Sassa grant payments to start on 3 August with older persons

By Lowvelder

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has announced the August dates for grants receipts, which will start out with older persons grant.

Sassa said older person’s grants would receive their grants on 3 August, while disability grants and all other grants will be paid out on 4 August and 5 August respectively.

The agency further urged recipients not to withdraw their grants on the first day due to Covid-19, and reassured them that once the “money is in their accounts it will remain there until it is needed”.

Sassa has also begun with double payments for the outstanding R350 grant for June and July.

“This is meant to avoid a situation where beneficiaries of the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant have to make two trips to the Post Office and to eradicate the backlog of payments,” Sassa said on Wednesday.

In the statement, Sassa said these double payments were in the process of being transferred into people’s bank accounts as of this week.

“Payments for those who receive their money through the Post Office will be done progressively throughout the month to try and limit the numbers of people at the Post Offices on a daily basis.”

However, the agency is pleading with the beneficiaries who do not have bank accounts and will receive their money at the Post Office to only go there once they have received an SMS saying their money is ready for collection.

Meanwhile, the agency said it had already reconsidered applications made in May against updated databases received resulting in about 1 million additional applicants being approved for the special allowance.

“This will drastically reduce the number of potential appeals and will also cushion the affected beneficiaries against the current impact of the lockdown,” Sassa added.

The grant is meant to help those who are unemployed and receiving no other assistance.

This article first appeared on Lowvelder and was republished with permission