The short answer
You can collect payments from August 2021 to March 2022.
The whole question
Dear Athalie
I lost my ID and could not collect my Covid-19 grant money in September and October. I found my ID this month, November, and tried to collect my money from the post office but could not due to network problems. I signed a contract as an assistant teacher at a school this month and was denied access to my grant money. I know that SASSA will stop my grant because I have a new source of income, but why won't they give me the money that was due to me before I got employed (August to November)?
The long answer
Those payments would be under the extension of the SRD grant which is for eight months from August 2021 to March 2022. I think you should be able to access the payments for August till October 2021, as Minister Lindiwe Zulu has said that people who didn’t receive some of their payments under the previous SRD grant which ran from May 2020 to April 2021 would have until August 2021 to access them. After August 2021 the monies would be taken back by government.
In your case, your application was approved in August 2021 so you should still be able to claim the money owed for September and October.
SASSA has said that people can also contact the PostBank call centre (available 24/7) on 0800 53 54 55 to deal with concerns and complaints related to SASSA/SAPO cards – card replacement, PIN resets and non-payment.
SASSA has also said that clients whose grants are approved and paid through the post office must await an SMS notification that the grant is available to confirm where and when they can collect their SRD grant.
You should contact SASSA urgently, explain the problems you had with your ID and the post office and that your circumstances had only changed in November. Ask them to help you to access those monies now.
You can contact SASSA here:
SASSA call centre: 0800 60 10 11
WhatsApp line: 082 046 8553
The USSD line: *134*7737#
SASSA Website: https://srd.sassa.gov.za
If they are not helpful, you could contact the Black Sash for advice:
Black Sash helpline: 072 66 33 739
Email: help@blacksash.org.za
Wishing you the best,
Athalie
Answered on Nov. 26, 2021, 3:26 p.m.
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