Around 18 million grants are distributed monthly by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa). This excludes the more than 5 million people who received the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant in June 2022.
Sassa has called on caregivers of children who do not have parents to apply for the Extended Child Support Grant. This includes cases where both parents are deceased or the whereabouts of one of the parents is not known.
The agency explained that the Extended Child Support grant was introduced to circumvent children without parents having to go through the foster care process purely for financial reasons.
Sassa said, “In order to qualify for the Extended Child Support Grant the caregiver must produce the death certificates for both parents, or death certificate for the primary parent with an affidavit confirming that the whereabouts of the remaining parent are unknown and that he/she plays no role in taking care of the child”.
Should a caregiver's application be successful, they will receive R720. This money can be paid in cash at specific grant collection points or paid directly in the caregivers’ bank account.
Caregivers can call Sassa’s customer help desk on (013) 754 9439 or on (013) 754 9428. They can also call Sassa’s toll free number on 0800 60 10 11. This number is active from 08:00 to 16:00 during weekdays.
