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2026-02-01 06:30:47 +0200
To: Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana and Minister of Social Development, Nokuzola Tolashe
GODONGWANA AND TOLASHE, INCREASE OLD AGE GRANT FOR OUR PENSIONERS!
Pensioners find the cost of living to be very high in 2026, with many describing it as a daily crisis, especially because a lot of them have to also look after their unemployed children, as well as their grandchildren.
We need the government to increase its pension grant to at least R5000.
Why is this important?
As of early 2026, the SASSA Old Age Grant is roughly R2,320 per month (or R2,340 for those over 75). Pensioners have formally petitioned Parliament to increase this to R5,000, stating that the current amount is "impossible" to live on.
And these are the contributing factors.
- High Inflation in Food prices and other essentials
- High costs of electricity and other utilities
- Old people are often on medication, so they sometimes have to pay for health care/medication out of their own pockets because our public health care is also not so great, and this requires money.
Expecting pensioners to live on a meagre R2320 or R2340 is inhumane. Our country has high unemployment rates, and so sometimes, the money supports the entire family. Something has to be done about this. If more people speak up against this issue, the government will have to listen to us. Pensioners have been fighting and asking for a noticeable increase, but their cries have fallen on deaf ears.