File image. NATIONAL NEWS - The temporary extension of the R350 Social Relief of Distress grant by another month will cost the South African fiscus R27 billion, the National Treasury has revealed. The Department revealed this during a press briefing in which it detailed the country’s Economic Support Package as a result of COVID restrictions and the recent riots in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. The package was first announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday. The SRD, which was first introduced in April last year, will now end in March 2022. “And really this responds to the dire situation in which most of our people have found themselves, said Finance Minister Tito Mboweni. “If you drive around the country or walk around the country, you are bound to notice the extreme poverty in which our people live.”