Elizabeth is 48 years old and survives on donations from her family because she cannot receive the SRD grant that she has applied for. It is declined on a monthly basis because she gets a R300 data allocation for her voluntary work which is paid into her bank account. This is classed as a source of income and given as a reason to deny her monthly support.

For two years Urika has not received any grant payments because her partner, the father of their three children, is visiting the DRC and is sending them R1,700 per month whist he is away. These payments are considered a source of income, rating her ineligible for the nominal support payment of R370 per month. 

“They have access to phone numbers and bank accounts, you give them the right to do everything. I tried to appeal, but it never works out. Applying and reapplying all costs money.”

When Charmain’s husband passed away she was left as the sole provider for their 15 year old daughter. She has had to rely on assistance from her friends and family to buy food and pay the bills. As little as R200 (approx. $12) has been enough for her to be denied the SRD grant due to source of income. 

 Charmain finds herself in an impossible situation. If she borrows money she may lose out on the grant but if she does not, she cannot survive.

At 20 years old, Tshegofatso lives with her mum and is studying Human Resource Management. She was hoping to be able to claim the R370 grant to help her with transport to get to and from college but she has been denied it on many occasions due to the fact that her father occasionally sends her small amounts of money.

After first applying for the grant in 2020, George had to upgrade his ID from a book to the more current smart card to comply with their verification process. The upgrade itself was costly and George had to borrow money from friends to afford it. After two years the payment resumed but he has not received 20 payments that he was entitled to, meaning he now has to navigate the insufficient appeals system to rectify the situation.

Since the mines have closed, like many others, Oupa has been unable to find work. He has been waiting for his unemployment insurance (UIF) payments for 8 months but nothing has come through.

Even though he is not receiving UIF, it is the reason that his R370 grant application is being rejected every month. With no support he has no means to travel and increasingly less chance of finding a job.

“I’m not surviving, I’m not coping,. There is no income at all. I cannot see my kids because I cannot go empty handed.”

As a diabetic with high blood pressure Vanessa needs to eat healthily, ideally vegetables and fresh fish. To do so is well outside of her budget of R370 a month from the SRD grant which also needs to cover household basics and bills. Instead she is forced to survive on maize meal, potatoes and cheap junk food to counteract the hunger that is a side effect of her medication.

Dalene’s grant payments stopped when she was flagged for identity verification. As her ID documents had been damaged in a flood so she had to obtain a new ID card.

She eventually started to receive the benefit again and, as she had been unpaid for 2 years, she was owed back pay, which was paid to her monthly as an additional payment of R370. Her grant was then declined as the R740 coming in to her account was seen to be over the income threshold, making her ineligible for the grant.

Whilst studying Boamogetswe received a student grant for the first two semesters but was subsequently rejected when her sister lent her some money. Without the student grant she had to quit her course and look for work. 

On applying for the SRD grant she has been continuously rejected as her student grant is still appearing as active on the system, and there is no way for her to cancel it.

At 21 she is left with no way to study and with no support while she tries to find work.