While the R350 grant plays a significant role in ensuring that all qualifying beneficiaries receive their monthly grant payments. The South African Social Security (Sassa) has admitted that the number of approved applicants that have received their grant payments has decreased.
During the SONA 2023 debate that was convened on Thursday last week, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu confirmed that the agency received more than 13.5 million applications for the R350 grant. She continued by stating Sassa only managed to approve between 7.4 million and 7.8 million applications every month.
Additionally, 95% of the approved applications were paid for in the early months, however, the percentage decreased by 90% in August last year. There was a further decrease to 85% in recent months.
This was further acknowledged by Sassa Executive Manager: Grant Administration, Brenton Van Vrede, who further stated that they are aware of the calls for the grant to be increased and conceded that communication with beneficiaries, regarding payment, has not been as effective as it should be.
We furthermore acknowledge that we could have communicated better with our clients in terms of the delays of grant payments. We want to move to a stage where clients can use their bank accounts to swipe at stores and still have cash remaining in their bank accounts to use later.
Meanwhile, the Post Bank CEO went on to say that they have made efforts to bolster the capabilities of their cyber security to ensure that they can detect and respond to online security threats that often negatively affect grant disbursements and result in delays