Sassa gives rejected R350 special grant applicants a lifeline

• Sassa has given a lifeline to all rejected applicants of the R350 Covid-19 grant.
• In early June, close to 50% of processed applications did not qualify in terms of the criteria.
• More than 2.5 million applicants have already been paid so far from over 3.2 million who applied.

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has given a lifeline to all rejected applicants of the R350 Covid-19 special grant.

Sassa has promised to find out why many applications were rejected.

Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said they were surprised by the high number of applicants.

Letsatsi said they have decided it would be wise to reconsider the applications before subjecting them to an appeal process, which comes at a cost and resultant delays, especially to poor people impacted negatively by the national shutdown. 

"In early June, close to 50% of processed applications did not qualify in terms of the criteria. Over 70% of those that did not qualify were either receiving or qualifying for UIF benefits, according to the database that Sassa was using then to sift through the applications.

"Subsequently, Sassa took a decision to request an updated database to reconsider the declined UIF cases, instead of advising the aggrieved applicants to follow the appeals route," said Letsatsi.

READ: Sassa apologises for delays in R350 special grant after only 10 people paid so far in trial run

Letsatsi said it has also emerged that 85% of the UIF cases, which were previously deemed not to qualify, actually do qualify. 

More than 2.5 million applicants have already been paid so far from over 3.2 million who applied for the Covid-19 grant.

Sassa CEO Totsie Memela said: "Updating the UIF database has brought such a relief to us and the affected beneficiaries. The numbers will rise daily until we have paid all deserving individuals who were previously declined."