President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the Special Relief of Ditress (SRD) grant, which sees beneficiaries receive R350 per month, is being reinstated.
However, SASSA is yet to announce further details. They have however had to clear up some fake messages that have been circulating.
One message was seen instructing people to apply by WhatsApp and a USSD code. SASSA then said:
No applications of the special Covid-19 SRD grant will be made via telephone; email or USSD. Details & date on which the application system reopens will be announced soon.
Members of the public are urged to not click on links from messages which are circulating and do not come from official sources. These websites might be trying to access your personal information. SASSA warns clients not to provide personal information to unknown sites.
Applications for this new round of R350 grants has not been opened yet.
Those who have qualified before, will most likely have to reapply. SASSA explained why this would happen by saying, "Clients need to resubmit their details because not all details would by now be the same as previously. This is to allow beneficiaries to be able to also choose their now preferred payment method."
The number of people eligible has been increased because individual caregivers who receive a Child Support Grant will now be able to access this R350 grant as well.
Previously woman who were raising children alone were unfairly disadvantaged. As they received a child support grant for their children they could not receive the R350 grant - even though the child support grant is for the children's needs, not for the caregiver's needs.
