When to collect your Sassa grant in March

Millions of the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) beneficiaries will start receiving their grants later this week. 

Sassa confirmed the dates on which recipients will receive their grants in March. All grants besides the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) payment can still be collected from post office branches.

According to Sassa, payments will be made in the following order:

• Thursday, March 2 — old age grants; 
• Friday, March 3 — disability grants; and
• Monday, March 6 — all other grants will be paid from this day onwards, including the children’s grant.

“There is no need to rush to withdraw cash on the first day,” said Sassa. “Once the money is in the account, it will remain there until it is needed.”

Where can I collect the payment?

You can collect your R350 SRD grants from Pick n Pay, Boxer, Shoprite, Checkers, USave and OK Foods stores. 

The SA Post Office (Sapo) and Sassa advise those who get the grant to choose this payment option in their applications when applying for the grant.

Those who used to get their R350 grants at a post office should visit www.srd.sassa.gov.za and select an option to collect the grant from one of the supermarkets.

Fast-track payments 

Beneficiaries approved for the SRD grant and selected to be paid through Postbank or Cashsend are urged to open bank accounts. 

“Clients who have been approved for the SRD but no payment date is indicated on their January status or earlier months and have selected to be paid through Postbank or Cashsend are urged to open bank accounts and upload them on the system to fast-track payments,” said Sassa. 

R350 grant extended

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana last week delivered his budget speech. He said R66bn has been allocated to social development, R36bn of which is to fund the extended R350 SRD grant until March 2024.

He said over the medium-term more than 60% of non-interest expenditure goes to the social wage, while spending on buildings and other fixed structures such as roads and dams will increase from R62bn in the current year to R104.2bn in 2025/26.

R30bn will be used for inflation-linked increases for other social grants.

From April 1, the old age and disability grants will increase by R90 and a further R10 on October 1, making the total grant R2,090.

The child support grant rises from R480 to R510 on October 1, while the foster care grant increases from R1,070 to R1,130 over the same period.

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