Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu also spelt out the process for the re-assessment of the rejected applications for the special relief of distress grant.
Cape Town – Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has extended the payment of some social grants that have expired or will lapse in the coming months.
Zulu also spelt out the process for the re-assessment of the rejected applications for the special relief of distress grant, popularly known as Unemployed Grant.
The minister also set out the deadlines upon which applications should be made and considered for re-assessment of rejected special grant applications.
This emerged in the new set of directions for the temporary disability grant, the review procedure of the rejected applications for the special relief of distress grant and other matters.
The notice was published in the government gazette last Thursday in a move to amend directions previously released in recent months.
Zulu said the temporary disability grants which lapsed in July 2020 or were due to lapse between August to October will not lapse and would continue to be paid until December 31.
Zulu also said the temporary disability grants, which were extended to October 2020 would continue to be paid until December 31.
The same applied to the care dependency grants, which were initially extended to October 2020.
According to Zulu’s notice, the permanent disability grants which lapsed in January 2020 would also be reinstated from the date of last payment and paid until December 31.
Zulu also said the validity of medical reports for the purposes of an application for a disability grant in the period prior to the lockdown were extended from three months to six months from the date of assessment.
The minister also also spelt out the procedure to be followed in the re-assessment of the R350 special relief of distress applications.
In terms of the new directions, Sassa should notify the applicants whether they qualified for the special relief grant.
Zulu said when an applicant did not qualify for the benefit, Sassa should give the reasons why the applicant did not qualify and inform them of the right to request the Sassa to re-assess its decision.
The special relief applicants have 15 days to submit an application for re-assessment to Sassa electronically from the date of publication of the new directions.
They may also submit applications for re-assessment within 15 days of the date of notification of the rejection of the grant application.
Sassa has to make decision on re-assessment within 30 days from the date it received re-assessment application.
Although no application for re-assessment would be considered by Sassa if it was not lodged within the prescribed periods, aggrieved applicants could still take the outcome of the re-assessment for judicial review within 180 days after the re-assessment by Sassa.
Political Bureau
