Spotlight on social grants

Special GroundUp series on social grants

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SASSA gets about 80,000 new SRD grant applications each month

17.4-million people have applied for the Social Relief of Distress grant since it was introduced in May 2020

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Brief | 11 March 2025

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Here’s how a disabled person spent their grant

We spent time with 31-year-old Khanyo Mantshi from Khayelitsha who says his grant falls short of his needs

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News | 10 March 2025

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Slow systems delay switch to new social grant card

Postbank acknowledges that completing the card transition before 20 March deadline is unlikely

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News | 6 March 2025

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About 1.9-million people still need to swap gold cards as SASSA deadline looms

Postbank admits that completing the process on time is “impossible”

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News | 4 March 2025

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Serious flaws in SASSA system, MPs are told - again

Unclear why same investigators, with unclear qualifications for the job, have presented more or less the same obvious findings to Parliament a second time

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News | 26 February 2025

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Can the SRD grant court order be implemented? Activists say yes

The Department of Social Development is to appeal the recent ruling. But #PayTheGrants and the Institute for Economic Justice say it should and can be implemented

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News | 19 February 2025

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Chaotic switch to Black Card: What Postbank says it’s doing to fix the problems

More than 2-million people still need to switch

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News | 18 February 2025

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Deadline to replace SASSA Gold Cards extended to 20 March

This comes as thousands of beneficiaries have been queuing for hours outside service points across the country to get the new Black Card

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Brief | 14 February 2025

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Pensioners queue for hours to replace expiring SASSA cards

“If I don’t change my card there will be no income in my house,” says 84-year-old KZN pensioner

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News | 14 February 2025

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This SASSA office opens earlier to deal with “high influx” of clients

A community worker says she sleeps outside the office to secure spaces for elderly or disabled people

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News | 10 February 2025

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Leaked ANC document calls for basic income grant in 2025

But official statement after lekgotla makes no mention of it

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News | 5 February 2025

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No end to long queues at SASSA Khayelitsha

Grant recipients and applicants must sleep over or arrive in the early hours if they hope to get served

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Brief | 5 February 2025

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Explosive court ruling on SRD grant

Government ordered to “progressively increase” the grant and income threshold, and allow in-person applications

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News | 24 January 2025

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SASSA is making progress against fraud, our study shows

But there are likely many fraudulent grant applications made years ago that still receive money

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Analysis | 23 January 2025

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SASSA to suspend SRD grants where fraud is suspected

But the electronic system which allows beneficiaries to prove their identities has also been suspended

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News | 21 January 2025

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Over a hundred disabled and elderly people queue outside SASSA in Khayelitsha

Monday was the first day for disability grant applicants to make medical bookings

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News | 21 January 2025