Applications for new Sassa grants open

Applications for temporary South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) disability and care dependency grants opened this week, with beneficiaries making their way to local offices to apply as grants lapsed on 31 December.

Temporary disability grant beneficiaries, who felt that their medical condition still prevented them from working, were advised to visit their nearest Sassa office to reapply.

“It must be understood that this is not a review process, but a new application, as temporary disability grants are awarded for a specific period only,” said Sassa.

Sassa said last year that caregivers of children whose care dependency grants would have lapsed on 31 December were asked to apply for disability grants.

They were not required to bring the children to the Sassa offices, but should complete the application process as proxy for them.

“Both categories of beneficiaries are requested to bring along clinical records pertaining to the medical conditions of applicants when applying,” it said.

All Covid-19 precautionary measures would continue to be observed at all times and Sassa would endeavour to limit the time applicants had to spend waiting in queues, it said.

Courtesy letters informing beneficiaries of the lapsing of their social grants have already been posted and affected beneficiaries have been requested to respond to these letters as soon as possible, said Sassa.

Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance social development spokeswoman Bridget Masango has criticised the department of social development for not extending the deadline for disability grant reassessments to March 2021.

The failure to extend the deadline would now force vulnerable beneficiaries out of their homes to undergo these assessments, said Masango.

According to Masango, Minister Lindiwe Zulu said in a reply to a DA parliamentary question that such an extension would be too expensive, at an estimated cost of R1.2 billion. “We reject this excuse as it further demonstrates the ANC-led governments misguided fiscal priorities,” she said.

“The ANC has been more than willing to shift over R10.5 billion to bail out the failing SA Airways, while being simultaneously frugal on necessities such as vaccines and disability grants which would directly improve the lives of ordinary South Africans.”

The DA would write to the chair of the parliamentary portfolio committee on social development to request an urgent meeting in which Zulu should explain how her department intended to handle the crisis.