The Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria is set to make a ruling in a Social Relief of Distress grant exclusion case brought by the Institute for Economic Justice and #PaytheGrants against the government. Millions of people who qualify to receive the grant are excluded by the system, and hundreds of thousands have challenges accessing the funds despite being approved to receive the R370 monthly grant. The food basket is still unaffordable for SRD grant recipients, sitting at almost R400.

The Institute for Economic Justice has raised the alarm that millions of people who qualify to receive the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant are excluded by the system, while hundreds of thousands more have challenges accessing the funds despite being approved to receive the R370 monthly grant.

Advocate Jason Brickhill, representing the Institute for Economic Justice and #PayTheGrants, said that the case was about protecting the rights of the South Africans who qualified for the grant but were excluded, and those that were approved but didn't receive payments.

"What is the case about? It is about three identified category issues; the first concerns the regulations that cause barriers to access to applicants, the second issue is the grant value and the income threshold, the third is the systematic problems of non-payment... We do not ask the court to set the precise grant value; we do not ask the court to set the income threshold," said Brickhill.

Although 16 to 17 million adults are eligible for and in need of the grant, the government only allows it to go to 8.5 million people per month.

"The application, which has been brought by the Institute for Economic Justice and #PayTheGrants, challenges...