Over 10 Million R350 SRD Grant Recipients Still Waiting for Their April and May Payouts, Says Sassa

• The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) stated it is yet to payout the R350 grant for April and May
• The Department of Social Development said the delay is caused by the new means test that will ensure the poorest of the poor will receive the grant
• South Africans are upset at the department's decision to exclude more people from the grant and feel the SRD grant should be stopped

JOHANNESBURG - The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has admitted that newly approved R350 Social Relief of Distress grant beneficiaries have not received their payments for April and May.

Approximately 10 million South Africans have applied to receive the SRD grant from the month of April, however, Sassa says it hopes it will be able to make payouts from mid-June.

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According to Fin24, the delay in payments comes after the Department of Social Development made the decision to test a new phase of the R350 grant. With the new phase, South Africans who receive R350 or more per month will not be eligible to receive the grant.

The department says that even applicants who receive R350 from family members will be excluded from the SRD grant. Sassa says they needed to test the new phase by signing new agreements with banks to verify that applicants do not receive R350 or more in their bank accounts.

Sassa says the means test is being implemented to ensure that the poorest of the poor will be the ones receiving the grant. The grant previously only excluded employed people.

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According to TimesLIVE, the Social Development Department has set R44 billion aside for the SRD grant and only 10.5 million South Africans are eligible to receive the grant. This is despite the department previously stating that 13.4 million people do not earn an income and 18.3 million people are living below the poverty line.

South Africans share their thoughts on Sassa's means test

South Africans feel that the SRD grant should be stopped because so many people are being excluded from the grant. Some people are wondering if the Government really that people can survive on just R350 per month.

Here are some comments:

@believesLindt4u said:

"Imagine me stopping supporting my parents because Government threatens that R350 that they get from SASSA is too much, they don't need more than that."

@NNtsuba said:

"But why don't you stop this grant once and for all... excuses and red tapes on this grant are shocking when social development is not questioning pensioners and mothers from Zim and Maputo who receive grant money in SA and go back to their respective countries after payday."

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@skolimanzi said:

"Maybe I am dom, the people in the social development department believe there is an adult that can survive with R350 for the whole month?"

@PieterseBartel said:

"I think the government made a promise they could not keep. Some people have not received any in the past 2 months."

SRD grant recipients told to reapply if they want to continue receiving R350, SASSA to review

Briefly News previously reported that South Africans who are currently receiving the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant have been told that they would have to reapply for it following an announcement made by the Department of Social Development on Friday.

The department said the Covid-19 SRD grant will be extended from April 2022 until March 2022. However, the state of disaster was lifted in April. The department has said that it would need to create a framework for continued payment of the scheme.

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As a result, new qualifying criteria would be added and those who wish to continue receiving the grant will have to reapply.

Source: Briefly News