The call for a higher SASSA Old Age Grant has moved well beyond pension advocacy groups and trade unions. It has landed squarely in the court of public opinion, and the verdict on The South African‘s Facebook page is unanimous. South Africans believe the government has the money. They need the political will to act.
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Maria Ndayi made the case in the bluntest terms possible, commenting on The South African‘s Facebook page.
“Why not? If they can loot millions, why not increase our grannies’ and grandpas’ monies?” she wrote.
Her sentiment was shared by hundreds of commenters, each adding their own version of the same argument that pensioners are being neglected while public funds disappear elsewhere.
What pensioners say they actually need for the SASSA old age grant
Nola Van Loggerenberg argued that the grant must be at least R5 500 to R6 000 per month, explaining that a single room already costs R3 500 to rent before electricity or food are factored in.
Also, Millecent Mara Isaacs kept her demand short: “R5 000 for the pensioners.”
Furthermore, Andrea Kruger argued that the pension should match the national minimum wage, pointing out that pensioners face the same living costs as working South Africans, often with the added burden of higher medical expenses.
Josephine Schmal painted a picture of what R2 400 looks like in practice, hospital visits, grandchildren to feed, rates to pay and a grant that runs dry long before the next payment date.
“R2 400 see me now, see me never,” she wrote on Facebook.
Anger, proposals and a question for taxpayers
Not all commenters directed their frustration at government alone. Charl Swart raised the question of fiscal sustainability, asking simply: “Who will pay for it? Taxpayer?”
It is a question that cuts to the heart of South Africa’s social grant dilemma, a country with 18 million grant recipients and a shrinking tax base.
Yet for pensioners who built careers, raised families and paid taxes over decades, the answer feels straightforward. Sheena Subhan argued on Facebook that old age and disability grants should be the government’s top priority, ahead of other social relief programmes.