Close to six million Covid-19 SRD grants paid out

SINCE the resumption of the Covid-19 Special Relief of Distress (SRD) grant in early August, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has received 14 million applications.

Of this total, 8.3 million grants have been approved, while 5.6 million have been paid out.

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Sassa said it has been able to expedite payment of verified applicants while continuing to verify the remaining applications.

Sassa CEO Busisiwe Memela-Khambula explained about 1.5 million applicants chose to be paid through the cardless payment channel at ATMs.

She said this category has not been paid as yet because Sassa went through a procurement process to use this payment method with the banks, and National Treasury is currently considering the request.

‘As soon as Treasury approves our request, we will pay every cent owed to this category of beneficiaries without any waste of time.

‘We empathise with them but we also have a responsibility to follow the law.

‘On the other hand, unemployed caregivers without the 13 digit barcoded South African ID books who receive child grants can now apply for the SRD grant.

‘This category is composed largely of refugees and asylum seekers. To enable these specific clients to apply for social grants, Sassa has allocated them a system-generated 7777 identification number to assist them in accessing social assistance.

‘Also, unemployed caregivers with ID documents who have been approved for the Covid-19 SRD grant are reminded that they are paid through their gold Sassa payment cards.

‘These clients who receive their R350 grant to their Sassa cards are advised not to collect at the Post Office, but to access the money at participating merchants or bank ATMs.

‘They are reminded that they can also use the card to pay for purchases and not necessarily only to withdraw cash.

‘Over two thirds of appeals lodged have been finalised. As part of the process, Sassa sends these cases to the banking sector for validation which may take time in some cases.

‘The main purpose is to double-check if they do not receive an income because part of the Covid-19 SRD criteria is that applicants should be unemployed and without any income.

‘Sassa requests applicants who have not yet received their appeal feedback to be patient as everything humanly possible is being done to finalise the process,’ she said.