Should beneficiaries who appealed their grant applications but never collected their money, stand to lose it if they fail to collect it by the end of the month.
SPECIAL Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD R350) beneficiaries who previously appealed their grant applications but never collected their money, stand the risk of losing their money should they fail to collect it by August 31, 2021.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) urged beneficiaries to head to the Post Office to collect their money by the end of this month.
Sassa’s provincial Senior Communications Manager, Inno Khunu said more than 5 000 beneficiaries in the Northern Cape have not collected their money.
“Sadly, Sassa will have to return this money from the previous cycle to National Treasury to fund other government priorities, if not collected in time. The lists of beneficiaries of uncollected SRD grants are uploaded on the Sassa website on www.sassa.gov.za and beneficiaries are please advised to visit the website to check before August 31,2021.
“Enquiries can also be made on 0800 60 10 11 to confirm if there is any outstanding balance. If their name appears on the lists, please report to the post office to collect the funds without further delay.
“Regional statistics of number of grants not collected are Northern Cape 5,131 beneficiaries, Free State has 12,502, North West 16,399, Mpumalanga 19,460, Western Cape 23,962, Limpopo 27,876, Eastern Cape 41,763, Gauteng 59,408 and KwaZulu Natal 73,287 beneficiaries,” said Khunou.
She said the uncollected money is placing strain on the current applications.
“An unprecedented number of clients have not collected their SRD grants and this is putting the brakes on the successful roll-out of the current application and payment cycle. The current applications exceed 10 million, yet Sassa is spending time and resources to put mechanisms in place to ensure uncollected previous grants are collected. Previous appeals by Minister Lindiwe Zulu of Social Development to clients who never collected, have seen the numbers drop from over 571 000 to about 278 000 uncollected grants.
“Although still high, Sassa thanks those that went to collect their monies,” she said.
Khunou advised current applicants to only head to the post office once they have received a SMS notifying them to collect their money.
“In the current cycle that opened on August 6, 2021, Sassa advises applicants to collect their SRD grant only if they have received an SMS to collect. If they do not have the SMS notification, it means the money is not yet available. The country is still having Covid-19 challenges and Sassa does not want long queues at post offices, making it difficult to social distance. The SRD grant is not handled at any Sassa offices, but strictly online. The Post Office will not pay the SRD R350 grant during normal monthly social grants payments, public holidays, weekends,” Khunou added.
