By Kaya 959 News
Government has set aside R26.7 billion for the Special COVID-19 grant which has been reinstated.
Speaking during a media briefing on Wednesday, Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu, said the amount includes administration costs.
The application channels will be opened from Friday, 6 August from 9am. The first payments are expected to be made in the last week of August 2021.
She said people who have not received some of their payments during the first roll-out of the grant (May 2020 and April 2021) will receive their funds. The new rollout will not affect those payments.
Those recipients who have not updated their details are once again reminded to respond to SASSA requests to update their information.
For this new iteration, we have been allocated R26.7bn which is inclusive of administrative costs borne by SASSA, and this is for a period of eight months with effect from August 2021 until March 2022.
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Gender imbalance
Zulu said most of the funds from previous applications were paid to males between the ages of 18-35.
“This was due to the fact that we did not change the eligibility criteria for the R350 grant after the expiry of the caregiver’s grant. This resulted in a gender imbalance wherein the caregiver grant, which was accessed primarily by women, expired in October 2020, whereas the R350 grant, which was accessed primarily by men, was extended until April 2021. The eligibility criteria for the grant has now been opened to include caregivers, the majority of whom are women.”
Who qualifies for the Social Relief of Distress Grant?
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a South African Citizen, Permanent Resident or Refugee registered on the Home Affairs database and persons who are holders of special permits under the Special Angolan Dispensation, the Lesotho Exemption Permit dispensation and the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit Dispensation, and asylum seekers whose section 22 permits or visas are valid or were valid on 15 March 2020;
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Currently residing within the borders of the Republic of South Africa;
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above the age of 18 and below the age of 60;
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unemployed;
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not receiving any social grant in respect of himself or herself;
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not receiving an unemployment insurance benefit and does not qualify to receive an unemployment insurance benefit;
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not receiving a stipend from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and other financial aid;
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not receiving any other government Covid-19 response support; and
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not a resident in a government-funded or subsidised institution.
Zulu added that caregivers who are not receiving any grant on their own behalf will also be eligible to apply for the special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant.
Applications can be done via https://SRD.sassa.gov.za or via WhatsApp on 082 046 8553.
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