This comes after SASSA and the Department of Social Development (DSD) realised that the number of approved beneficiaries has decreased when compared to the previous grant cycle.

There was also a great concern from the public about the new regulations that were implemented at the start of the second phase of the SRD grant as it excluded a lot of potential applicants from qualifying for the grant.

Due to the outcry, the DSD published the amended regulations for the means test which include the increase in income threshold from R350 to R624. This means that applicants who receive less than R624 (for that month) qualify to receive the R350 grant with effect from August 2022.

With this new development, SASSA believes that a greater number of applicants will be approved. From the beginning of August 2022, SASSA has received just under 12 million applications.

Thus, SASSA has been experiencing a slight delay and challenges with the processing of applications and releasing of payment for July 2022 as the previous regulation required beneficiaries to re-confirm their grant every 3 months and only a few did re-confirm. With the new regulations in place, the July assessments will soon be concluded. This will also affect the smooth release of the September R350 SRD grant payment.  

“We are still having challenges with some payments wherein some applicants have not provided us with their banking details. We encourage all applicants to provide us with their correct bank details so that we can timeously facilitate their grant payments”, said Social Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu. Learn more on the SASSA SRD R350 Grant Bank Account Information Update.

It is important to note that the payment amount of the COVID-19 SRD remains R350 per person, for each month they qualify for.

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