The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) is now in the process of paying social relief of distress (SRD) grants for the month of April 2024. This will be the first month where the SRD grant increase will be in effect.
It is said that approximately 9 million South Africans will be receiving the SRD grant payment this month.
SRD grant payments usually take place in the last week of the month, after Sassa verification checks have been completed. Sassa will however not make payments on weekends and public holidays.
SRD Grant Payment Dates For April
SRD grant payments for April 2024 will be made from 25 April until 30 April, to beneficiaries who have been approved for April R370 Sassa grants.
Beneficiaries of the SRD grant are urged to check their payment status on the Sassa SRD website. They will then be able to check the exact date the SRD grant payment will reflect in their accounts.
SRD grantholders are urged to not rush to withdraw their R370 grant payment:
Funds will take about 2-3 days to reflect in the client's account after payment has been processed.
SRD Grant Increase
In March 2024, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the SRD grant payment would be increased from R350 to R370. This represents an increase of 5.7% for the grant.
Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu confirmed the grant increase of R20 in Government Notice No. R. 3210 of 29 March 2023.
How Sassa Will Verify SRD Grant Applications For April
Earlier this month, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu confirmed the insertion of Section 6C into the Social Assistance Act. This was a critical choice as it will ensure that individuals who previously qualified for the SRD grant will continue being paid until May 2024.
Section 6C is a temporary measure to keep things running smoothly while they switch to the new system.
To ensure uninterrupted assessments and payments made during the transition between the Regulations published on 29 March 2023 under Notice No: and these Amendment Regulations, the Agency may use data used during the March 2024 assessment cycle, in terms of regulation 2, for continued assessments of clients up to 31 May 2024
The legislation enabled Sassa to use a beneficiary’s March 2024 assessment information to determine if a beneficiary is eligible for an SRD grant payment in April 2024. This eliminates payment delays for the coming months.
