Sassa Has Already Made 1st Payments of R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant

• A number of South Africans have already been given access to the R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant says Sassa
• The department says that it has already made the first payments ahead of the scheduled of the end of August
• Sassa says they were able to make the first payments because recipients provided the department with their banking details

JOHANNESBURG - The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) issued a statement on Wednesday in which the department indicated that they have begun to make payments to the recipients of the R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant(SRD).

The department previously announced that the first payments for the SRD would be made by the end of August 2021, but on Wednesday the department stated that some people have already received their R350 grant, according to BusinessLIVE.

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Sassa indicated that it will be making payments via the post offices, through mobile money transfers and some payments will be directly paid into the bank accounts of recipients.

According to Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi they were able to make payments were earlier than scheduled because most people who applied for the SRD grant gave Sassa their bank account details which made it easier for the department, according to SABC News.

“The good news is that majority of people gave us their bank account details which makes our life easier and reduces the queues at the post offices," said Letsatsi.

Letsatsi indicated that Sassa has close to 10 million applications. The grant will be paid out until the end ofMarch next year.

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Letsatsi also says that the Sassa application systems have been fixed and can handle the volume of applications coming in. Sassa expects to make more payments in the next coming days.

Sassa inundated with 2 000 social relief grant applicants per minute

Briefly News previously reported that when the application platform for the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant went online it was inundated with applications from South Africans.

The Head of Communication at the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), Paseka Letsatsi, said that at one point it was estimated that the system was processing 2 000 applications per minute.

SABC News reported that R26.7 billion had been earmarked by the government for the grants and that Sassa is looking at alternative ways for citizens to access the grant.

Sassa partnering with retailers and banks

eNCA reported that Sassa is partnering with banks and retailers to facilitate pay points for people that are more accessible.

Source: Briefly News