Temporary disability grants which lapsed or expired in March 2020 left some beneficiaries with no money after the national lockdown was implemented.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) will give out food parcels to those beneficiaries in April as an interim measure to cushion the impact of the termination of their grant benefits.
“Sassa offices were closed since the lockdown and this posed a challenge for beneficiaries whose grants expired in March and were, therefore, unable to re-apply at Sassa offices. The payment file for April 2020 payments was extracted before the lockdown was announced, meaning that all temporary disability grants which were due to lapse at the end of March 2020 had already lapsed and were not generated for payment in April,” said Sassa‘s provincial spokesperson Sandy Godlwana.
She added that the situation would be fully remedied for those grants expiring in April because ministerial directions issued on 30 March 2020 would enable the continued payment of temporary disability grants throughout the lockdown period. This development should be able to eliminate the panic caused by recent media reports.
“Temporary disability grants have a lifespan of 12 months and beneficiaries have to re-apply after the prescribed period. In 12 months there is a possibility that a medical condition might have improved to the extent that it does not require continuation of temporary disability grant,” explained Godlwana.
Social relief of distress requires an application process but during the declared state of disaster, applications will be done telephonically on 0800 60 10 11.
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