The number of unemployed young people with tertiary qualifications seeking access to the social relief of distress grant has increased by nearly 20% in the past five months.
Figures released by the department of social development during a parliamentary portfolio committee meeting on Wednesday painted a grim picture of the face of unemployment in SA.
According to the department, 716,200 graduates with tertiary qualifications had applied for the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant at the end of January. This is an increase of about 116,200, compared to the last reported figure of 600,000 in August 2022.
The increase equates to 19% more young people with tertiary qualifications seeking the government's support to make ends meet. Social development minister Lindiwe Zulu said that at the end of January, more than 13-million South Africans had applied for the SRD grant.
The grant was introduced in May 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, to help those in financial distress and those who had lost their jobs due to many industries having shut down.
“As at the end of January, Sassa [SA Social Security Agency] received over 13.5-million applications for the Covid-19 SRD which is popularly known as the R350 [grant]. Of this number, between 7.4-million and 7.8-million clients are approved every month. All our assessments and payments are up to date and running smoothly from one month to the next,” Zulu said.
According to Statistics SA, the level of youth unemployment remains the highest at 59.6% between ages 15-24, and 45.5% between ages 25-34 as of the third quarter of 2022.
The department of social development report further indicated the majority of persons applying for the SRD grant were youths between the ages of 20-35 years.
During his state of the nation address last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the government would continue with the R350 grant payment to cushion the poor against rising inflation and cost of living.
Currently 25-million people receive some form of income support grant from government.
Finance minister Enoch Godongwana is expected to announce a further extension of the R350 grant when he delivers his budget speech next week.
Sassa executive manager for grants administration Brenton van Vrede said that most applications were made by South Africans aged between 20-24 who account for 19.3% of the 13-million applications, followed by 30-35 year olds and the 25-29 age group.
The majority of applicants have a matric qualification.
Prof Ramodungoane Tabane, the director of school education studies at Unisa, said it would be great if university education prepared graduates for being job creators rather than job seekers.
He said currently it's hard to reap the benefits of a qualification.
“We have to take the issue seriously of almost a million graduates sitting at home unemployed but if the economy is not creating jobs, people still need to access money and right now, the SRD is the only way to access funds,” he said.
“It would have been great if university education prepares graduates for job creating rather than job seekers because this is where the problem is. People have a qualification to look for jobs but not to create jobs and wealth. This is where the entrepreneurial element from school is needed. It could be a one semester model, then this is where we need to go.”
Tabane said the competition between education and tertiary skills has always been there.
“This is all about ensuring there are proper role models to indicate there are benefits to getting an education. It’s unfortunate that our economy isn’t creating enough jobs for employing people with skills.”
Another breakdown of the applicants include 5.4-million with grade 12; more than 5.2-million had grade 10 and just over 1-million had finished primary school.
DA MP Alexandra Abrahams said poverty continued to rise.
“The situation is getting worse over time. Our poverty situation and economic situation in this country isn’t getting any better. I think Sassa needs to go more in getting its numbers back up,” she said.
ANC MP Jane Manganye said the department needed to do more to ensure the “missing middle” were catered for by the SRD grant, proposing the R350 be increased.
“If we know we’re having a missing middle, especially those in real poverty, why don’t we make sure they get the grant. You have the missing middle and that R350 is not enough because it doesn’t even cover school transport. I think of single parents who have more than two children,” Manganye said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.