Sassa Will Publish SRD Grant Payment Dates Again

Sassa Will Publish SRD Grant Payment Dates Again

 

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is responsible for distributing social relief grants, that provide financial support to the country’s most vulnerable citizens and families.

SASSA has reportedly been experiencing delays when handing out social grants to qualifying beneficiaries, many of whom rely on that money for day-to-day survival.

SASSA Spokesperson, Paseka Letsatsi, says the Agency is ready to distribute the SRD grants. Beneficiaries can expect to receive their R350 during the last week of the month (August).

 

Why SRD Grant Beneficiaries Were Unpaid For July 2023

 

The Agency claimed that the reason for the slow roll-out can be attributed to backlogs, particularly for the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant which previously had no fixed payment date.

Letsatsi elaborated that there was a glitch in SASSA’s systems, which led to the R350 grant not being paid on their scheduled dates during July 2023. While this glitch has been resolved, August 2023 R350 grant payments will only be made during the later stages of the month.

The delay in SRD payments has raised concerns about the efficiency of the verification process for grant recipients. Letsatsi says the Agency has systems in place to check eligibility, but it also recognizes that individual circumstances can change, leading to delays in verification.

SASSA explained that the R350 grant payment dates are not fixed, but are generally determined by the last digit of the beneficiaries’ South African ID number. However, this approach has caused confusion and frustration among grant recipients.

Letsatsi also explained that each month, beneficiaries and their applications are reevaluated to determine if they still qualify for the grant, or if their financial situation has changed.

Even though grant beneficiaries only submit an R350 grant application once, their application is verified by SASSA every month before they can be paid the relief grant.

In this instance, that’s what happened. However, since then [July] everyone has been paid, and from now going forward, it will be paid [on time].

However, SASSA recently revealed when beneficiaries of the R350 can expect to get their money each month.

When August R350 Grant Payments Will Be Made

R350 grant beneficiaries who were approved for payment in August 2023 will be paid from 25 August 2023. The last grant beneficiaries will be paid on 31 August 2023.

Payments (for clients who are approved for August 2023) will be processed from 25 – 31 August 2023.

SASSA has encouraged grant beneficiaries to complete an SASSA status check to see when their grant will be paid. However, they are reminded that the grant payment will take between two and three working days to reflect in their bank account after an R350 grant payment has been made.

During that week, clients are encouraged to view their status on the SRD website for the exact date that payment will reflect into bank accounts. Funds will take about 2 – 3 working days to reflect in the client’s account after payment has been processed.

Letsatsi has assured beneficiaries that the R350 grant payments will be administered this month and that the payment information will be published soon. They acknowledge the frustration of beneficiaries and express a commitment to resolve these issues and improve communication going forward.

However, this is not the first time that SASSA has been delayed in distributing grant payments.

SASSA Is Notoriously Delayed In Distributing Grant Payments

 

Often, some approved beneficiaries will receive a “pending” status on their application. This causes delays in the R350 reaching grant recipients.

In April of this year, Mpumalanga’s SASSA provincial branch addressed the issue of delays in the approval and payment of the R350 grant by stating that the approval process follows a specific verification process to ensure that applicants do not receive any other form of income.

SASSA urged applicants to be patient, stating that if their application is still “pending”, it means that it has not yet been fully verified.

The verification process includes checking citizenship with the Department of Home Affairs and verifying UIF registration with the Department of Employment and Labour.

The Agency advised applicants that when all verification processes are completed, their application status would be updated to “approved.”

Other Reasons Why Your Grant Payment May Be Delayed

SASSA also highlighted that some beneficiaries experienced delays in receiving the grant after approval, due to a failure to provide banking details. The Agency clarified that applicants should provide banking account details, and not just the name of their bank, to ensure that payments are processed promptly.

Additionally, SRD grant recipients are not updating their details on the system. This is one of the key issues that cause a delay in payments.

An SMS is sent when it’s time for this cohort of grant recipients to withdraw money from a retail merchant (if that is their preferred payment method), and it must be used in conjunction with a South African identity document (ID) to complete the transaction.

Due to the system’s periodic changes, a delay after updating details should also be expected.

The agency assured applicants that they are working tirelessly to ensure that all applications are verified promptly to allow for the timely payment of the R350 grant. Applicants are urged to be patient as the verification process takes time to complete.

What Is The SRD Grant?

The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, also commonly referred to as the R350 grant, has been a lifeline for millions of South African beneficiaries, especially during the harsh lockdowns of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This grant was initially introduced as a temporary form of relief for citizens experiencing sudden job loss and the inability to work during the time of the pandemic. However, the grant has been proven to be incredibly beneficial and has therefore been extended on multiple occasions.

Beneficiaries receive R350 grant payments every month, which is why many have called it the R350 grant.

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