Mid-month reminder: May SASSA R350 grant payment methods

In the second week of May, the South African Post Office (SAPO) announced that it would no longer be paying the COVID-19 social relief of distress (SRD) grant from its branches – throwing a spanner in the works of beneficiaries who ordinarily make use of the service.

SASSA R350 GRANT UPHEAVAL

The post office upheaval came on the heels of the announcement that R350 grant recipients would have to reapply for the vital social assistance, which was given to about 10 million South Africans when President Cyril Ramaphosa announced its extension in his SONA speech in February.

READ: Nearly three million recipients set to lose their SASSA R350 grant – here’s who is affected

Now, SASSA is encouraging beneficiaries whose R350 grant applications have been approved to collect the money from retail outlets or have it deposited directly into their bank accounts.

While tabling the Department of Social Development’s (DSD) 2022-2023 budget in parliament, Minister Lindiwe Zulu, promised that approved applicants would receive the R350 grant by June.

“By 30 April 2022, in excess of 8.1-million applications had been received. I assure all qualifying applicants they will be in receipt of their payments for this iteration of the grant by June,” she said.

HOW TO COLLECT FROM RETAIL OUTLETS

If your R350 grant application is approved, you can collect the money from the following retail outlets:

• Checkers
• Usave
• Shoprite
• Pick ‘n Pay
• Boxer

“When going to a retail outlet to access the funds, clients must have their Identity Document, and Cellphone with access to the number they registered with when applying for the grant,” said SASSA.

A withdrawal confirmation message will be SMS’d to the number registered on the SASSA system.

The Post Office encouraged beneficiaries that have already reapplied for the SRD grant and selected the post office collection method to visit the website and choose an alternative.

“The application app now includes an option where beneficiaries can receive their grant from any Pick n Pay, Boxer, Shoprite, Checkers or USave merchant

“Log on to srd.sassa.gov.za and respond to the security SMS you receive on your phone. You can then include merchants in your application and submit the updated application,” said SAPO spokesperson Johan Kruger.

HOW TO HAVE R350 GRANT DEPOSITED INTO BANK ACCOUNT

SASSA has long said the best payment method is to have the R350 grant deposited directly into a bank account as it is the safest and most convenient option.

To add or change your banking details visit the SRD website (srd.sassa.gov.za), scroll down to ‘How do I change my banking details’ and follow the instructions.

DA LOOKING TO REVERSE POST OFFICE DECISION

The post office offered long queues and cash shortages at branches as some of the reasons it would no longer pay out the R350 grant.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is firmly against the move and said it would approach parliament to reverse it and even threatened legal action.

“The long queues at Post Office branches are a result of the entity’s chronic inefficiency, shortage of staff and obsolete technological infrastructure and not because of the beneficiaries of the social relief grants. To blame those queue on the latter is to gaslight poor South Africans,” said the main opposition party.

Swaziland Orders Men To Marry Five Wives Or Go To Prison | The King of Swazilan, King Mswati III has made a declaration in the country that men are required to marry at least five wives or go to jail.

A statement by the King called for all men in the country to marry at least five wives, assuring the men that government would pay for the marriage ceremonies and buy houses for them.

“Here’s the deal, marry at least five wives and you’re assured that the government will pay for the marriage ceremonies and buy houses for them”

The order, according to IHarare, is to ensure every woman gets a husband as it is believed that men taking more wives will help women get husbands.

The monarch noted that there are more women that men in Swazland which he noted was a serious problem for the country known to be full of virgins.

Reports say that the decision also came following the increasing number of virgins and scarcity of men in the country.

King Mswati himself has 15 wives and 25 children, while his father and predecessor had more than 70 wives and over 150 children