The agency responsible for distributing social grants has revealed when beneficiaries will be paid during March 2023. Grant beneficiaries have endured several challenges in recent months when going to collect their grants.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has revealed the permanent grant payments for March 2023. The agency will begin distributing social grants to millions of vulnerable people next week.
Sassa will begin distributing permanent grants from Thursday 2 March 2023, starting with the Older Persons, followed by the payment of disability grants on Friday, 3 March 2023. The remaining grants will be paid to beneficiaries during the following weeks.
Here Are The Sassa Grant Payment Dates For March 2023
- Older Person’s Grants – Thursday, 2 March 2023
- Disability Grants – Friday, 3 March 2023
- Child support and other grants – Monday, 6 March 2023
Sassa reminds grant beneficiaries that they are not required to collect their grant on the exact payment date. As once the grant is paid, the money will remain available until the beneficiary chooses to collect their grant.
Currently, beneficiaries can collect grants using several different methods. Payment methods include collecting money at ATMs and retail stores. These retail stores include Shoprite Checkers, U-save, Pick n Pay and Boxer stores.
While grant beneficiaries expect to receive payment on the dates grants are scheduled to be paid by Sassa, many beneficiaries have encountered challenges accessing their money.
The challenges facing grant beneficiaries were laid bare on a recent visit to the Sassa office in Bellville in the Western Cape. While the office is responsible for assisting a large number of grant recipients in the area, people often sleep overnight outside the office in the hope of getting assistance.
Staff at the office revealed that the queue management system makes provision for grant beneficiaries who make appointments to be assisted first. This leaves many grant recipients waiting hours before they receive assistance.
Constant loadshedding compounds the challenges faced by grant beneficiaries as it means that Sassa has less time to assist them.
Sassa Western Cape said the queue management system aims to ensure that beneficiaries don’t sleep outside offices overnight. They added that they are in the process of procuring inverters to mitigate against the impact of load-shedding.
Western Cape Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez says the fact that grant beneficiaries sleep overnight outside the Sassa offices indicates that there is an issue.
They also questioned why Sassa is only now in the process of procuring inverters, as loadshedding has been around for years.
