The short version: The SRD R370 grant will continue until at least March 2027. If you are already receiving it, you do not need to reapply. The amount stays at R370 per month. The income threshold stays at R624 per month.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana confirmed the extension in the February 2026 National Budget speech, with R35.2 billion allocated to keep the Social Relief of Distress grant running through the 2026/27 financial year. This ends months of uncertainty for the approximately 8.5 million South Africans currently receiving the grant.
I want to be clear about what this announcement does and does not change, because there has been a lot of confusion on social media about what the "extension" actually means in practice.
For current recipients, very little changes day-to-day. The grant continues to be processed monthly through the same portal (srd.sassa.gov.za), paid at R370, with the same eligibility rules. SASSA will continue its monthly means test, checking your income against SARS, UIF, Home Affairs, and NSFAS records.
The extension is not a permanent solution. The SRD grant has been described by government as a "bridge" while a broader social protection reform is developed - potentially a Basic Income Grant. Whether that ever materialises is a separate policy question. What matters for now is that payments continue as normal.
This is the question I have seen most often since the budget. The answer is no - at least not right now. The 2026 budget kept the SRD grant at R370 per month, unchanged from when it was increased from R350 in April 2023. The food poverty line (which the grant is supposed to track) is approximately R760 per person per month as of 2026, meaning the grant covers less than half of what it is meant to address.
Advocacy organisations including Black Sash and SECTION27 have called for the grant to be increased and made permanent. Government has acknowledged the gap but has pointed to fiscal constraints. I will update this page if any mid-year increase is announced.
The extension does not automatically approve anyone who was previously declined. If your application was declined, you still need to either appeal (for past months, within 90 days of each declined month) or reapply through the portal if your circumstances have changed and the reason for your previous decline no longer applies.
The extension simply means the programme continues - it does not override individual eligibility decisions.
The extension removes the short-term uncertainty that was causing unnecessary anxiety and, frankly, a wave of scam messages on WhatsApp claiming people needed to "re-register" to keep their grant. They do not. Anyone contacting you claiming you need to pay a fee or register somewhere new to secure your 2027 payments is running a scam.
The harder question - whether R370 is actually enough to make a meaningful difference - remains unanswered. But for the nearly 9 million people who depend on this payment, continuity matters. I will keep tracking any policy changes and update SassaHelp as announcements are made.