Surge in SA households dependent on grants – Stats SA

More than a quarter of SA households depended on SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) grants for their main source of income last year as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc.

Stats SA's general household survey 2020 report, released on Thursday, shows 28.8% of households received grants as a main source of income.

The report reveals that grants are a vital safety net, especially in the poorest and most rural provinces such as the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

In the Eastern Cape, 63.6% of households received grants. The figure in Limpopo was 69.3%.

Grants remained the second-most important source of income in the country, with an increasing number of households depending on them.

Stats SA chief director for social statistics Solly Molayi said due to the high uptake of the R350 monthly grant the percentage of individuals accessing grants increased to 34.9% last year.

“The percentage of households that received at least one grant increased to 52.4%.”

The survey showed that excluding the Covid-19 social relief grants, the number of people accessing grants would have been 30.7%, down from 34.9% in 2019.

Molayi said the percentage of households connected to the electricity grid increased from 76.7% in 2002 to 90% in 2020, with a drop in reliance on wood, coal and paraffin over the same period.

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