Staff Reporter
Close to 370 000 people in the Free State have applied for the special unemployment grant set up by the government to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 which have seen thousands losing jobs as companies struggle to survive.
Social Development MEC Mamiki Qabathe said in her supplementary budget speech for the 2020/21 financial year that 367 208 applications from across the province had been received.
The special grant of R350 is aimed at assisting unemployed persons with no income between May and October 2020.
She said 236 536 applications had been approved and 159 157 or 67 percent of these had already been paid through personal bank accounts and the post offices for those with no bank accounts.
“The remaining applications will be paid on a daily basis as and when they are positively verified, and approved,” said Qabathe, whose department was allocated nearly R1.5 billion for the year 2020/21.
About 63 percent of those paid were males while 37 percent were females.
A further 10 percent of those paid were persons with disabilities.
Another 65 percent of those paid were youths between 18 and 35 years.
The MEC said 3.4 percent of those paid were people with permanent residence status and 0.02 percent of those paid were refugees.
Various grants are being disbursed by the South African Social Security Agency as part of poverty alleviation and social relief of distress programmes.
In total, 1 044 523 people or 37 percent of the provincial population receive some form of social aid from the state.
This comes at a monthly cost of about R900 million which amounts to about R10.8 billion a year.
“In order to mitigate the impact of poverty among the most vulnerable people, priority focus will be on children, youth, women, and persons with disabilities, throughout the financial year,” Qabathe said.
She said between April and May about 10 805 food parcels have been issued to needy households in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the last financial year, she said a total of R25.9 million was spent through a special social relief of distress programme which benefited over 20 000 needy households.
The beneficiaries included child-headed households and malnourished children, among them 5 560 needy learners who benefitted from a school uniform project.