A social grant refers to grants paid by government to South African citizens, permanent residents and refugees who are in need of assistance. In South Africa, social grants are administered by SASSA.

Social grants are in place to provide financial support for people who are unable to provide for themselves. These generally include older people, people with disabilities, and people with young children.

All applicants for social grants must be South African citizens, permanent residents or refugees (official refugee status granted by the South African government must be provided) and candidates must live in South Africa.

All social grants, with the exception of the foster child grant are subject to a "means test".

The aim of the means test is to ensure that social grants reach those who need the support. SASSA will evaluate your income and assets in order to determine whether you qualify for a social grant. The means test is simply a way of determining whether you qualify to receive a grant that is meant for those who have insufficient means to support themselves.

The Care dependency grant (CDG) is a grant for the caregiver of a child under the age of 18 years who has been assessed as being permanently and severely disabled. The child must require and receive permanent care or support services because of his or her severe mental or physical disability.

The grant is intended to help alleviate some of the costs associated with the burden of care for severely disabled children.

If the child is looked after on a full-time basis for more than six months in a government-funded institution, then the care giver is not eligible to receive this grant.

The caregiver can be the parent, the primary caregiver, or the foster parent of the child. If you are married, you and your spouse must meet the minimum qualifying requirements of the means test.

The Child support grant (CSG) is intended to help pay for the needs of a child who is in the care of either their biological parent/s or a permanent caregiver.

The grant is paid to the primary caregiver who must be older than 16 years, be either the biological parent or a person not related to the child. In other words, persons who take care of children who are not their own and are responsible for meeting all their daily needs, are also entitled to receive the child support grant if proof can be provided that they are the primary caregiver.

This person must take the primary responsibility for meeting the daily care needs of the child.

If you are married, you and your spouse must meet the requirements of a means test to qualify.

The Disability grant (DG) is available for adults between the ages of 18 and 59 who, due to a physical or mental disability are unable to work and obtain the means to maintain themselves.

The disability grant is available on a permanent or temporary basis for between 6 and 12 months. When your temporary grant expires and you have not fully recovered to be able to work, you will need to apply for the grant again. If you are receiving another adult grant such as the old age pension, you cannot receive a disability grant.

When applying, you will need to submit a medical assessment or report not older than 3 months, confirming the disability. If you are married, you and your spouse must comply with a means test.

What is the monetary amount of this grant?
Up to a maximum of R1 890 per month. The amount paid may be less, depending on the application of the means test.

The grant automatically changes from a DG to an OAG in the month the beneficiary turns 60 years of age.

A Foster child grant (FCG) is payable to a child who is younger than 18 years and has been legally placed in foster care through a Children’s Court. This person, known as the foster parent of the child, includes any person, other than the biological parent of the child in whose custody a foster child has been placed.

The magistrate’s court, with the input of social workers from the Provincial Department of Social Development, decides who should care for the child. To qualify for a foster child grant, you and the child you are taking care of must live in South Africa. When applying, you must provide a court order indicating foster care status.

This grant is only valid for the period of the court order. Before the court order expires the social worker is expected to review the case to determine if the child’s circumstances are the same. An extension of the court order then has to be obtained from the court. Based on the extended court order, the grant may then be continued until the next expiry date.

A foster child grant may continue until the foster child turns 21 years of age, provided that the foster child remains in an educational institution. Application for the foster child grant must be done annually after the child has turned 18. Proof of school attendance and the extension order must be provided with this application.

The older persons grant, often referred to as an old age grant, is for both men & women who are 60 years or older, are not in a state institution and do not already receive another grant for themselves. An older person who is resident in a subsidised facility such as an old age home may apply for the grant.

If you are married, you and your spouse must comply with a means test.

What is the monetary amount of this grant?

Pensioners over 75 years of age will get a maximum of R1 910. The grant amount for persons under the age of 75 can be a maximum amount of R1890. The amount will be less, depending on the application of the means test.

A Grant-In-Aid (GIA) is a supplementary grant that is paid to assist persons receiving a social grant (OAG or DG or WVG) who require some assistance on a regular basis from another person to assist with bathing, dressing, cleaning the house, washing and any other personal assistance due to physical or mental disabilities.

This is an extra grant for people already receiving a disability grant, older persons grant or war veterans grant. Individuals who require regular support from another person to cope with activities of daily living.

Social Relief of Distress (SRD) is a short-term (maximum 3 months) temporary grant to be paid to people in desperate need material assistance. The amount of the social relief of distress grant is determined by SASSA and may vary.

You qualify for a social relief of distress grant if the breadwinner of your household has been found medically unfit to work for less than 6 months; if the breadwinner of the household has been admitted to a public or private institution for at least 1 month, the breadwinner has died and application is made within 12 months of the death or you are awaiting payment of an approved grant.

You may also qualify if you have been affected by a disaster but the area or community you live in has not been declared a disaster area.

The War veterans’ grant (WVG) is for persons older than 60 years or who are disabled who served in either the 2nd World War, or the Korean War.

You cannot be a recipient of other adult grants or be cared for in a state institution.

The war veterans’ grant includes a small supplement over and above the regular amount (which at this stage is R20 pm extra).

Be wary of people loitering around the ATM and ensure that you're not followed. Check your balance regularly and report discrepancies to your bank immediately. After you have completed your transaction successfully, leave the ATM area immediately. Be cautious of strangers requesting that you return to finalise or close the transaction because they're unable to transact. They may be skimming your card. Some fraudsters wait until you've drawn your cash to take advantage. Take your time to complete your transaction and secure your card and your cash in your wallet, handbag or pocket before leaving the ATM.

Phone the toll-free helpline at 0800 601 011 for information on:

• Pay-out dates.
• Qualifying rules for all government grants.
• District office addresses and contact numbers.
• For help with what has happened to your application.
• How you can also report any fraud or corruption.

It's your responsibility to report any suspected fraudulent or corrupt activities relating to social grants. You can do so by phoning SASSA's grants and fraud hotline on 0800 601 011.

Application Submitted :
Your application has successfully been submitted. A SASSA official will review your application and if there’s further information required SASSA official will be in contact.
Possible outcome: Waiting for Assessment

Application Assessed :
Your application has been captured by a SASSA official. Your application will be processed.
Possible outcome: Application captured – Waiting for Approval

Application Documents Outstanding :
Your application has been processed and found to be incomplete. Please be on a lookout for an email or SMS that will advise on what needs to be rectified.
Possible outcome: Application Incomplete – Waiting for Re/Submission of Outstanding Document/s

Application Pending :
Your application has been processed and is awaiting final approval.
Possible outcome: Application Captured – Waiting for Final Assessment

Incomplete Application Saved :
Your application has been saved as an incomplete application. You may with your application at any point in time.
Possible outcome: Application Incomplete – Waiting for Completion of Application

To register you will require a cell phone for verification and an email address to receive notifications. Click on the ‘Register’ link at the top of the SASSA Services page. Complete the form with your personal information.

Please note - A Procurator may have a single SASSA Services account to manage and apply for various grants.

Once required information has been provided, click the register button A One-Time-Pin OTP) will be sent to the cell phone number provided. Enter the OTP in the field provide to confirm registration.

Once registered your will have access to all the SASSA Services.

Click on the login link at the top of the SASSA Services page. The login screen will show options to reset password or obtain username.

Once one of these options has been clicked a screen will display requesting information. Complete the information required and the forgotten information will be sent to the provided cell phone number.

Login to the SASSA Services and click on the Manage My Personal Information button. A form will be displayed with the current information. You can update your personal information and then click save. A One-Time-Pin (OTP) will be sent to the provided cell phone number to confirm the update.

A Procurator is an agent representing a beneficiary/applicant who manages the beneficiary’s grant or applies on behalf of the applicant.

A grant associated with a procurator can be accessed by the beneficiary and/or the procurator. Notifications of change to circumstances, or status updates related to grant applicants, will however be sent to the applicant as well.

Check details in How To? section

South African Identification Document, Temporary South African Identification Document, Refugee Permit.

Marriage Certificate, Customary union certificate, Civil union certificate, Death certificate, Divorce order.

Three months bank statements, and if the account is less than three months old, a Bank Letter.

Proof of any investments.

Proof of monthly income – salary or wages slip, interest on investments, annuities, pension payments, rental received and any other income from any source

Statements confirming investments (shares, deposits, annuities, etc).

Rates certificate for property owned

Three months bank statements, and if the account is less than three months old, a Bank Letter.

Medical aid contributions
Income tax payments
Contributions to UIF
Contributions to pension fund

Yes – although you are encouraged to have a bank account into which the grant will be paid.

Bank Letter confirming the account number for the newly opened account.

Yes, all documents uploaded should be certified. You can have the document certified at your nearest commissioner of oaths.

From the Home page select the grant you want to manage. Once selected, the allowed change of circumstances options will be presented. Select the desired change and complete the associated form.

On the Home page a table with all active applications associated with the SASSA Services user is displayed. The table also indicates the status of your application. Please note that application status changes will also be sent as notifications to the SASSA Services user and the applicant.

By selecting the related application, options for upload of supporting documents will be displayed. The list of required documents will be determined from the information provided in the Application Form (Questionnaire also provide a list of required supporting documents but does not activate the upload functionality). Each required supporting document in the list will have actions next to it, i.e., View, Upload, Remove, Print.

Please remember that in addition to the supporting documents, every application requires a SASSA affidavit particular to that grant type to be completed in full and uploaded.

To make a Medical Assessment Booking you will have to complete either the Questionnaire or the Application Form. You will then have to indicate your Province, District and preferred SASSA Assessment Site. A calendar will be displayed with the available days for assessments at the preferred SASSA Assessment Site.

Select the desired date and confirm. A notification of the booking will be sent to the applicant and the SASSA Service User.

By selecting the application reference on the Home page, the details of the application will be displayed, which includes the booking details.

By selecting the application reference on the Home page, the details of the application will be displayed, which includes the booking details. From here the booking can be cancelled or rescheduled.

From the Home page select the Grant Support Request option. Complete the provided form and submit. The reference of the request will be sent via a notification. It is advisable to record the reference of the request for future reference.