Former public protector Thuli Madonsela is not giving up on the fight to extend the social relief of distress (SRD) grant.

The R350 monthly grant was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last year to help those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, and was meant for unemployed citizens and qualifying foreign citizens.

The grant was allocated R2.1bn by the National Treasury to extend it until the end of April, and Madonsela has joined calls for it to be extended again.

Taking to Twitter, she said the grant should be paid “until a permanent solution is found”.

She also called for politicians’ “perks” to be done away with and the funds used for the distress grant.

“There is no basis other than that those are the unconscionable privileges colonial and apartheid rulers granted themselves. In fidelity to our egalitarian constitution, some of these benefits must go as we tighten our belts to pay for necessities such as the R350 distress grant,” she said.

Last month Madonsela urged her followers to sign a petition calling for Ramaphosa to extend and increase the grant until it is turned into basic income support.

“If we don’t act, this grant could come to an end,” she said.