The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) will shortly be distributing December social grants to its beneficiaries. For the past few years, millions of people living in South Africa have benefited from the financial assistance provided by Sassa.
Here is the December payment schedule for social grants:
- Older person's grant: Thursday 1 December
- This includes any grants linked to this account
- Disability grant: Friday 2 December
- This includes any grants linked to this account
- Rest of the Sassa grants: Monday 5 December
Beneficiaries may collect their grants using three different methods, which includes receiving their grant directly into their bank account, via the CashSend option or using their Sassa cards at retailers.
Sassa grant recipients may visit Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Boxer, Checkers, USave or OK to collect their social grants. These beneficiaries will not be charged for swiping their Sassa cards at these retail stores.
Recipients are reminded that they do not need to collect their grant as soon as it becomes available because the money will remain in their account until they decide to use it. Waiting a few days to collect their social grant will ensure that they miss the long queues outside retail stores.
The rest of the grants include child support, foster care, grant-in-aid, and war veterans grants. These grants ensure that these individuals are able to buy some essentials to help them get through the month.
According to statistics, since 2019 around 18 million South Africans received social grants from Sassa. These individuals are either vulnerable to poverty or in desperate need of financial assistance.
The number of individuals requiring financial assistance increased due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During this time, many people lost their jobs or were unable to work, which meant that they desperately needed support from the government to stay afloat.
