidy and skipped payments, Marcus said the Institute for Economic Justice cannot compare the stability of old-age, disability and child benefits with the social security benefit.

He said the eligibility criteria for the grants are different.

“There are eight forms of social assistance: child benefit, old dependency, and so on; the Social Relief from Distress grant is one of eight. These classes are not the same, and the needs of these scholarships are not the same; the eligibility criteria are not the same.

“None of this says that any of the Sassa categories are undeserving; that is not my case, but it is an important part because my learned friends (IEJ) go on to say: ‘but you did this and this for this grant, but did not do it for the SRD’ and that is wrong on this point from the law.”

Marcus said the SRD grant has seen several improvements since its inception four years ago, including an increase of R20 per month.

“If you look at the SRD in itself, there is at least some progressive realization. I am talking about progress since 2020. The very fact that the SRD was introduced and did not exist before is itself an example of progressive realization.

“The question of whether the progress of the SRD was sufficient is another matter, but the fact of its progressive realization is beyond dispute or debate.”