sassa meaning 2024-2025

sassa meaning 2024-2025

If you’ve been perplexed by what the South African Social Security Agency means by ‘Alternative Income’ for the R350 grant, the agency has now clarified the meaning.

If you applied for the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant from the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), you may be aware that SASSA has rejected applications due to the applicant having an ‘Alternative Income Source’.

This means that SASSA determined that the applicant received more than R595 in their bank account per month. As a result, the applicant is ineligible for the R350 grant.

According to SASSA, income is defined as “any source of income as defined in regulation 19 of the Social Assistance Regulations, 2008, and includes any form of donation or other financial support or financial assistance received by the applicant of not more than R595 as per the food assistance regulations.”

This means that if your monthly income exceeds R595 per month, your SRD grant application will be denied. This is because the R350 SRD grant was created to help unemployed people who are unable to find work due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

If you have ‘income’ as defined by SASSA, you are not eligible for the SRD grant.

SASSA reviews SRD grant applications on a monthly basis to ensure that grant recipients continue to qualify for the R350 grant; if they no longer meet the qualifying criteria, their application will be declined. SASSA will state the reason for the denial of an application.

The following are the eligibility requirements for the Special Covid-19 SRD grant:

South African citizen, permanent resident, refugee, or asylum seeker; resident within the Republic of South Africa; over the age of 18;

• Unemployed;
• Have a monthly income of less than R595;
• Not receiving any social assistance;
• You are not an NSFAS or UIF beneficiary.
• There is no other government support for the COVID-19 response; and
• You are not a resident of a government-funded or subsidized institution.

If you believe that SASSA made a mistake, you can file an R350 grant appeal. You have 30 days after being informed of the reason for your application’s rejection to do so.

How to Make an Online SASSA Relief Grant Request

• Go to the SRD Grant website
• Scroll down to ‘Application for reconsideration’
• Click on the yellow bar
• Fill in the required fields

You must explain why you believe your application was denied on unfair grounds. SASSA will reconsider your application after you file an appeal.

After you have submitted your SRD grant appeal, you must track it.