R999 social grant for unemployed South Africans does not exist, only a proposal

One of the posts was published on Facebook on July 7, 2023 before it was deleted.

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Screenshot showing the misleading post, taken on July 24, 2023

SASSA’s logo appears in the post with text reading: "The New Grant of R999 for Basic Income Introduced."

Below is a link that directs readers to an article carrying the same headline on a "jobs" website.

SASSA is responsible (archived here) for distributing welfare grants to vulnerable and poor families in South Africa. Currently, the monthly social relief grant is R350 which was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

SASSA administers other grants of varying amounts (archived here) but does not have a "basic income grant" as such.

The same post was also shared on Twitter, which is being rebranded as X, with the claim that the grant had been introduced by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to entice voters ahead of the 2024 general elections.

But the claims are misleading.

Opposition proposal

When contacted, SASSA denied introducing the purported grant.

"The R999 grant information is fake, it does not come from SASSA," the agency told AFP Fact Check.

SASSA also labelled the post as "fake" on its official social media accounts here and here (archived here and here).

A keyword internet search revealed that the grant is merely a proposal by an opposition party called GOOD. The home page of the party’s website features founder and Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille endorsing the proposal as a "good deal".

In June, GOOD launched (archived here) its basic income grant campaign which is expected to be one of its election priorities in the run-up to next year's polls.

GOOD told AFP Fact Check the party commissioned research before settling on the figure of R999.

"In order to support the millions of jobless South Africans, if the Good party forms the next administration, it intends to introduce a monthly grant to support poor and vulnerable families. We commissioned a study that found that R999 is an amount that could be reasonably funded by the country’s budget," the party said.

The link in the Facebook post led to a website featuring a story published on July 7, 2023, with the misleading headline "The New Grant of R999 for Basic Income Introduced".

"Finally, a new social grant of R999 for basic income was introduced. Due to the rising cost of living and high unemployment, about 8 million South Africans are out of work and struggling to meet their basic needs," the article begins before detailing the original GOOD proposal. The article has since been corrected.

The 2024 general elections in South Africa will be a defining moment for the country’s democracy as discontent (archived here) is growing among citizens who are frustrated by a worsening electricity blackout crisis, inequality, unemployment, corruption and crime.