What Causes R350 Grant Appeal Delays

Many South Africans and lobby groups have expressed frustration with delayed Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant payments. This delay has been attributed to a number of factors, according to the government agency responsible for paying out the grant.

What Causes R350 Grant Appeal Delays

Initially, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) had committed to administering the amount of R350 for the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) for six  months, but as the pandemic progressed, much had to change since millions of people are still unemployed.

The threshold regulations were changed due to lobbying pressure and unemployment statistics. In order to assess SRD grant applications, Sassa General Manager Brenton van Vrede explained that every time threshold regulations are amended, all financial banks must also update their algorithms.

Just under a million people have been approved for the grant, but the government agency may have made a mistake or changed their details, which would delay grant payments.

Vrede has also explained in an interview

• People have provided Sassa with the incorrect bank account details and some changing them, which has then resulted in payment failures.

Some of the individuals experiencing delays include those whose bank accounts are awaiting verification from the National Treasury, according to Sassa.

Sassa is currently experiencing backlogs due to a change in regulations and the fact that some applicants also had to appeal, with the issue of bank account details contributing to the delays.For the grant to be paid, applicants must be more diligent when entering their bank account details into the application system, according to Sassa.While this is happening, Vrede has confirmed that Sassa is working around the clock to resolve the backlog issue.

Applicants have also been advised to update their personal information on the SRD website should they at any point change their details. The rightful grant beneficiary will be able to access the funds and the funds will be easily accessible without any inconvenience.