SASSA Grant In Aid [2024]- A Guide To Applying For the Grant Who Needs Full-time Care

Suppose a person is already using Social grants but cannot take care of himself. For such people, the South African government launched a program to allow additional grants to hire and pay the health care providers who take full-time care for those persons; such a program is called Sassa Grant in Aid.

Sassa grant in aid is eligible for those who are already enrolled in disability grants, old age grants, and war veteran grants so they are eligible to apply and can acquire full-time care at home. This grant will help you to use resources to hire someone to provide caregiving services.

So let’s discuss how much an amount a person can get if a Grant in aid is approved. What are the aid requirements and eligibility criteria? After understanding all the questions you can apply for and approve your grant easily

Importance of Sassa Grants

Normally whenever you see the word Sassa you always think it means Sassa grants South Africa offers for those who are unemployed, old, and children. People ask what the meaning of Sassa or what Sassa Stands for is that the South African Social Security Agency aims to offer different types of Social grants for the people of South Africa. Sassa social grants are of different types like

Sassa grant-in-aid
Foster Care grant
Disability grant
War veteran’s grants
Social Relief of Distress
Child Support grants
Old Age Pension

There are multiple types of grants offered by sassa to fulfill the needs of those who cannot do anything. Among those Sassa Grant in aid is an additional loan offered to those already enrolled for Sassa loans but due to mental or physical weakness can not take care of themselves so the government provides extra funds to get full-time care providers services. This sort of Sassa loan program helps a lot of people living in South Africa.

Qualifications Required for SASSA Grant In Aid

Now the question is who can apply for Sassa Grant in Aid? So let’s understand the eligibility criteria for a grant:

The applicant should be a beneficiary of a war veteran grant, disability grant, or old age grant
The applicant should not be able to look after himself and is involved in mental and physical disability then they can apply for grant pay aid.
The applicant should not register or get any sort of services from the state-linked institution that takes care of disabled or old persons and collects funds from government grants
The applicant should receive a medical report from any government-linked healthcare institutes that confirm the physical or mental condition is not stable and you can’t take care of yourself.

How much is the SASSA Grant In Aid Amount?

As per the recent update on 1 October 2023, the sassa grant in aid for a person is R510 per month. Remember this grant enables the applicant to arrange the health care services. The rest of the basic expenses will be managed by those already approved funds.

How Much Does That Grant-In-Aid Cost?

There will be no fee you have to submit for a grant in the aid application process. Overall the application procedure is free.

Essential Documents for Grant-In-Aid Application

If you want to apply for the Sassa Grant in Aid program and you are eligible for this grant then you can start arranging the required documents. So let’s discuss the nature of documents.

Arrange ID Documents

You must have original 13-digit bar-coded ID details

Medical Assessment

The applicants should arrange proof of medical assessments or medical records received from the Health Care Providers indicating that the applicant needs full-time care or health services at home. The chances of acceptance are high if you have medical reports assigned by government doctors.

Marital Status

Few documents are always required to prove marital status. These documents play an important role in the Sassa Grant verification process. So those are

Marriage Certificate: If you are married, then you should have the marriage certificate from the Department of Home Affairs
Death Certificate: If your spouse is deceased, then you have to arrange a document from the Department of Home Affairs
Divorce Decree: In case your marriage has been dissolved then you can collect the divorce paper from the Department of Home Affairs
Affidavit or Sworn Statement: If you are single then you can use an affidavit or sworn statements

Grant-In-Aid Application Process

As per my experience, the procedure for completing the Grant application procedure. So let’s start understanding all the steps in detail.

Visit the Nearest Sassa Office

If you are not stable and can’t visit the nearest Sassa office then what should you do? You can send your details through a trusted person who can not cheat you. It may be your relative friend or any other person. Arrange all the documents mentioned above and send them on behalf of you. The person who visits on your behalf should carry the letter from your doctor which mentions the reason why you can not visit the Sassa office. The doctor’s stamp with letterhead plays an important role in understanding the current situation of the applicant.

Collect Sassa Grant in Aid Application Form

After visiting the Sassa Office, you can collect the Sassa Application form and fill in all the necessary details. Please make sure if you are not able to fill out the application form then you can ask the Sassa officer to fill out the Sassa Application form. Please remember the persons who can apply for a loan also attach your application for an old age grant, disability grant, or war veteran’s grant. A valid Medical Report enables you to approve your application quickly.

Medical Assessments Reports

If you have medical assessment reports but the report is 3 months old then you need to recollect the medical report from your doctor. With the availability of a new report, you can submit the Sassa Application.

Conduct an Interview

After adding all the information, attach the required documents. Submit the Sassa application to the Sassa officer, after submitting the documents the officer interview calls if you are not there, or if you submit it by yourself then the interviewer conducts your interview.

Collect Receipt

After conducting an interview you can collect the stamped receipt. Please save the collected Receipt as proof of application so you can check the status through your receipt

Application Processing Time for SASSA Grant-In-Aid

The processing time for application approval varies from case to case. Sometimes the Sassa team completes the verification within a few days or maybe within a few weeks but in some cases, it takes a long time. The average time for approval is from 1-3 months so the applicants should need to wait at least for 3 months and not apply again.

SASSA Grant-In-Aid Status Verification

After successfully submitting the process of Sassa grant application then the applicants need to check the status of the application. There are various types of methods through which you can check your Sassa grant in aid status. The status may be pending after successfully applying. The status can be changed from pending to approved or declined so if your application is approved you can check pay dates periodically.

What to Do If Your SASSA Grant-In-Aid Application Isn’t Accepted?

There are various reasons why the Sassa application is not approved. Before moving to the next step please check the reason for rejection. If you understand the rejection reason then you can easily resolve your issue and also reconsider your application. After the reconsideration process, if you face rejection again then you can write a Sassa appeal after understanding all the issues. After writing an appeal attach supportive documents and send it to the Ministry of Social Development at the NDSD.

Sometimes people again face rejection after sending a good appeal but why has the appeal been rejected? The reason behind the rejection is the time gap if you have sent an appeal after 90 days of the notification of rejection that you received. Then this is also one of the causes of rejection. We need to send an appeal within 90 days of rejection.

After sending the appeal the Ministry reviews your application very carefully and replies to you if you are eligible. Then you can start receiving the Sassa Grant amounts on a period basis and for each time you need to check Sassa Status and check payday as well

Solving the SASSA Grant-In-Aid Payment Procedure

So, let’s discuss the next step if the status of the Sassa grant in aid is approved. It is always good news for the applicant to get a loan amount. I suggest that after the status gets approved you can start receiving the amount from the date when you applied for example if a person Herry applied for the loan on 1st January 2024 and for the first time the application has been rejected. He reapplied and now he has succeeded but now the date is 1st March 2024. Now the question is from which date he has to receive the Grant funds? The answer is from the application submission date like from 1st January he will start collecting the amount.

What are the payment methods through which Sassa Pay?

There are normally three types of methods through which Sassa can transfer the funds to the approved applicants. These methods are

Direct Deposit Methods: The first and easiest method is to transfer the specified loan amount directly to the applicant’s bank.
Sassa retail outlet: The second method is little bit hectic for those applicants who are not able to walk so they can visit the nearest Sassa Outlets and after showing your details like your ID number and phone number you can get your Sassa amount
Specific Institutions: Sometimes the Saasa Finance Management team transfers the funds to specific registered offices like Non-Profit organizations, Old Age homes, and disability centers

Sometimes the applicants need to be in such conditions to visit the Postal office or the Sassa offices so what can they do to collect the Sassa money? Yes, he can fill out and send the consent Form to the Sassa grant bank payment team with the supporting documents:

As per the citizen of South Africa, you need to attach your ID details
Second, the bank details from which you want to receive your Sassa amount.
For bank verification please receive the three-month-old bank statements with sign and stamp. Please cross-check the name and account number to see clearly.

After submitting the bank details you can receive a message on your linked phone number if your bank details have been updated. After updating the bank details the Sassa finance team can easily transfer the loan amount directly to your bank account. If you want to update your banking details then you can explore the supporting document and get your answers easily.

SASSA Grant-In-Aid Balance Verification

Sometimes the management of the Sassa amount that you received is a little bit difficult. If you have a total amount of R510 and after expenses, you are not sure how much amount is remaining in your account. So, the Sassa Balance check process plays a vital role enabling you to check your Sassa balance at any time. How can I check my Sassa Balance.

The applicants can check the Sassa balance in the following ways:

Through Atms Machine

If you have a Sassa Card then you can check the Sassa Balance through ATM. Simple, you can check your Sassa balance the same way you can check your balance through your debit card.

Sassa WhatsApp Number

If you are a WhatsApp user then you need to save this number on your mobile 082 046 8553. After saving the number you can send a message by typing “Hi”. You receive a pop-up and select the Balance Check option.

USSD Code

You can check your Sasa balance by using a simple code. Dial *120*3210# or *120*69277# by using your mobile phone

Toll-Free Number

If you want to check your Sassa balance then the easy way is to schedule a call. The toll-free number for Sassa is 0800 601 011

SASSA Grant Reviews

The Sassa team specifically decently manages the loan program. The Sassa team always tries to verify the details monthly for example a person named Ahmad borrowed a loan from an old age grant and on behalf of the old age grant he has been selected for the sassa grant in the aid program. After a specific duration, the Sassa team cross-checks all information including the person either getting any income from any other source that has not been mentioned on the application at the time of the application submission process. Income is one factor the age that has been crossed means when a person applied for a loan was 59 years old and now he has been crossed the age of 60 so automatically he has been disabled now.

Sassa’s team cross-checks all the things very carefully and information changes may lead to rejection of the Sassa grant in the aid program as well. As per my experience, if a person received the Sassa loans, he should update all the information periodically so the chances of rejection decrease.

These reviews make sure that the borrowing person still fulfills the mean test criteria and your financial status has not been improved yet. The Sassa team also needs verification about your life sometimes the relatives of a few people continuously collect the Grant money although the applicant has died so Sassa always tries to improve all checks and save the funds delivered to fraud persons.

Normally every three months, Sassa demands the applicants submit the life certificate received from the Department of Home Affairs and if the Sassa team does not receive the required documents then the team visits the applicant’s location and confirms the status of the borrowing persons. After completing the verification process the team may give you a complaint receipt

Reasons for SASSA Grant Suspension

Various factors play an important role in suspension. So let’s discuss:

The Grant may be suspended because it was approved by mistake
If during verification you do not cooperate with the Sassa team then as per review team comments your grants may be suspended
If intentionally or unintentionally you have added false information then it can lead to Sasas grant suspension
If your financial or medical state changes then your grant will be suspended

Grant Reinstatement Process

If the loan borrowing person believes the grant has been suspended mistakenly then they have a complete right to write an appeal with all supportive documents and send it to the Ministry of Social Development within 90 days of rejection

Causes of Grant-In-Aid Expiration

There are several reasons through which your Grant-in-aid will lapse. A few of them are given below:

If the applicant has been passed away.
As per the request for documents that show you are alive. If you can not provide those documents on time then your grant may be lapsed
One more condition is if you have not collected your grants from the pay point or have not withdrawn them from your bank account at least for three months then your grant will be lapsed. You need to apply for a Sassa Grant in aid again
Sometimes the grant holder is admitted to a government-funded institution which also leads to the cancellation of the grant.
During the inspection, if the Sassa team verifies that you are not taking the full-time care provider services then the grant will be lapsed
If you have an international tour of more than 90 days then the Sassa team can cancel your grant

Beneficiaries’ Responsibilities

Sassa pays attention and provides facilities to those who are unable to manage the basic expenses of life. So the borrowing person should have some responsibilities? What are those responsibilities so, let’s understand a few of them:

Updated Financial Circumstances

If the borrowing person’s financial or medical status has been updated like he collected an amount from any charity-based institution or his friend or relative started supporting. If medical reports are good then they should call them and share all new updates with the Sassa team. By doing this some other deserving person can get the opportunity to get loans.

Modified Personal Details

If you have updated your physical address or contact details like phone number or email then you need to update the information on your Sassa database as well. So please inform Sassa to update your record accordingly.

Use Correct Information

Always try to update the correct information so the relationship between Sassa and you will be improved.

SASSA Contact Details

After successfully applying for the Sassa grant in the aid program, the case if your Sassa application status is pending or declined then you can reconsolidate your Sassa Application. You can send the Sassa appeal to the Department of Ministry. If you have further queries in mind then you can contact the Sassa team

After opening Google Maps you can check SASSA offices near me

Can contact through Toll-Free Number: 0800 60 10 11

Sassa Head Office: 012 400 2322

Email: [email protected]

Conclusion

In conclusion, the SASSA Grant-In-Aid program stands as a vital support system for individuals requiring full-time care but facing financial constraints. With its eligibility criteria and application process detailed, applicants can navigate through the procedure effectively. The significance of updating personal and financial information cannot be overstated, ensuring continued access to the grant. While the program serves as a lifeline for many, beneficiaries bear responsibilities in maintaining accurate records and promptly addressing changes in their circumstances. With proper adherence to guidelines and communication channels open, individuals can make the most of this invaluable assistance provided by the South African government. For any further assistance or queries, reaching out to the SASSA team through designated channels ensures timely resolution and support.

FAQs

A SASSA grant is financial assistance provided by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to eligible individuals who need support due to various circumstances such as disability, old age, or unemployment. These grants help recipients meet their basic needs and improve their quality of life.

Yes, there have been increases in SASSA grants for the year 2023. These increases are implemented to keep up with the rising cost of living and to ensure that grant recipients receive adequate financial support to meet their needs.

The new SASSA grants include various forms of financial assistance provided to eligible individuals by the South African Social Security Agency. These grants cover a range of needs such as disability, old age, child support, and social relief. The agency periodically reviews and updates its grant offerings to better address the evolving needs of the population.

SASSA grants are typically paid through various channels depending on the preference of the recipient. These channels include bank deposits, post offices, and cash payment points. Recipients can choose the most convenient option for receiving their grants, ensuring accessibility and ease of access to the funds.