Press Release 3 February 2023
Over 500 protesters marched to the Union Buildings on 2 February 2023, to call on President Ramaphosa to address their social grant demands when he delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 10 February.
Organiser Tlou Seopa of amandla.mobi said: “We are marching to demand President Ramaphosa to announce clear plans to turn the R350 grant into a Basic Income Grant of R1417 per person per month when he addresses the nation this coming Thursday.”
READ MORE:
Hundreds gathered outside SASSA’s head office in Pretoria, where members of community organisations and amandla.mobi, handed over a memorandum demanding SASSA executives urgently fix R350 grant issues.
Community members surveyed by amandla.mobi have complained of a host of challenges when it comes to accessing SASSA payments, and in some cases, their appeals for support have been declined.
Acting SASSA CEO Abraham Mahlangu and spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi received the memorandum.
The crowd then marched to the Union Buildings to hand over another memorandum demanding a Basic Income Grant to representatives of the Presidency.
One community leader present at the Union Buildings handover was the Community Organising Working Group’s Gogo Eunice Manzini.
“The Basic Income Grant is important to help families like mine because, as a pensioner, it is difficult to provide for my family as I cannot work, and watching my family and other families like mine struggling every day to put food on the table, angers me and breaks my heart,” she said.
Public Liaison and Stakeholder Management Phil Mahlangu accepted the memorandum on behalf of the Presidency.
On 3 February 2023, Presidency sent a Letter of Acknowledgement of the memorandum and committed to responding ahead of SONA.
Over 450 000 people have signed amandla.mobi petitions to increase social grants. Show your support here, here and here.
For more information and interviews, contact
Tlou Seopa
amandla.mobi Campaigner
Email: tlou@amandla.mobi
Cell: 081 761 5326
Thabisile Miya
amandla.mobi Community Engagement Officer
Email: thabisile@amandla.mobi
Cell: 063 472 0680
Zintle Tyuku
amandla.mobi Community Engagement Officer
Email: zintle@amandla.mobi
Cell: 082 776 8551
