
Image: Antonio Muchave
SA Communist Party (SACP) leader Blade Nzimande has called on the government to urgently convert the Covid-19 social relief of distress grant (SRDG) into a “universal basic income guarantee”.
Speaking during the virtual launch of the party’s Red October campaign on Sunday, Nzimande said the grant, which is set to end this month, was a needed lifeline and without it households would fall into deeper distress.
The R350 grant was meant for unemployed citizens and qualifying foreign citizens during the lockdown. It was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year.