Lessons learnt from the last payment cycle during the National Lockdown have compelled SASSA to review the payment dates going forward. As from the month of May 2020 Disability and Older Persons Grants will be paid from the 3rd day of the month. All other grants will be paid from the 6th of every month.
The grant payment for April 2020 was brought forward to the 30 March 2020 and the first two days were dedicated to people with disabilities and older persons to ensure compliance with the State of Disaster requirements. Child Support grant beneficiaries could not wait for the 1st of April and descended upon payment channels as early as 30 March. This posed health challenges and it became difficult at some stores and ATM’s to maintain social distancing. There was also a scene in a Dobsonville shopping centre in Soweto where a group of youngsters were captured on video pushing older people in order to access payment infrastructure first.
In response to this unpleasant experience, SASSA started consulting role players such as National Treasury, South African Post Office, the banking association, retailers, and the Consumer Goods Council among others. What came out of the consultations, is that, people with Disabilities and the Aged need to be protected from the month end rush at payment outlets and therefore, payment needs to be staggered in such a way that these categories of beneficiaries receive their grants before others.
To effect this SASSA will make use of two payment files. The first one will cover the Old Age Pension and the Disability Grant while the second payment file will cover all other grant types (Child Support Grant, Foster Child Grant and Care Dependency Grant).
This means from May 2020 onwards Old Age Pension and Disability Grants will be paid on the third of every month or the first working day after this date, if the third falls on a weekend or public holiday. Since the 3rd of May 2020 falls on a Sunday Old Age Pension and Disability Grants will be available from Monday, 04 May 2020. For all other grant types’ money will be available from the 6th of May 2020 onwards.
Some beneficiaries (Old Age Pension and Disability Grant) use one card to also receive Child Support, Care Dependency and Foster Child grants. In such cases they will be able to access all linked grants simultaneously with their Old Age Pensions or Disability Grants. It must be noted that once the money is in the account, it will remain there until it is needed.
Cash Pay Points
The changes introduced to stagger payment of social grants has direct implication on payment dates for beneficiaries who collect their grants at cash pay points. Payment at cash paypoints will commence on 07 May 2020. Beneficiaries who collect their grants at cash pay points are advised that all dates communicated during their last payment will now shift forward by two days. If the new date falls on a weekend or public holiday, then, the cash pay point will be serviced on the first working day after the weekend or holiday.
“Money deposited into your account is safe and will not be taken back if not used. There is no need to rush to withdraw cash on the first day we deposit it into your account. The SASSA card can be used as a debit card to pay for purchases, therefore it is not necessary to withdraw cash and thereafter purchase goods with the cash”: SASSA KZN Acting Regional Executive Manager Mr. Zanoxolo Mpeta pleaded with beneficiaries.
SASSA KZN CONTACT DETAILS FOR SOCIAL GRANT BENEFICIARIES REQUESTING FOOD PARCELS DURING LOCK DOWN:
- SASSA KZN Regional Office (Customer Care Call Centre): 033 846 3400 or the SASSA Toll Free number: 0800601011
