The Executive Manager of Grants Administration at the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), Brenton van Vrede, has announced the launch of the agency’s online application platform, which was first announced last year. Currently being tested, the platform is expected to go live in the next few days, following weeks of development. Sassa has also been working to improve its grant distribution and collection process to address the difficulties experienced by many beneficiaries.
Statement From Minister Zulu
Minister Zulu has revealed that Sassa encountered issues with SRD grant payments due to challenges in sourcing information to verify the eligibility of applicants. The agency relies on other government departments and entities to verify information, which has caused delays in payment distribution to beneficiaries.
Sassa is digitizing and enabling bank changes, allowing grant recipients to change their bank details easily. However, the agency needs to engage in contracts with South African banks, a process that could take up to three months. Sassa cannot solve Postbank issues, but it can accommodate people who want to switch banks.
Minister Zulu has confirmed that apart from an incident of duplicate payments in May 2020 in the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal region, no grant payment issues have been encountered since January 2023.
Changes to the qualifying criteria of Sassa’s social grants, including the monthly and income thresholds, have been proposed to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of the grant system. The monthly threshold has been amended to align with the food poverty line, while the income threshold has been set at R624.
Sassa distributes permanent grants, including the Older Persons grant, grant-in-aid, Disability grant, Foster Care grant, and several Children’s support grants to approximately 18 million people. The agency also provides a temporary grant to unemployed individuals, known as the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, which reaches over 7 million beneficiaries every month.