The Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, recently gazetted a proposal that could result in more people receiving the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. If the proposal is implemented, the income threshold for the R350 would change.
The proposal would see the income threshold to qualify for the grant moved from R350 to R624. This would mean that people would be allowed to earn up to R624 or have that amount of money in their bank account and still qualify for the grant. This amount is also the food poverty line in the country.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) was criticised after they announced the SRD grant income threshold was lowered to R350 in April 2022.
Click Here To View The R350 Grant Qualifying Criteria
This resulted in less people qualifying for the grant. Previously, the income threshold of the grant was R585 which allowed caregivers to also benefit from the crucial relief.
Sassa has reminded clients whose R350 grant applications were rejected that the agency no longer deals with R350 grant appeals. Appeals are now handled by the Independent Tribunal for Social Assistance Appeals (ITSAA).
Unsuccessful R350 grant applicants have just 90 days to submit an appeal for the months when their applications were rejected.
