BLOEMFONTEIN, Tuesday 25 August 2026 — The government has asked the Supreme Court of Appeal to overturn a High Court ruling that declared key rules governing the R370 Social Relief of Distress grant unlawful and unconstitutional, in a case with potentially significant consequences for access to social assistance and public finances.
The Department of Social Development, South African Social Security Agency and National Treasury are challenging findings dealing with the grant’s eligibility threshold, online-only application process, value and legal status.
The Pretoria High Court previously found that regulations governing access to the grant unlawfully excluded eligible applicants and ordered government to take steps towards increasing both the grant and the income threshold used to determine eligibility.
The state argues that the SRD grant was introduced as a temporary form of assistance and that treating it as a permanent social grant intrudes on the powers of the executive and Parliament to determine social policy and allocate public funds.
Government also disputes the finding that requiring applications to be submitted digitally unfairly excludes people without adequate access to smartphones, data or connectivity.
More than 15 million people have applied through the digital system, according to arguments contained in the state’s appeal papers, which government says demonstrates that the platform is accessible to its intended applicants.
The Institute for Economic Justice and #PayTheGrants, which brought the original case, argue that the regulations have the effect of excluding people who would otherwise qualify for assistance.
IEJ researcher Siyanda Baduza said government policy indicated that between 17 million and 18 million people could potentially qualify, while the budget provides for significantly fewer recipients.
The organisation argues that government must justify the limits it places on access to the grant rather than using administrative requirements to keep beneficiary numbers within a predetermined budget.
National Treasury has warned that significantly expanding eligibility could place substantial pressure on the fiscus.
Treasury estimates that expanding the grant to about 18 million people while adjusting its value could add approximately R93.5 billion to annual expenditure.
The SRD grant was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since been repeatedly extended. Its value was increased from R350 to R370 in 2024.
The appeal places two competing constitutional considerations before the court: the state’s obligation to progressively realise access to social assistance and the executive’s authority to determine how limited public resources are allocated.
The Supreme Court of Appeal’s eventual ruling could affect not only the regulations governing the current SRD programme but also the government’s longer-term approach to income support for unemployed working-age South Africans.
