MEDIUM TERM BUDGET 2003-6
More money for social grants
13 November 2003
An additional R2.5-billion will be allocated to provinces, according to the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement delivered by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel in Parliament on Wednesday.
Of this amount, R2.1-billion will be used to cover expenditure on increasing numbers of social grant recipients, especially those receiving disability grants.
A separate budget adjustment has been made to support the phased extension of the child support grant initiated in the 2003 budget. Government has already set aside R11-billion for age extensions over the next three years to cater for an additional 3.2 million children.
The 2003 budgetary framework allows for the extension of grants to seven- and eight-year-olds in the current financial year. Next year, it will be extended to nine- and 10-year-olds, with 11- and 13-year-olds coming on board in 2005/06.
"The take-up rate to September 2003 and projections for the rest of the year call for a
further allocation of R100-million to ensure that the objectives for 2003/04 are met", Manuel said.
The minister said this amount would be distributed among provinces according to their projected budget shortfalls.
In October 2003, the number of social security beneficiaries exceeded 7 million, with the number of child support grant beneficiaries increasing by more than 1 million from March 2003 to 3.8 million.
Source: BuaNews
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