Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu said the new Child Support Grant (CSG) Top-up was introduced to improve the lives of orphaned children living in South Africa.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) previously stated that the CSG Top-up will prevent children without parents from having to go through the foster care process due to caregivers not having the means to support them.
The briefing was held as part of Social Development month under the theme “United in the Fight Against Poverty and Other Social Ills”.
Minister Zulu clarified that the CSG Top-up is not a new grant. It builds on the existing child support grant. However, the main difference is that recipients of the CSG top-up receive an additional amount of money.
Sassa CEO Totsie Memela-Khambula says Sassa will undertake an awareness campaign to increase the amount of people who know about the grant. This as a low number of people have applied for the grant. Approximately 16,486 people are benefitting from the CSG Top Up.
The CSG Top-up makes provision for orphans in the care of relatives. Caregivers will now receive the current value of the grant (R480), plus an additional R240 (50% of the basic CSG) bringing the total amount received to R720.
The Minister called on all caregivers caring for orphaned children to apply for the CSG Top-up, including a grandparent, sibling, uncle, aunt or cousin.
Applications for the CSG Top-up can be made at Sassa offices around the country. No social workers report or court order is required to access the grant.
A social workers report is required in cases where the orphan child is living in a child-headed home.
Here’s What’s Needed To Apply For The CSG Top-up
Certified copies of the death certificates of the child’s parent/s; or
If the death certificate of one of the parents of the child cannot be obtained by the applicant, a certified copy of the death certificate of one parent and an affidavit by the applicant attesting to the unknown status of the child’s other parent.
Applicants can also complete an affidavit at Sassa offices and are not required to visit a police station to obtain an affidavit.
Minister Zulu said the turnaround time for CSG Top-up grants applications and payments must be done in one month.
