Many applicants have been excluded from receiving the R350 SRD grant because of the way they have answered the application form. Here is how you can avoid this from happening to you when you apply for the grant.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has provided the following reasons why applicants have been denied the Special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. One of the reasons is ‘self-exclusion’.
Self-exclusion means that applicants answered yes to the following questions:
- Are you working?
- Are you earning more than R350 per month?
By answering yes to the above questions, they self-excluded themselves from the grant. Those who may feel that they made a mistake in the way they answered the questions, may do two things about it.
Applicants may either use the portal to change the answers they submitted when applying or they may submit a new application form. Lodging an appeal may also be done in this circumstance.
Sassa applicants are advised to no longer use the srd.sassa.gov.za website for appeals. This is because appeals are now being handled by the Independent Appeals Tribunal.
Click here to lodge an appeal.
The Independent Tribunal reassesses the decision made by Sassa against the information available at its disposal. Within 60 to 90 days from the date on which the appeal was received, the appeal will be finalized. Applicants will then receive an electronic outcome of the appeal.
Every month Sassa will reassess the applicant to see if they are still in need of the grant, therefore, an appeal application needs to be lodged concerning each month where the applicant was declined by Sassa. Applicants are encouraged to make an appeal immediately after receiving the unsuccessful status.
The Independent Tribunal will check and revalidate the various databases used by Sassa that may indicate income or alternative financial assistance, which includes the verification databases of insufficient means with banks.
