Here Are Important Timelines For Sassa Grant Appeals

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A high number of Sassa appeals were submitted to the Independent Tribunal. Rejected applicants will need to follow a particular process to make sure that their application is reconsidered.

 


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The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) received a total of 981 562 grant applications, with 887 628 being approved for the period of 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022. Approximately 9% of the total grant applications were rejected during this period.

The number of appeals received by the Independent Tribunal for Social Assistance Appeals (ITSAA) increased from an average of 150 to 750 per month, following the implementation of the Social Assistance Amendment Act.

Acting Director-General of the Department of Social Development (DSD), Linton Mchunu, has indicated that: the application pool was racially diverse, the department only received one application from a person with a disability and no applications were received from the Northern Cape, North West, and Mpumalanga provinces.

In a meeting, an Appeals Officer at the Department of Social Development Adv Antoinette Brink, said:

If an applicant disagrees with the decision of the agency in relation to their application for social assistance, he or she may lodge an appeal with the Tribunal.

According to Sassa, individuals may submit an appeal within a period of 30 days but not exceeding 90 days to the ITSAA after receiving communication that their application has been rejected by Sassa. 

As per the regulatory framework, the Independent Tribunal needs to make a final judgment on the appeals within a 90-day period from the day of receiving the appeal. 

According to Brink, the Tribunal is made up of professionals from different fields. One of them is a medical practitioner that assesses and makes recommendations on all medical aspects as well as advising the legal practitioner.

The role of the legal practitioner is to decide and rule whether the decision of Sassa is to be confirmed, varied, or set aside and record the reasons and also sign-off on the decision of the Tribunal.

The government agency has revealed that the decision of the Independent Tribunal regarding the appeals application is the final decision and no further internal recourse will be available.

Unsatisfied applicants may take a step further by approaching the High Court for judicial review within a period of 180 days.

 

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