Covid-19 social relief of distress grant applications is in final stage

Systems for the special Covid-19 social relief of distress grant, announced by President Ramaphosa recently, have passed the final stage of development.

The social development portfolio comprising the Department of Social Development (DSD), National Development Agency (NDA) and Sassa announced its readiness for implementation.

Minister Lindiwe Zulu launched the opening of the application process on May 11.

The criteria for application was set to be gazetted on Monday in order to enable implementation and allow the millions of members of the public to access the grant. Sassa has been inundated with enquiries from the public about the process of application and it must be thanked for its patience during these difficult times.

Sassa had to put all the required controls in place to ensure that the grant is only accessed by deserving and qualifying individuals. A WhatsApp platform of the Department of Health was used in the initial test and 15 000 applications were loaded onto the system.

All qualifying applications received during the test phase will be processed on May 15.

Applicants without smartphones will also be able to access this new platform through a Short Message Service (SMS), using the Unstructured Supplementary Data Service (USSD). Volunteers and community development workers will be deployed to assist those who have no access to technology with applications.

Manual applications will not be done at Sassa offices at all and there will be no need to fill in paper application forms.

Applicants are cautioned not to provide their banking details to anyone to avoid scams. Sassa will only request information once the application has been approved. All beneficiaries and applicants should never give their PIN number or the CVV number on the back of the banking card to anyone –not even Sassa.

Once applications are approved, Sassa will request confirmation of bank accounts through a secure site – this will also be done electronically. Applicants have the right to request confirmation that a request is from Sassa in order to protect themselves.

Payment will be effected through deposits made directly into an approved applicant’s bank account, if they have one. Applicants without bank accounts can also apply and their payment will be effected through a money transfer.

Sassa reserves the right to validate the information provided by applicants with other public and private databases to prevent misrepresentation and potential fraud. Applicants will be required to agree with this condition for their applications to be processed.

In order to do this, Sassa local offices will be attending to specific grants on specific days only:

• Monday and Tuesday: Grants for older persons (old age grants)
• Wednesday and Thursday: Child support grants and foster care grants
• Friday: Administration for staff to attend to matters that flow over from the previous days

Under level four lockdown, no disability grants, care dependency grants or grant in aid applications will be done, as access to health facilities is restricted to emergency cases and Covid -19 cases only

This means that no medical assessments, which is a legislated requirement prior to an application for these grant types, can be undertaken. Minister Zulu will also clarify how Sassa is going to deal with lapsed temporary disability grants.

Lapsed care dependency grants will also be clarified in line with the Government Gazette, which the Minister will simplify for the public.

Issued by the South African Social Security Agency