The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) had paid R35 million to refugees and about R65 million to asylum seekers in Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant payments.
The SRD grant was introduced to support unemployed South African citizens, refugees, asylum seekers and special permit holders between the ages of 18 and 60.
Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi says it's important to note that this money was paid to asylum seekers and refugees. This money was not paid to individuals who entered and are living in South Africa illegally.
We are compelled by the law as the South African Social Security Agency to make sure that we do not discriminate against the refugees or the Asylum Seekers because the refugees or asylum seekers have the same rights like me and you
Letsati added that refugees and asylum seekers gain their status from the Department of Home Affairs. It is the responsibility of Sassa to ensure people are complying with the law when applying for grants, and in this case they are.
The spokesperson said it's important to educate South Africans around the law when it comes to Refugees and Asylum seekers. This is because none of these grant recipients would have been paid if they were in the country illegally.
Both refugees and asylum seekers are subjected to the same tests and qualifying criteria when they apply for the SRD grant. This includes being subjected to means tests and identification verification checks.
“When a refugee on an asylum seeker come to a Sassa office we don't discriminate on any other thing as long as the documents that present to us are authentic and they've gone to Home Affairs…we are able to process them so we don't treat them differently from how we treat South Africans” explained Letsatsi.
They added that they are under the impression that all the information provided by grant applicants are correct. There are verification checks in place to ensure these documents are valid.
Once Sassa has completed all their verification checks and are satisfied that the applicant meets all the qualification criteria their grant application will be approved.
Sassa will continue administering the SRD grant to all approved applicants until March 2023.
The department of Social Development is responsible for undertaking consultations with all relevant stakeholders to determine if the grant’s implementation will be extended beyond March 2022.
