Finance Minister did not increase the R350 Grant for the unemployed in his Budget Speech. Image: Flickr / GCIS
SASSA R350 Grant: ‘Cash Send’ payments not yet available, clients should switch to bank accounts
SASSA said the cash send payment method is unavailable as the agency is still in contract negotiations with banks.
Finance Minister did not increase the R350 Grant for the unemployed in his Budget Speech. Image: Flickr / GCIS
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) said it is experiencing delays in processing reconsiderations for the COVID-19 R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. The agency also advised applicants to utilise banks or Post Offices so that payments can be made quicker.
SASSA R350 GRANT RECONSIDERATIONS DELAYED
The agency said applicants must request a SASSA R350 grant reconsideration if they are surely that their application was wrongly rejected and they meet the qualifying criteria .
“It is important to remind applicants that the grant is intended only for those citizens who have no financial support from any other source. It is not intended to ‘top up’ support already received,” said the agency.
SASS explained that when it reconsiders applications it conducts a means test and contacts banks to confirm whether an applicant receives income from any other source.
“The delay in attending to reconsiderations is as a result of delays in contracting banks to undertake means-testing, amongst other services,” said Dianne Dunkerley, the Executive Manager of Grants Administration.
CASH SEND PAYMENTS NOT AVAILABLE
Dunkerley furthered that applicants that selected the cash send option as a payment method should switch to either their personal bank accounts or opt for the Post Office for quick access to the SASSA R350 grant.
The cash send option is not yet available because the agency is yet to finalise its contracts with the different banks.
“The previous contracts expired when the grant came to an end and we had to follow a procurement process to enter into contracts once again. This whole process has, unfortunately, delayed the contracting,” said the grant administration manager.
SASSA said the personal bank account payment method is the quickest. The bank account details must be in the name of the grant applicant or else the money cannot be paid.
To change your payment method visit – srd.sass.gov.za – and click on the “how do I change my banking details tab.”
