More than 17 million people applied for the R370-a-month Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant in September 2024, according to the latest figures supplied by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).
This is an increase of more than three million people since September 2021, when 13.8 million people applied.
About a quarter (4.1 million) of the SRD grant applicants in September applied for the grant for the first time.
KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of applicants with 4.4 million applications. This was followed by Gauteng with 3.2 million and Limpopo with 2.3 million applications.
Approximately 9.3 million of the applicants were women and 7.9 million were men.
About 1.2 million applicants have no formal schooling, but most (93%) have some education. The largest group (7.5 million) have finished matric, and more than 945,000 applicants have a tertiary qualification.
More than half of all applicants (9.2 million) have never been employed. A total of 4.8 million people have been working for one year or less, and 384,000 currently have jobs. To qualify for the SRD grant, applicants must have no other source of income.
SASSA said that 7.5 million SRD grant beneficiaries had been paid in August.
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