How Far Is Sassa With R350 Grant Appeals?

How Far Is Sassa With R350 Grant Appeals? | The R350 grant provided by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) to much of the country’s impoverished is still in place. However, despite being on its third cycle there are still outstanding grant payouts for which appeals have been lodged to Sassa.

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has been making R350 grant payments for more than two years since its initial introduction in May 2020. However, the agency’s disbursement process has not been without any hassles along the way.

The challenges faced by the agency included delayed payments for the grant’s recipients, to which Sassa responded by encouraging beneficiaries to lodge appeals. This, following Sassa’s recent regulatory interventions to address these issues, begs the question of how far Sassa is with paying out R350 grant appeals.

In response Sassa has stated, “The assessment of all reconsideration applications from last year and the current year has been completed and those approved have been paid. Those approved but not yet paid are those whose records are outstanding bank accounts or bank accounts provided failed bank account verification or bank accounts pending verification from National Treasury.”

Additionally, Sassa has previously said that payments will be made retrospectively to the moment of approval.

Additionally, because they must pay the banks to manage beneficiary payments, the agency had to go into the banks and negotiate the payment of the grants.

Sassa added that delays could occur for grant beneficiaries using PostBank because of connectivity issues with the Sassa payment services platform.

Furthermore, an applicant’s details such as a name, surname or identification number (ID) will undergo verification through the Department of Home Affairs and SARS to ensure eligibility.

The ministry acknowledged that R350 grant recipients could get married within the grant’s payment cycle. If information is provided, such as a changed last name as a result of marriage, payment of their grant may be postponed or stopped entirely.