SASSA has not specified or confirmed any October top-up for the Older Persons Grant, yet that uncertainty hasn’t stopped beneficiaries from voicing exactly what they expect if one materialises. Commenting under a recent The South African article on the matter, Sandy Davey wrote, “Please not less than R2000 top up. PLEASE.”
The Older Persons Grant currently sits at R2,400 a month for beneficiaries aged 60 to 74, following the April 2026 increase confirmed in the Budget Speech. With no official word from SASSA on whether October will bring any adjustment at all, commenters are already bracing for disappointment based on past cycles.
‘Shove it where the sun doesn’t shine’
Susan Bobat did not mince her words when addressing the prospect of another small, unconfirmed adjustment. “Is it a lousy R10 shove it where the sun don’t shine,” she wrote, drawing visible frustration from others in the thread.
Jean Elizabeth Hitchcock agreed, simply stating, “R10 IS LAUGHABLE.” Historically, October top-ups have been modest, often in the R10 to R20 range, and with SASSA not indicating what, if anything, is coming this year, that history is exactly what has commentators worried.
A demand for real relief, not small change
Rashied Hartley took a sharper tone, linking government spending elsewhere to the size of any potential increase. “Six hundred million for one day, ten rand to pensioners,” he commented, a remark that resonated with several others who echoed similar sentiments about misplaced priorities. Sabata Paulus Ramotseoa went further, rejecting the current figure outright: “No 2400, we want 5000.”
The thread reflects a broader pattern seen whenever speculation swirls around a possible SASSA adjustment: in the absence of any official confirmation, beneficiaries fill the gap with their own expectations and frustrations.
With October 2026 payment dates approaching and SASSA yet to specify whether a top-up will happen at all, pressure from beneficiaries and civil society groups is likely to grow the longer the silence continues.
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