How to Apply For SRD Grants As An Asylum Seeker or Special Permit Holder

The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, disbursed by the South African Security Agency (Sassa) is also made available to all qualifying asylum seekers and special permit holders in the country. Here’s how to submit your grant application if you fall under this cohort of grant recipients.

To all qualifying applicants, the R350 grant is an important source of income. The grant is also made available to all asylum seekers and special permit holders who meet its requirements.

The application process is similar to the usual one with one slight difference; Applications are done online on Sassa’s srd grant website.

How to Apply for The SRD Grant Online

1. Go to srd.sassa.gov.za
2. Look under ‘Asylum Seekers and Special Permit Holders’
3. Scroll to the ‘How do I apply for this SRD Grant’ section
4. Click on the yellow bar which says ‘click here to apply online
5. Enter your mobile number
6. Click “send SMS”
7. Then enter the one-time pin that Sassa has sent to the number
8. Continue the application process by filling in the steps required by Sassa

How to Apply for The SRD Grant on WhatsApp

1. Add 082 046 8553 as a contact on your phone
2. Go on WhatsApp and send a message saying ‘hi’ to this number
3. You will then receive a response and you should then respond by saying ‘help’
4. You will be given various options, reply saying ‘4’
5. This will lead you to the Unathi Sassa platform message which you should reply ‘SRD’ to
6. You then have to confirm whether you’re applying for yourself or someone else
7. Now the actual application begins and you’ll have to submit your name, surname and ID number in the message.
8. You will then receive a message on Whatsapp stating the next steps.

Additionally, as an applicant, you must permit Sassa to verify your identification, residency, income, or social security benefits before your SRD grant application can be reviewed. The declaration and consent must also be accepted by the applicants.

The new Act also encourages current recipients to reapply (recipients won’t need to reapply after the first time). It is also advised for applicants to submit just one application rather than several submissions on different platforms.

As soon as the application has been submitted successfully, confirmation will be sent.