The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) award, usually referred to as the R350 grant, is the only kind of assistance that millions of unemployed people in South Africa get. Many recipients of grants questioned whether they needed to reapply as the new fiscal year got underway.
The R350 grant recipients have been guaranteed by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) that they are exempt from having to submit an application for the award in April 2023. They clarified that payments will carry on so long as the grant recipient remains eligible.
According to Sassa, no one who has already applied for an R350 award is obliged to do so again. But the organization will keep checking to see whether they qualify for the award.
“Please keep in mind that your eligibility for the grant will be confirmed on a monthly basis by reviewing your application.”
R350 Grant Qualifying Criteria:
The following requirements must be met by applicants for the R350 award in order to be eligible for grant payments.
- Be a South African citizen/Permanent Resident/Asylum seeker/ holder of a special permit;
- Be Unemployed;
- Be between the ages of 18 and 59 years old;
- Not have an income of more than R624 per month;
- Not receive any other government relief, including Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) benefits or funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
Income for the purposes of the R350 grant is defined as the amount of money an applicant has in their bank account. The R350 award will not be given to them if they have more than R624 in their bank account.
Grant applicants whose R350 grant applications were rejected have the right to submit an appeal to the Independent Tribunal for Social Assistance Appeals (ITSAA). Applicants will receive a decision within 60 and 90 days after they submitted their appeal application.
