R350 Grant Applicants Encouraged To Use Bank Accounts

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has announced that the first batch of R350 relief of distress grants has been successfully paid to citizens who applied last month. Sassa is hoping to have processed the final batch of grants for about 2 million people by the end of the month.
Sassa spokesperson, Paseka Letsatsi says that people must not panic if they have not yet received their grants. He says everyone who has been approved will receive their money.
People who did not provide their banking details will receive their money via the post office. Letsatsi has urged citizens to wait until they have received an SMS notifying them that the money has been paid.
South Africans can still apply for the relief grant. Letsatsi has urged citizens who are going to apply for the grant to provide their banking details. He explained that this will help Sassa to process applications faster resulting in applicants getting their money sooner.
Letsatsi explained that “What we have tried to do, is to make sure that the payment, especially for those who are going to get their payment at the post office, does not clash with people who are getting a normal social grant”.
“The good thing about having the money paid in your bank account is that you can get your money at any time, whereas if you get your money at the post office, unfortunately, you have to wait for certain days” added Letsatsi.
Letsatsi says that just under 10 million people have applied for the R350 relief grant so far. He says that 59% of the applicants are women while 41% are men. This is in line with the quarterly labour statistics released by StatsSA which reported the rate of unemployment among women is 36,8% compared to 32,4% amongst men.