Sassa reviews rejected Covid-19 grant applications

Due to the high volume of applicants, Sassa decided to reconsider the rejections in order to avoid a lengthy and costly appeal process.

According to Sassa spokesman, Paseka Letsatsi close to 50 percent of applications processed did not qualify in terms of the criteria.

“Over 70 percent of those applicants who did not make the cut were found to either qualify for or already be receiving UIF benefits according to Sassa’s database.

“Subsequently, Sassa decided to request an updated database in order to reconsider the declined UIF cases instead of advising the rejected applicants to follow the appeals route.

“As a result of this reconsideration process, 85 percent of the UIF cases which were previously rejected were found to qualify.

“These have been approved and the applicants concerned are being made aware of this development individually as and when a favourable decision is reached.

Everyone affected will receive an SMS requesting them to provide their banking details.

Applicants are advised to respond to the SMS as quickly as possible and to follow the link provided. The link cannot be shared with others, as it is linked to a specific ID number for security reasons.

“Updating the UIF database is such a relief to us and to the affected beneficiaries. The number of recipients will rise daily until we have paid all deserving individuals who were previously declined,” said Totsie Memela, Sassa CEO.

She added that Sassa was working with the Department of Social Development to finalise the appeals process for applicants who still feel that their applications were rejected unfairly.

The appeals function will be added to the www.srd.sassa.gov.za website as soon as the relevant framework has been approved.

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