[FiLE] The Government Gazette details how several social grants will rise in value this month, and again in October 2022 – Image: SASSA / Supplied
Approximately five million SASSA R350 grant applicants were rejected. The appeals process will resume on Monday, 27 June.
[FiLE] The Government Gazette details how several social grants will rise in value this month, and again in October 2022 – Image: SASSA / Supplied
After no COVID-19 social relief of distress grants (SRD) grants were paid in April and May, payments finally started in June. However, millions of applicants were rejected with many seemingly unaware of the reason for the refusal.
As previously reported, many R350 grant applicants were declined over a self “exclusionary response.”
READ: What does ‘self exclusionary response found’ mean?
What this means, according to the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), is that information provided by the applicant indicated that they are already receiving financial support of more than R350 per month or live in a government facility and therefore do not qualify for the grant.
Brenton van Vrede, the Grants Operations Executive Manager, told SABC News, on Friday, that of the 10.9 million applications received for the R350 grant – five million were rejected and five million were approved.
[ON AIR] @OfficialSASSA Grants Operations Executive Manager, Brenton Van Vrede says of the 10.9 million applications received for the R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant, 5 million applications have been approved and the other 5 million declined#UpdateAtNoon #SABCNews #SASSA
SASSA said the appeals process will resume on Monday, 27 June. Rejected clients can lodge an appeal via the website – https://srd.dsd.gov.za
HERE IS A LIST OF DECLINE REASONS
On Thursday, Civil Society groups, including Black Sash, #PayTheGrants, amandla.mobi and more, announced that they intend to take the government to court over the “unfair regulations” that govern the R350 grant.
“We are challenging the arbitrary means test of R350, which deprives millions of people in need of government assistance and regresses developments of the right to social assistance for hundreds of thousands who qualified for this assistance previously,” read a joint statement.
Millions of South Africans who previously received the grant are no longer eligible for it because under the new legislative framework anyone with a monthly income greater than R350 is automatically excluded.
Every R350 grant applicant now has to undergo a means-test, which is one of the reasons no payments were made in April and May.
An agreement between the government and banks was reached in June before the payments could be made.
The means-testing will see banks tell SASSA whether applicants’ bank account balances are below the minimum income threshold and whether their ID number is linked to multiple bank accounts.
The means-testing and the lower income threshold were introduced to ensure the department of social development stays within its R44 billion budget for the R350 grant, according to the government. Approximately 10.5 million South Africans should receive the grant.
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