SASSA has now come up with a plan to reduce the number of rejected applicants for the Special Relief Distress grant which sees beneficiaries receive R350 per month.
The agency said, "following an engagement with the Department of Social Development, it has been agreed to reconsider the use of the means test through the banks as a criteria to determine eligibility" and that this would affect the 1.9 million people who benefitted from the grant but were rejected in August.
During earlier periods of lockdown, SASSA received many complaints from millions of people who were rejected from receiving the grant on an unfair basis. They then set out to correct this by re-evaluating applications as well as setting up an appeals system.
Now, SASSA has seen a rise in the number of rejected applications and this, they say, "can be attributed to several factors such as a mismatch between details provided by beneficiaries and reliance on the information derived from data sets obtained from institutions such as UIF and SARS databases among others".
August saw a higher increase in the rejection rate of this grant as SASSA put an additional step in the form of a means testing application to ensure that requirements for the grant were met.
"The legal framework which supports the reconsideration of the use of bank means testing is being amended by the Department of Social Development and will be published withing the next few days," said the Agency.
These changes will make the qualifying criteria clear and help those who deserve to benefit from the grant get support for as long as it remains.
When the Auditor-General done an investigation, it was found that 30 000 people were receiving the grant who shouldn't actually have qualified in the first place. As a way to correct this and prevent it, SASSA reviewed and strengthened it's controls when it came to evaluating applications.
Applications are looked at and considered on a month to month bases. This then means that your application status can change from approved to rejected from one month to another if your financial situation changed.
SASSA says that this case is now becoming more common as we see an easing of lockdown levels and more of the economy reopening. More people are going to work and starting jobs which contributes to a decrease in the number of citizens needing financial support.
"Despite the reduced levels of lockdown, we are aware that the pandemic has taken its toll and many people are without an income," said SASSA. They then said that anyone who was declined from receiving their grant then has the right to appeal and can do this by sending an appeal to covid19srdappeals@sassa.gov.za
SASSA currently has 60 000 appeals and is said to be attending to them.
Media Statement
30 September 2020
SASSA Plan Reduces SRD grant Rejection Rates: https://t.co/ep9yxEAnra #SASSACARES @The_DSD @GCISMedia @nda_rsa @GovernmentZA pic.twitter.com/QreBE0zBJT— SASSA (@OfficialSASSA) September 30, 2020
