Solution to temporary disability grants provided amid Covid-19 lockdown
“Grant beneficiaries who did not receive their grants for whatever reason will be prioritised.”
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has provided a solution to temporary disability grants which lapsed or expired last month.
The expiration and or lapse resulted in some beneficiaries not being paid, said spokesperson Sandy Godlwana.
Godlwana said this was due to the Sassa offices being closed off since the start of lockdown and this posed a challenge for beneficiaries whose grants expired in March.
She said beneficiaries were therefore unable to re-apply at Sassa offices.
“The payment file for April payments was extracted before the lockdown was announced, meaning that all temporary disability grants which were due to lapse at the end of March had already lapsed and were not generated for payment in April.”
Godlwana said in order to deal with this unintended consequence of the lockdown, Sassa had provided social relief of distress in the form of food parcels to beneficiaries whose disability grants expired in April.
She said this was an interim measure to cushion the impact of the termination of the grant benefit.
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“The situation will be fully remedied for those grants expiring in April because ministerial directions issued on 30 March enable continued payment of temporary disability grants throughout the lockdown period.”
She said this development should eliminate the panic caused by recent media reports.
“Temporary disability grants have a lifespan of 12 months and beneficiaries have to reapply after the prescribed period.
“In 12 months there is a possibility that a medical condition might have improved to the extent that it does not require continuation of a temporary disability grant.”
Godlwana said a WhatsApp message displaying an application form with a Sassa logo had been doing the rounds calling on the public to apply for food parcels.
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“Grant beneficiaries who did not receive their grants for whatever reason will be prioritised.”
She said preference for support would be given to citizens who were not receiving support from any other source.
Godlwana said this was to ensure that the limited resources reached as many citizens as possible.
She said social relief of distress required an application process, however, during the declared state of disaster, applications would be done telephonically.
“The forms which have been circulating on social media and other platforms will not be accepted from the public because applications are done telephonically and only an authorised Sassa official completes the forms.”
She said the provincial joint operations centres and the department of social development were coordinating the issuing of food parcels at food distribution centres to alleviate the impact of the lockdown.
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