The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has revealed its grant payment schedule for the final month of the year. The schedule reveals whether or not Sassa grants will be paid over the festive season.
Each month, Sassa distributes over 18 million permanent grant payments, including the Older Persons pension grant, Disability grant, War Veterans grant, Care Dependency grant, Foster Child grant, Child Support grant, Child Support grant Top-Up and Grant-in-aid.
There are also 8 million unemployed people living in South Africa who benefit from the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant.
Will Sassa Grants Be Paid Over Festive?
Sassa permanent grant payments for December 2024 are to commence on Tuesday, 3 December, with older persons' grants being paid. The agency will then pay all remaining social grant beneficiaries including disability grants and all children's grants during the first week of December.
This is consistent with the Sassa grant payment policy of paying social grant beneficiaries during the first week of the month.
However, SRD grant payments will be made earlier in December 2024. This is due to Sassa’s grant payment policy.
Sassa does not pay social grants on weekends or public holidays. While SRD grants are usually paid in the final week of the month, this will not be possible in December 2024.
There are two public holidays in the final week of December 2024, Christmas and the Day of Goodwill which prevents Sassa from making payments in the last week of December 2024.
This prompted Sassa to pay SRD grants earlier in the month. SRD grants will be paid between 17 December 2024 and 23 December 2024.
In January 2024, Permanent grants will be paid on 3 January 2025 with the Older Persons grant. Disability grants will be paid from the 6th and Children's grants will be paid on the 7th day of 2025.
The two-day delay between Older Person's grant payments and Disability grant payments is due to the Sassa grant payment policy that states that no social grants will be paid on weekends.
Sassa has not yet confirmed the January 2024 SRD grant payment dates. However, it is expected that these payments will be made during the final week of January 2024.
