Sassa explains why some Covid-19 SRD grant applications are declined

As South Africans continuously take to social media to voice their frustrations over declined Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant applications and payments, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has explained why some of these applications were declined.

The Covid-19 SRD grant was introduced two years to target citizens of working age who are not accommodated in the social assistance safety net.

But not all applications have been successful – here’s why:

• Alternative income source identified – The client had funds flowing into his bank account of more than the specific threshold for the given period: R595 for the period of August of August 2021 till March 2022; R350 for April 2022 to July 2022 and R624 for August 2022 to March 2023.
• Identity verification failed – The personal details provided at the time of application do not match the client details as received from the department of home affairs.
• Existing Sassa grant – The client was a recipient of social grant for her/himself during the application period.
• Debtor – The client was paid R350 in a month (or more) where the client did not qualify. The error was picked up and the money is not withheld to correct that error. Payments will resume if the client still qualifies, once all outstanding R350s were recovered.
• Nsfas registered – The client was in receipt of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme during the specific period under consideration.
• UIF registered – The client is registered with UIF or received a payout during the period under consideration.
• Gov payroll registered – The client was in the employment of a government institution during the period under consideration.
• Age outside range (>60) – The applicant does not qualify for the grant due to not meeting the age requirement of being below the age of 60 years during the period under consideration.
• Age outside range (>18) – The applicant does not qualify for the grant due to not meeting the age requirement of being above 18 years during the period under consideration.
• Deceased Record of DHA – The client was registered as deceased on the department of home affairs database during the period under consideration

According to Sassa, an applicant can dispute Sassa’s decision by lodging an appeal with the independent tribunal via the DSD website.

Youth account for 60% of Covid-19 SRD grant applications

According to Sassa, approximately 60% of the SRD grant of the applicants are young people.

The agency has blamed the high rate of unemployment, saying it was a great cause for concern.

“This correlates with the unemployment rate among youth, which is approximately 60% of all the applicants (youth and non-youth), approximately 5% hold tertiary qualifications,” said Sassa.

Although there was a slight decline in the number of unemployed youth in the first quarter, the youth remained vulnerable in the labour market.

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During the first quarter the total number of unemployed youth between the ages of 15 and 34 declined by 0.1% (5 000) to 4.7 million in the fourth quarter and a noticeable increase in the number of youth in employment of 5.0% (244 000), resulting in a decrease in youth unemployment of 1.2 percentage points to 47.8% in the first quarter.

“The agency remains committed to playing its part in fighting the scourge of unemployment,” said Sassa.

“Sassa has made great strides in its efforts to alleviate poverty and provide a lifeline to the most vulnerable in society through the Covid-19 SRD.”

Compiled by Vhahangwele Nemakonde