The temporary relief grant for unemployed persons who have no access to any other form of income was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa more than a week ago. JB Marks spokesperson, Willy Maphosa, says scammers have sent messages to members of the public asking them to provide their banking details should they seek access to the R350 social grant relief. Maphosa says the government would never send an SMS requesting confidential information like banking details. He urges members of the public to be vigilant.

Over a week ago, Ramaphosa unveiled government’s ambitious R500 billion social and economic support package to help the country’s economy recover from the devastating Coronavirus pandemic. R130 billion will be reprioritised within the country’s current budget, while the remaining R370 billion will come from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) as well as varied global partners and financial institutions, like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), the New Development Bank, formerly known as the Brics Bank, and the African Development Bank. Ramaphosa says these international financial institutions have made it known they will be providing extra financial support for countries during the Coronavirus outbreak.

R20 billion will be set aside for the continued fight against the Coronavirus. This will be used to conduct further screening and testing as well as procure protective equipment for health practitioners as well as ventilators for patients, amongst others. A further R20 million has been allocated for municipalities to ensure emergency water supply, sanitation as well as food and shelter for the needy. 

The latter has raised some questions from South Africans on social media platforms. In mid-2019, the auditor-general (AG), Kimi Makwetu, released the latest municipal audit results, showing an overall decline for the 2017/18 financial year. Makwetu said these deteriorating audit outcomes indicated that various local government role players have disregarded the audit office’s recommendations.

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