POLL | Do you know anyone who has collected the R350 grant?

More than 10- million people have applied for the R350 Covid-19 social relief of distress grant, with the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) set to pay out R2.1bn this month alone.

The agency told TimesLIVE at least 6-million beneficiaries will receive their R350 grant payments by the end of the month.

The flood of applications earlier this month caused technical issues for the agency, which opened several channels to apply for the grant.

The first payments were made last Wednesday, with beneficiaries able to choose how they want the money paid to them: in their bank account, via Cash Send or collection at a post office branch.

SA Post Office spokesperson Johan Kruger told TimesLIVE last week that collection of payment dates are determined by the beneficiary’s last three digits of their ID. 

“They will receive an SMS from Sassa to say the grant is ready for collection. We are also working on an SSD code  which the beneficiaries will soon be able to use on their cellphones to check if there is money waiting for them,” he said.

Speaking on SABC News recently, Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said applicants who did not provide their banking details when applying for the grant should wait for an SMS notifying them that their payments are ready for collection at post offices.

​“We want to emphasise to applicants that if you did not give us your banking details, please do not go to a post office if you don’t have an SMS from Sassa that states the grant has been approved,” said Letsatsi. 

“If you go to a post office because your neighbour told you they received their SMS, you won’t be assisted.” 

PAYMENT DATES FOR THE REST OF AUGUST

The payment dates for the rest of August, according to the last three digits of beneficiaries’ ID numbers, are as follows: 

• August 30: 084 and 089
• August 31: 080 and 085