Sassa stands for South African Social Security Agency. It is a government agency that is responsible for distributing social grants to eligible South African citizens who are in need of financial assistance.
These social grants include Child Support grants, Disability grants, the R350 grant and Old Person’s grants among others. Sassa aims to provide a social safety net, one way being through financial support, to vulnerable members of society with insufficient means, and its services are an important part of the South African government’s efforts to reduce poverty and inequality in the country.
Sassa SRD Criteria
The Sassa R350 grant is available for all South Africans, aged 18 to 59, who have no other source of income. This means they cannot be receiving a salary or any other grants from Sassa. So, the eligibility criteria are quite simple.
Once you send in an application form to benefit from Sassa’s Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant you should do a Sassa status check to make sure your application was submitted successfully. Completing a Sassa status check is crucial to see if your grant will be paid.
If Sassa rejected you and you disagree with that outcome, the first thing you need to do is lodge an appeal application. This is quite easy, as you can appeal electronically(link is external).
How To Submit An SRD Grant Appeal Application
Want to know where you appeal stands? Here’s a guide on how to check your appeal status:
How To Track Social Assistance Appeals
You must do a status check on your appeal to make sure that you appeal hasn’t got lost in the Sassa system. To check on your SRD grant status for your appeal, you need to have your ID number with you. This is how you research you grant appeal and find out your grant appeal status.
- Go to Sassa Appeals Website(link is external)
- Enter ID number
- Enter telephone number
- Track appeal
You can also call the Sassa Call Centre on their cellphone number which is 0800 601 011. If you’ve already submitted an appeal, you don’t need to submit another or contact the Sassa office.
The outcome of your appeal will be relayed through a confirmation message via SMS.
Once your Sassa SRD status check appeal has been confirmed successful, payments will then be made from the month you initially applied. You should make sure that Sassa has your bank account details, a bank account is said to be the most convenient grant payment method,so that the grant can be paid to you directly.
If the applicant qualifies in that month of the application, he/she will be paid for that month & for the current month if they still meet the application criteria. The payment may not necessarily be a double payment/lump sum or on the same day. It can be split over days or weeks.
– SASSA
History of the Sassa R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant
The President declared a National State of Disaster as a result of the Covid-19 global pandemic. In this regard he introduced a special Covid 19 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD) of R350 per month to be paid to individuals who are currently unemployed, do not receive any form of income, social grant or UIF payment etc.
As it currently stands, the grant will be paid to beneficiaries until March of 2024. The minister warned that any permanent extension or replacement will require permanent increases in revenue, reductions in spending elsewhere, or a combination of the two.
Sassa’s social grants programmes help to alleviate poverty and reduce inequality, making a significant impact on the lives of millions of people. Sassa is part of the Social Development Department and operates under the Social Assistance Act.
Sassa co-ordinates with the Department of Home Affairs so applications are compared against the Home Affairs database to check they are correct. The government has also set up the Social Development independent tribunal under the Administrative justice act to review appeals. Having an independent tribunal separate to the main Sassa staff ensures impartiality.
While the agency has faced some challenges, including issues related to fraud and corruption, it remains an essential part of the country’s social protection system.
