Over 1.2 million have received their R350 Covid-19 grants, but millions more are still waiting

Over 1.2 million people have received the R350 Covid-19 grant, but about 2 million others have been approved and are yet to receive payment, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) said on Thursday. 

Sassa said it had been inundated with grievances from people it had rejected.

“Some applications have been declined as they did not meet the criteria. For one to quality for the Covid-19 grant, they must either be unemployed, without any income or not receiving any kind of government assistance - such as UIF, NSFAS, social grants or any other financial support - and must be above the age of 18,” it said in a statement.

“The majority of declined applications are from people already on the UIF database or qualifying to receive it.”

Sassa head Totsie Memela said she was unaware that not everyone was happy with the payment criteria, adding that the grant was not meant for everyone.

“Those who feel aggrieved should either call 0800 601011 or e-mail srd@sassa.gov.za with their complaints in order to access the recourse mechanism,” she said

“Our aim is to pay the right grant to the  right people.”

Memela called for patience from those who had applied, as each application had to be processed and verified.

She said the delays also resulted from people not using their own bank accounts to lodge their applications or giving information that did not necessarily correlate with those in the applicant's ID.

“Personal information is very important because during the verification check, should we find out that the information provided during application does not correspond with the identity document information, that might result in the application being rejected.”