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For thousands of pensioners, the R2 400 South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grant is gone within days — swallowed by food, electricity and medication leaving little to survive the rest of the month.

What is meant to support society’s most vulnerable has, in reality, become a cycle of short-term relief followed by weeks of hardship.

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A Pietermaritzburg pensioner, who supports her unemployed daughter and grandchild, said the grant barely stretches past the first half of the month.

I’m lucky the house is paid off, but the money still goes to keep it running. Groceries are expensive, and we buy only what we need, but it’s still not enough.

“By the time the municipal bill comes, there is almost nothing left and when we don’t pay, our lights get cut off,” she said.

Despite qualifying for indigent support, she said the free 70kWh of electricity never lasts.

“We try to save, we even use gas for cooking but we still end up with a very high electricity bill that we can barely cover,” she said.

Her monthly budget leaves little room to breathe: about R1 500 on groceries, R250 for a funeral policy, with transport to buy food and for clinic visits, as well as medication costs quickly consuming what remains.

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“There are days when you just have to make do with less. I don’t remember the last time I bought clothes. Towards the end of the month, we are scrambling for food because the groceries will be finished with no money to buy more food,” she said.

For families caring for elderly relatives, the financial strain is also felt.

Another local woman caring for her father, a stroke patient, said the grant does not come close to covering his medical needs.

The R2 400 is not sufficient. It all goes towards medication and physiotherapy. Sometimes his medical costs alone are more than that amount.

“If it wasn’t for my sister and I, I don’t know how he would’ve survived,” she said.

She added that electricity costs alone can reach up to R1 000 in some households, further squeezing already stretched budgets.

Mervyn Abrahams, of the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group, said the old age grant is structurally inadequate, particularly in households where it supports entire families.

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“In many homes, that R2 400 is feeding multiple people,” he said.

According to Abrahams, a basic food basket for a family of seven in Pietermaritzburg costs R5 176,12 — more than double the value of the grant.

Even when combined with other social support such as the child support grant (R580) and the R370 social relief of distress grant, incomes remain below the minimum needed for adequate nutrition.

“There is already high unemployment, and these grants are simply too small. The child support grant is already well below the food poverty line, and the system as a whole is not changing people’s circumstances,” he said.

He said many pensioners run out of money within two weeks and are forced into debt to survive.

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When the next payment comes, the first thing they do is pay back what they owe. It becomes a cycle of debt that they cannot escape.

Abrahams said the group has called for a “13th cheque” for pensioners to help ease the burden, particularly over the festive season and into January, traditionally one of the toughest financial periods.

Beyond food, he said, the cost of electricity is worsening hunger.

“You cannot separate electricity from food,” he said.

“People need power to cook and store food.

“As electricity prices rise, people cut back on food. In many cases now, households are spending more on electricity than on food.”

Two weeks ago, a group of pensioners held a demonstration in Cape Town, which was led by Pensioners of South Africa, calling for the government to increase old persons’ grants.

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They argued that April’s R80 increase, which brought the grant to R2 400 a month, has done little to ease the financial burden facing elderly South Africans.

A petition launched in January calling for this increase has over 30 000 signatures with one of the pensioners commenting: “Senior citizens don’t just support themselves, most have extended family that they help.

The pittance they are getting now doesn’t even cover their roof, where does the food come from? Wake up SA, respect your seniors and just maybe life will start to become a little lighter for all. God bless.