There are many social relief of distress (SRD) grant applicants whose application status indicates R350 approved but no payment date. Many of them have not received their grant payments for months.
According to the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), the reason could be the method of payment the applicants chose during their application.
R350 approved but no payment date
In a bid to resolve the “R350 approved but no payment date” issue, SASSA recently advised applicants who chose cash send or Postbank to open a bank account and upload their banking details on the SASSA portal.
“Clients who have been approved for the COVID-19 SRD, but no payment date is indicated on their January status or earlier months and have selected to be paid through Postbank or cash send, are urged to open bank accounts and upload them on the system to fast-track payments,” the Agency said in a recent tweet.
SASSA has consistently said bank accounts are the easiest method for SRD grant payments. As far back as January 2022, it advised applicants to switch their payment method from cash send to bank accounts.
Both Post Office and cash send options have experienced challenges since the government launched the R350 SRD grant in April 2020.
Some applicants still haven’t received payments
In response to SASSA’s tweet, some applicants said they chose the bank account payment method during application but still haven’t received their grant payments.
“April, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2022 – all those months approved with no payments dates. Also January 2023 approved with no pay dates and I did use my bank account,” Twitter user Victoria Pulane wrote.
“We have been waiting since September 2021, approved for more than 12months, banking details loaded, sent emails and called SASSA but still no payment dates for all those months,” added S’miso.
Nevertheless, if you still have cash send or Postbank as your method, it may be worth changing it to bank account to address the “approved but no payment date” issue.
To upload your bank account details, simply visit SASSA’s SRD website and scroll down the page until you see the sub-heading: How do I change my banking details. Enter your ID number, click submit and follow the prompts.
Make sure you use your own bank account and enter the correct details to avoid further complications. Good luck!