Millions of vulnerable people apply for the Social Relief of Distress grant monthly. It has been revealed why millions of unsuccessful applicants were rejected from receiving the crucial relief mechanism.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has revealed the outcome of Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant appeals submitted by unsuccessful grant applicants. These grant appeals were submitted to the Independent Tribunal For Social Assistance Appeals (ITSAA).
Sassa conducts several verification checks to ensure that only deserving SRD grant applicants receive a payment. These checks aim to eliminate grant applicants who do not meet the qualifying criteria for the SRD Grant.
Individuals whose SRD grant applications were rejected have the option to submit an appeal to the ITSSA. The ITSSA has revealed how many applicants who submitted appeals were successful and unsuccessful during a recent parliamentary briefing.
More than 910,000 appeals were considered by the ITSAA in April 2022. Of these appeals, a total of 177,770 which equates to 19% of appeals received for April 2022 were approved for payment by Sassa.
The number of appeals considered by the ITSAA increased to more than 1.2 million in May 2022. Only 1.4% of these appeal applications were successful and 20,014 applicants were approved for payment.
In June, the ITSAA adjudicated over 516,199 appeals applications, of which 2.9% of appeals were successful. This meant that 15,229 individuals were approved for an SRD grant payment.
Sassa conducts monthly verification checks in which ID numbers of approved and new applications for SRD grant applicants are matched against various databases.
To qualify for the grant, an applicant must be unemployed, have an income of less than R624 per month, be between the ages of 18 and 59 years old and not be receiving any other government support.
If an individual is receiving any support from a government entity, their SRD grant application will be rejected.
Government support includes other social grants, funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) or a government pension.
ID numbers of grant applicants are also checked against the PERSAL and PERSOL databases. These databases contain information on individuals who are employed by the South African government. If an individual’s ID number appears on one of these databases their SRD grant application is declined.
The ITSAA endeavours to ensure that Sassa was correct in their decision to reject an SRD grant application. This is done by verifying a grant applicant’s information and checking if they meet the qualifying criteria for the grant.
If they find that the unsuccessful grant applicant is deserving of the grant, they will instruct Sassa to pay the grant applicant. However, if they find that Sassa was correct in their decision to reject a grant application, their decision will be upheld.
The ITSAA is currently adjudicating appeals submitted for July 2022. Adjudication processes for each month start approximately 60 days down the line and the outcomes for each month would be communicated to Sassa for immediate implementation.
