Sassa

Social Development Department Emphasizes Importance Of R350 Grant

Different departments discussed the Sassa R350 grant and how it impacts the lives of millions of South Africans during the Portfolio Committee Meeting. Thousands of people have been receiving a basic income since 2020 thanks to the social grant.

Social Development Department Emphasizes Importance Of R350 Grant

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Minister Lindiwe Zulu, Brenton Van Vrede, and Lucas Ndala attended the Portfolio Committee Meeting. They discussed the importance of continuing to provide Special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grants to those in desperate need.

Lindiwe Zulu Minister of Social Development Said

Lindiwe Zulu, Minister of Social Development, said that social grants are more than administrative functions. It is a constitutional requirement.”The SRD grant has become a lifeline for millions of South Africans. People who are unemployed and do not receive government assistance have been awarded the grant.

Covid-19 SRD grant applications totaled more than 13.5 million by the end of January, according to the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa). Approximately 7.4 million to 7.8 million applicants are approved every month out of this number.

Approximately 95% of approved applicants received their grants in the first few months, according to Minister Zulu. The number dropped to 90% in August 2022. As a result, fewer approved applicants are receiving their grant payments. A drop to 85% has been seen in recent months.

Administration Brenton Van Vrede Said

Executive Manager: Grant Administration Brenton Van Vrede said, “We acknowledge that the value of this grant is very small, and the government should consider increasing it.”

“We want clients to be able to use their bank accounts to swipe at stores and still have cash available later,” said Van Vrede.

They could have communicated better with the grant beneficiaries about the delays they were experiencing with grant payments, according to him. As a result, many unnecessary trips to check whether their grants had been paid could have been avoided. Lucas Ndala, interim CEO of Postbank, announced that a cyber security team oversees the bank’s security system. In order to prevent threats to the system and respond to threats quickly, the security team was employed.

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