Overview of CSI spend on social and community development in 2024

National context of social and community development in South Africa

• Government’s budget for social development increased from R378 billion in 2023/24 to R387 billion in 2024/25, constituting 16% of consolidated government expenditure of R2.37 trillion. Of this, R107 billion was allocated to the old age grant, R89 billion to social security funds, R85 billion to the child support grant, and R105 billion to other grants, provincial social development and policy oversight and grant administration. The budget for community development is R265 billion for 2024/25, constituting 11% of the consolidated government expenditure bill. The majority of this is earmarked for local municipalities, public transport and human settlements.  
• According to the South African Social Security Agency, the total number of grant recipients as at 31 March 2024 was 19.1 million, an increase from 18.8 million in March 2023, of which around 13 million received the child support grant (R530 per child per month), 3.8 million the old age grant (R2 185 per recipient per month), and 1 million the disability grant (R2 185 per recipient per month). Additionally, more than 17 million people received the Social Relief of Distress grant which was introduced during Covid-19 in 2020 and extended to 31 March 2025. The grant was increased in April 2024 from R350 to R370 a month.  
• According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the national poverty lines for 2024 are R796 per person per month for the food poverty line, R1 109 for the lower-bound poverty line, and R1 634 for the upper-bound poverty line. World Bank data showed that in 2023, over 37 million people in South Africa (62% of the population) lived below the international upper middle-income poverty line (US$6.85 per day). 
• Stats SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of 2024 indicated that the total number of unemployed people increased to 8.4 million during the second quarter of 2024, equating to a national unemployment rate of 33.5%, with a youth unemployment rate of 45.5% (individuals aged 15–34 years). The expanded unemployment rate, which includes those who are not looking for work, increased to 42.6% overall and 60.8% for youth. 
• The Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES), launched in October 2020, was allocated R7.4 billion in 2024/25. Of this, R4 billion is earmarked for hiring teacher assistants, R1.1 billion for the Social Employment Fund, R750 million for the Food Security and Livelihoods Programme, R650 million for the cities’ public employment programmes, R250 million for the National Youth Service, and R250 million for the National Pathway Management Network. The PES has created 1.5 million work and livelihood support opportunities since inception.  
• In 2024, the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) marked its 20th anniversary, having created more than 14 million work opportunities across the four EPWP sectors – infrastructure, social, environment and culture, and non-state. The programme is currently in its fifth phase (2024–2029), which aims to create another five million work opportunities.  

Overview of CSI spend  

Social and community development was supported by 75% of companies and received 15% of average CSI expenditure. 

Type of support

Welfare organisations: 39%

Infrastructure, facilities and equipment: 25%

Job – creation programmes: 23%

Awareness programmes: 11%

Other: 2%

Average % CSI social and community development spend 2024 n=39

• Welfare organisations/programmes received the largest share (39%) of average social and community development spend in 2024, in line with previous years.  
• Infrastructure, facilities and equipment received the second largest proportion of average CSI spend in this sector, increasing notably from 13% in 2023 to 25% in 2024. This increase was driven by six resources companies investing heavily in infrastructure this year (100% of their spend in this sector).  
• Job-creation programmes received significantly less of social and community development spend, decreasing to 23% in 2024 from 30% in 2023, pushing it to the third most popular sector for CSI funding compared to second place last year.

Target beneficiaries

Average % social develomentnspend 2024 n=33

Youth: 31%

Unemployed people: 15%

orphans and vunerable children: 13%

Victims of violence and abuse: 7%

The aged: 5%

People with disabilities

People with HIV/Aids

Homeless people: 1%

Animals: 1%

LGBTQ+ : 1%

Other: 17%

• Youth (people aged between 15 and 29) continue to be the main beneficiaries of CSI spend on community and social development, receiving an average of 31% of spend in 2024 – although this represented a notable decrease from 40% in 2023.  
• Average CSI spend on unemployed people decreased to 15% in 2024 from 19% in 2023, in line with the decline in support of job-creation programmes, although this still remains the second most supported group of beneficiaries.  
• Support for orphans and vulnerable children, which in 2014 was the largest category in this sector receiving an average of 33% spend, has fallen to an average of 13% in 2024.  
• Support for victims of violence and abuse constituted an average of 7% of social and community development spend in 2024, similar to 2023.  
• All other groups of target beneficiaries continued to receive 5% or less of average CSI sector spend in 2024: the aged, prisoners/former prisoners, people with the human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/Aids), homeless people and the LGBTQ+ community. The same was true of animal welfare organisations.