The Department of Social Development (DSD) is calling on people to apply for the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. This comes as the department has a budgetary allocation to provide more people with the crucial relief mechanism.
The DSD also announced several changes to the qualifying criteria for the grant to increase its uptake by unemployed individuals living in South Africa.
These changes include increasing the income threshold to R624, removing bank verification as the main criteria for determining eligibility and removing the need for grant beneficiaries to answer questionnaires every three months to confirm they still require the grant.
Despite these changes, applications for the grant can still be rejected by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa).
Here Are The Reasons Why Your SRD Grant Application Was Rejected
|
Decline Reason |
Meaning |
|
alternative_income_source_identified |
The client had funds flowing into their bank account more than the specific income threshold for that specific period.
August 2021 - March 2022 = R595 April 2022 - July 2022 = R350 August 2022 - March 2023 = R624 |
|
Indentity_verfication_failed |
The personal details provided during their SRD grant application did not match their details according to home affairs |
|
Existing_sassa_grant |
The client is receiving another grant from Sassa |
|
Debtor |
The client was paid the R350 grant for months when they didn't qualify.
This client will only receive new SRD grant payments wants they pay back the money they received previously when they did not qualify for the SRD grant |
|
Nsfas_registered |
Sassa detected that the client is receiving funds from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) during the period of consideration |
|
UIF_registered |
Sassa detected that the client is registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) during the period of consideration |
|
Gov_payroll_registered |
The client was in the employment of a government institution during the period of consideration |
|
age_outside_range(>60) |
The applicant does not qualify for the SRD as they qualify for the older persons grant |
|
age_outside_range(<18) |
The applicant does not qualify for the SRD grant as they qualify for the child support grant |
|
Deceased Record on DHA |
The client was registered as deceased on the Department of Home Affairs website during the period of consideration |
If your SRD grant application is rejected, you have the right to submit an appeal to the Independent Tribunal for Social Assistance Appeals (ITSAA). The ITTSA will consider appeal and will provide you with their decision within 90 days
The ITSAA works independently from Sassa and can take up to three months to evaluate appeal applications
The ITSAA warned that when clients fail to submit an appeal, they will sustain Sassa's original decision to reject the grant application. This is because if no appeal request is made, it would indicate that the client has accepted the decision made by Sassa to reject their grant application.
The decision of the ITSSA is the final and no further internal recourse will be available. However, the applicant may approach the High Court for judicial review within 180 days should they be not be satisfied with the final decision.
