The South African government appealed a landmark High Court ruling on the R370 Social Relief of Distress grant at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, 25 August 2026, arguing that the current system is lawful and that broader access would be unaffordable. The SCA reserved judgment after hearing arguments from the Department of Social Development, SASSA, National Treasury, and civil society applicants led by the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ).
The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled in January 2025 that several SRD grant regulations were unconstitutional and invalid, finding that the system unlawfully excluded eligible applicants. The case centres on the online-only application process, the R624 monthly income threshold, and SASSA’s bank verification and database checks that campaigners say shut out deserving beneficiaries.
Advocate Herman van Eeden, representing SASSA and the Department of Social Development, told the court that safeguards had been improved since the High Court ruling. “The system has developed substantially and the whole process remains online only, but important safeguards have been introduced and improved over time,” he said. SASSA also told the court that self-help kiosks and free call centres are available to assist applicants who cannot access the internet.
National Treasury opposed any expansion of the grant, citing cost constraints. Advocate Gilbert Marcus, representing Treasury, told the court that the relief sought by the IEJ could cost between R93-billion and R139-billion per year, depending on how far the grant value and income threshold were increased. The SRD grant currently reaches about 8.5 million people, with SASSA conducting monthly bank account checks on applicants.
Advocate Jason Brickhill, representing the applicants, argued that the system’s database exclusion errors may be as high as 33%, according to some sources. Daily Maverick also reported campaigners’ claims of a 99% appeal rejection rate, though these figures have not been independently confirmed by a second source. An amicus curiae, the Global Centre on AI Governance partnered with CALS, argued that the digital-only system is inherently exclusionary. “A system reachable only online excludes the very people who have neither smartphones nor internet,” the amicus’s advocate told the court.
The SRD grant was introduced in 2020 as a temporary Covid-19 relief measure but has become a permanent feature of South Africa’s social safety net, reaching millions of people with no other income. For communities across the Cape Flats, where unemployment remains high and many residents rely on the grant, the outcome could determine whether people without smartphones or stable internet access can successfully apply. The case also tests how far the state can use digital systems to administer welfare without unfairly excluding the poorest.
What remains unknown is when the SCA will hand down its judgment and whether the court will uphold, vary, or overturn the Pretoria High Court’s ruling. Cape Flats will check with the SCA registry on Monday, 1 September 2026, for any update on the judgment date.