Sassa SRD Grant Updates
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has finally released the March 2024 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant payment dates for March 2024. The dates released by the agency stick with the theme of making payment in the final week of the month.
R350 Grant Payment Dates For March
SRD grant payments will be paid to approved SRD grant applicants from 25 March 2024 until 29 March 2024. This means that grant payments will only be made over four days during the final week of the month.
A major reason for this is that Sassa does not pay social grants over weekends or public holidays. At the end of March, South Africans will observe two public holidays.
Payments (for clients who are approved for the month of March 2024) will be processed from 25-29 March 2024.
Sassa has encouraged grant beneficiaries to complete a Sassa grant status check to see whether they were approved for an SRD grant payment during March 2024.
During that week clients are encouraged to view their status on the SRD website for the exact date that payment will reflect into their bank account.
The grant payment agency has reminded beneficiaries it could take up to three working days before they can access their grant payments.
Funds will take about 2-3 working days to reflect in the client’s account after payment has been processed.
Last SASSA SRD R350 Grant Payment
March will be the last month that SRD grant beneficiaries receive a R350 grant payment. However, there is no need to worry as the grant’s implementation will continue for the foreseeable future.
The SRD grant is officially being increased. The SRD grant increase announcement was made on Wednesday, 13 March 2024 by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.
Commonly referred to as the R350 grant due to its monetary value, the beneficiaries of the SRD grant will begin receiving R370 from 1 April 2024. This means the R350 grant is being increased by R20 or 5.7%.
Subject to the finalisation of the comprehensive social security, we will increase the R350 [grant] to R370 by the first of April this year.
Gondongwana described the increase as “the religion of the basic rights of our people”.
Why The SASSA SRD Grant Is Paid At The End Of Month
Many stakeholders have questioned why the SRD grant is not paid earlier in the month when the permanent Sassa grants are being paid. Sassa explained that the verification process they undertake to ensure applicants are deserving of the grant takes some time and therefore are only able to proceed with SRD grant payments at the end of the month.
To qualify for the SRD grant in South Africa, applicants must meet strict eligibility criteria set by Sassa. They need to be SA citizens, permanent residents, or special permit holders.
They may not be receiving other government support in the form of UIF benefits or NSFAS bursaries. Their bank account should have less than R624 to be eligible for the R350 grant.
Sassa conducts verification checks in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs for identity and citizenship checks and shares bank details with the Department of Treasury for income verification.
Once satisfied with eligibility, Sassa proceeds with payments, and this verification process accounts for the end-of-month payment schedule.
