Katlego Sekhu
An economist at UCT, Prof. Haroon Bhorat, with the ear of President Cyril Ramaphosa, has questioned the effectiveness of the social relief of distress (SRD) on employment, suggesting the money should be allocated to the informal sector to spur investment-driven growth.
Independent Political Analyst Khaya Sithole joined 959 Breakfast to weigh in and speak about the ideas that came out of this discussion attended by Prof. Bhorat to fix the underlying challenges relating to social grants.
Khaya Sithole revealed in part that the data provided yesterday indicated that the beneficiaries of the social relief grant were the retail businesses in the communities where the people are receiving the grants.
“It highlights that the beneficiaries have not only been retail businesses, but you can see the multiple effects on the value of the retail stocks in that particular period because clearly, the grant is being spent. It has mitigated what had otherwise been a general decline in the country’s economic fundamentals,” he said.
“And the fact that this is money that is actually circulating in the economy rather than sitting idle somewhere essentially says that it has a particular value.”
In addition, Sithole noted that “If we are going to look back and say we spent R36 billion with 8 million people able to answer that they are getting a loaf of bread, well, actually, that is the best value for money. There is no basis for sustaining the claim that this grant is a problem.”
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