Last week it was announced that unemployed caregivers can now collect their R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant without an Identification Document (ID). SASSA assured beneficiaries that they would be able to use their SASSA system generated ID number if they did not have an official ID number.
People without ID’s have previously had trouble applying for the SASSA R350 SRD grant. This is due to ID numbers being required in the application process.
SASSA spokesperson, Paseka Letsatsi says that the intention of SASSA is to ensure that asylum seekers and refugees can receive access to the funds.
He said, “if you come to South Africa from outside you obviously come here without [the] necessary documentation, so these are the people who have gone to home affairs made an application to be refugees so we are trying to make sure that we accommodate them”.
Letsatsi explained that the SASSA system generates a number that ends in quad-7 or 7777 which is used to identify people. He explained that this number can be used to make an application for the special Covid-19 R350 SRD grant.
Around 10 000 people are currently in the system who do not possess an ID number.
He said, “they are all over South Africa and some of them would go into Home Affairs, make an application, then because we have that arrangement with Home Affairs wherein if you come and make an application we’re able to bounce the information in Home Affairs and find out how many of these people are in the system and so on, but that does not necessarily mean that all 10 000 of them will apply for the R350 [SRD grant]”.
Letsatsi says SASSA is making an effort to ensure that lines at the Post Office do not become overcrowded. This has seen the post office make arrangements for people to access their SRD grants at Pick n Pay and Boxer stores.
SASSA is now in the process of exploring options where e-vouchers can be sent to successful grant applicants.