R350 GRANT EXTENDED

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana last week delivered his budget speech, announcing that the South African government has extended the R350 grant until March 2024. The grant is given to people in need of social relief.

In addition, starting on April 1, the old age and disability grants will increase by R90 and a further R10 on October 1, making the total grant R2,090.

The child support grant will rise from R480 to R510 on October 1, while the foster care grant increases from R1,070 to R1,130 over the same period.

Millions of the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) beneficiaries will start receiving their grants later this week. Sassa confirmed the dates on which recipients will receive their grants in March. All grants besides the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) payment can still be collected from post office branches.

According to Sassa, payments will be made in the following order:

Thursday, March 2 — old age grants
Friday, March 3 — disability grants
Monday, March 6 — all other grants will be paid from this day onwards, including the children’s grant.

“There is no need to rush to withdraw cash on the first day,” said Sassa. “Once the money is in the account, it will remain there until it is needed.”

Beneficiaries can collect their R350 SRD grants from Pick n Pay, Boxer, Shoprite, Checkers, USave and OK Foods stores. The SA Post Office (Sapo) and Sassa advise those who get the grant to choose this payment option in their applications when applying for the grant. Those who used to get their R350 grants at a post office should visit www.srd.sassa.gov.za and select an option to collect the grant from one of the supermarkets.

Sassa also urged beneficiaries approved for the SRD grant and selected to be paid through Postbank or Cashsend to open bank accounts to fast-track payments.