Grant payments will be paid out earlier this month. Grant payments for April will be bought forward so that they can start next Monday, 30 March 2020.
The first two days will be for the elderly and people living with disabilities. All other grants such as child support should be collected from 1 April 2020. SASSA says that the emphasis on prioritizing older person and disability grants is an effort to ease congestion at retailers and bank infrastructure and to ensure the risk of infection is minimized.
Beneficiaries who normally collect their grants at cash pay points will be able to do so from 3 April 2020 according to the different specific dates communicated to them in the previous payment cycle.
Additional measures will be put in place to manage the numbers at cash points to ensure that hygiene protocol for everyone are followed and social distancing is maintained. Beneficiaries at pay points and post offices will be provided with hand sanitizers to prevent infections. SASSA will ensure that the number of people at any cash point does not exceed 100 as per the national set target. Social grant beneficiaries are encouraged to avoid areas where large number of people are gathered.
Beneficiaries are reminded that once the money is in the account, it will remain available for the beneficiaries to access anytime and anywhere. It is not necessary to withdraw funds all at once. Beneficiaries are also encouraged to swipe their cards to pay for purchases.
