R2 400 a month, zero left by month-end: One pensioner’s SASSA math

Loraine Karam, a Gauteng resident in her retirement years, ticks the boxes many would associate with financial stability. She owns her home outright and has no dependents beyond one other household member. Yet the SASSA Older Person’s Grant she has received for between three and five years, R2 400 a month, paid reliably into her Postbank account, does not stretch far enough. By the time her next payment arrives, Karam says she has already run out of money, month after month.

Owning a home doesn’t mean owning peace of mind

Karam’s situation complicates the assumption that a paid-off house equals financial breathing room. Rates, upkeep and basic living costs still draw down an income that was never designed to absorb today’s prices. Rising food costs top her list of concerns. Despite the tight squeeze, she reports that no one in her household has gone without food in the past month, and basic living costs still drain an income that was never designed to cover a sign of careful budgeting rather than a comfortable cushion.

Karam is direct about the fix: she wants the SASSA grant amount increased. She also voiced frustration over the SASSA Child Support Grant, saying she believes the system is being abused and should be shut down, a view that speaks to broader tensions among grant recipients over how welfare funds are distributed.

A widening gap between grant value and grant recipients’ needs

Karam rated SASSA’s communication with recipients as very poor, a complaint echoed by many of the roughly 18 million South Africans who depend on social grants nationwide. With unemployment above 32%, grants remain the primary, often only, income source for households like hers. Her case is a reminder that homeownership offers no guarantee against hardship when a fixed grant is measured against a cost of living that keeps climbing.

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