sassa grant april 2023-2024

While the government develops a new method, payments made under the social alleviation of suffering award have been suspended. 10.6 million applications for the grant were submitted in the most recent round.

Sassa anticipates starting award payments again in mid-June.

The 10.6 million applicants who submitted applications for the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) award in the new cycle that began on April 1 have not yet received payments for the months of April and May.
The SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) plans to start delivering payments in the middle of June after allocating other social expenditures. Due to an increase in the grant’s availability in the February budget, the grant’s length has been increased until March 2023.
The Department of Social Development’s decision to introduce a means test for the grant’s subsequent phase of administration caused the delay. Anyone earning R350 or more a month, even if it comes from a family member, will not be eligible. However, in order to put the test into action, Sassa has to establish new contracts with banks who will check bank accounts for income.

In a presentation made to Parliament last week, the department and Sassa said:

“In order to make the means testing practicable, SASSA had to use the services of banks. The contracts could not be signed without the approval of the finance minister, even though this process had been finished the year before. The approval from the finance minister was received on April 30, 2022. However, the arrangement contained additional stipulations that the bank’s legal department had to sift out before the contracts could be put into effect.

The means test, which was formerly very lenient and only disqualified individuals who were employed, is intended to ensure that the award reaches the most vulnerable segments of society. The SRD received R44 billion from the February budget, which is adequate to cover 10.5 million people’s needs in terms of services. The department did state that more candidates were expected this time around.

SOCIAL GRANTS