What are Sassa Social Grants and who are they available to?
In South Africa, the government provides social grants to certain people in certain situations. These grants are called Sassa Grants. As a non-South African, you may only access these grants if you have refugee status, or permanent residency in South Africa.
APPLICATIONS ARE FREE: There is no charge to apply – applicants are cautioned not to buy “application forms” – these are not genuine and will not be processed. Applicants are cautioned not to provide their banking details to anyone. All you have to do is to go to the sassa website and start your application process its that simple. Sassa will only request banking information once the application has been approved. All beneficiaries and applicants should never give their PIN number or the CVV number on the back of the banking card to anyone – not even the agency.
Who qualifies for social grant? In order to qualify for the grant you need to meet the requirements of the means test. If you are single you must not earn more than R55,200 per annum (R4,600) per month and if you are married, your combined income must not be more than R110,400 (R9,200).
No paper based applications will be accepted. Payment will be effected through a channel of your choice. Citizens without bank accounts can also apply. In this case payment will be effected through a money transfer, once all the necessary validations have been completed. Once applications are approved, sassa will request confirmation of bank account through a secure site – this will also be done electronically. Any applicant has the right to request confirmation that this request is from sassa to protect themselves.
Applicants must be:
- South African Citizens, Permanent Residents or Refugees registered with Home Affairs;
- Resident within the borders of the Republic of South Africa;
- Above the age of 18;
- Unemployed;
- Not receiving any income;
- Not receiving any social grant;
- Not receiving any unemployment insurance benefit and does not qualify to receive unemployment insurance benefits;
- Not receiving a stipend from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme;
- Not receiving any other government COVID-19 response support; and
- Not resident in a government funded or subsidised institution.
What information is required:
- Identity Number;
- Name and Surname as captured in the ID (and initials);
- Gender and Disability;
- Banking details – Bank Name and Account Number;
- Contact details – Cell phone number;
- Proof of Residential Address;
Find out how you can get the help you need, visit www.srd.sassa.gov.za/
Grants will be paid. There is no need to withdraw all the cash at once, or to go to points where large numbers of people congregate. Once the grant money is in the account, it will remain there, regardless of when it is accessed.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has released a statement to set the record straight about renewing the Sassa Gold cards. According to Sassa, the Sassa Gold cards remain valid and acceptable on the national payment system. Beneficiaries may continue to collect their grants from their usual paypoints using their cards. These are the paypoints that beneficiaries may use:
- ATMs
- Shoprite
- Checkers
- USave
- Boxer
- Pick n Pay
- OK
What is a means test? Some social grants, such as old age pension, social relief of distress grant, disability grant, care dependency grant and the child support grant is subject to a “means test”. The aim of the means test is to determine if you’re eligible to apply for a social grant, sassa will evaluate your income and assets in order to determine whether you qualify to apply. The means test is simply a way of determining whether you qualify to receive a grant that’s meant for those who have insufficient means to support themselves.
Use the following tips to keep safe when collecting your grant:
Be wary of people loitering around the ATM and ensure that you’re not followed.
Check your balance regularly and report discrepancies to your bank immediately.
After you have completed your transaction successfully, leave the ATM area immediately. Be cautious of strangers requesting that you return to finalise or close the transaction because they’re unable to transact. They may be skimming your card.
Some fraudsters wait until you’ve drawn your cash to take advantage.
Take your time to complete your transaction and secure your card and your cash in your wallet, handbag or pocket before leaving the ATM.