Sassa has assured beneficiaries of the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant that payments will be processed before Christmas. Photo: Flickr/GCIS
In a concerted effort to streamline the payment of the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) will kick-start its “damage control” measures with the processing of August’s payments to approved beneficiaries from Friday.
“Payments for clients who are approved for this month will be processed from August 25 to 31. During that week, clients are encouraged to view their status on the SRD website for the exact date payment will reflect in their bank accounts,” said the agency.
According to Sassa, funds will take about two to three working days to reflect in the grant beneficiary’s account after payment has been processed.
Going forward, Sassa has also committed to release a monthly schedule, indicating when beneficiaries can expect payment of their R350 SRD grants.
In contrast to the monthly release of payment date schedules for other social grants, the agency has previously refrained from providing any specifics on the payment dates of the R350 grant.
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The announcements come in the wake of a recent flood of complaints by beneficiaries of delays, as well as inconsistency, in the payment of the grant which has become a lifeline to as many as seven million people.
Earlier this month, Sassa said all grants, including the SRD one, would be paid on August 2, 3 and 4. The promise of the R350 payment unfortunately never became a reality.
Speaking on Newzroom Afrika, Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said the agency experienced a backlog that led to delays in the payments of grants.
“There was a delay because we do an assessment of applicants every month to check if their conditions have not changed.
“We have since taken a decision as an organisation that we will definitely post on social media and share it as well with all other media houses, the payment schedule that people can be aware in terms of when their payment be processed.”
Letsatsi urged beneficiaries to update their details on Sassa’s website or contact the call centre to avoid payment delays.
“In some instances, it gets approved, but there are one or two challenges with regard to the beneficiaries’ details. So, we appeal to them to just go into our website and update those details.”
The grant was initially introduced in May 2020 as a measure to provide financial relief during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Department of Social Development’s (DSD), the scope of the grant now extends to South African citizens, refugees, asylum seekers and special permit holders between the ages of 18 and 60 years with a monthly income below R624.
Applicants “who have insufficient means, who do not receive social grants on behalf of herself/ himself or who are not contributing to or eligible for UIF payment, and have no financial support from any other source”, are approved as grant recipients.
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