Social grants are a crucial lifeline for millions of financially vulnerable South Africans who struggle to make ends meet. These social grants are administered by South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and are paid out to children, people living disability, war veterans as well as child care givers among others.
They include, Older Person grant, Disability grant, War Veterans grant, Care Dependency grant, Foster Child grant, Child Support grant, Child Support grant Top Up and Grant-in-aid.
However, it is also important to note that the application process for Sassa social grants can take up to 3 months. This makes it all the more important for social grant applicants to know the meaning of their application status.
What An 'Application Assessed' Sassa Status Means
As a social grant applicant you may be wondering what it means when your application status says ‘Application Assessed’. This, according to Sassa, means that your application has been captured by a Sassa official and that it will be processed.
The possible outcome for this stage of application would then be 'Application captured – Waiting for Approval'.
The Appeals Process For Social Grants
The possible outcome is that the application is waiting for approval. In the event that your application is rejected Sassa will inform you of the reason and allow you the chance to appeal your application if you feel that it has been rejected unjustifiably.
For this, you will have to visit your nearest Sassa office branch and fill out an appeal form accompanied by your supporting documents. Appeals must be submitted within 90 days of being notified that your application has been rejected.
Sassa also reserves the right to suspend a permanent social grant for various reasons. These include changes in the financial or medical circumstances, an unfavourable outcome of a grant review or if a grant was approved by mistake.
The agency can also suspend grant payments in cases where fraudulent activity is detected or recipients have misrepresented their circumstances or some documents have not been submitted.
If this happens you have 30 days from the date of suspension to apply for the restoration of the grant. Failure to reapply within this deadline may result in the lapse of the social grant. To find out more about Sassa grants, including the R350 grant, head to our Sassa section
