Question NW149 to the Minister of Social Development
14 April 2023 - NW149
Marais, Ms P to ask the Minister of Social Development
(a) What are the reasons that some recipients of R350 Social Relief of Distress grants still have not received their monies as at 1 February 2023 and (b) on what date will the challenge be resolved?
Reply:
a) SASSA is up to date with all assessments and payments for the COVID-19 SRD. There are, however, a number of clients that could not be paid due to challenges with their payment method. These include:
- No payment method details were added to the application / provided by the client. The client is required to upload payment details.
- Payment method failed verification. This could be due to incorrect account details or due to the fact that the account does not belong directly to the client. This requires the client to either correct their details or supply a new payment method.
- The largest area of failed verifications are those who selected payments to their mobile number.
(i) There is currently a challenge with the cash send verification process as the contract for this has expired and SASSA is in the process of following a formal procurement process. However, since the vast majority of these assessments fail due to the cell phone numbers provided not being RICA’d, clients are advised to use a different payment channel such as providing their banking details. Those who have been previously approved and paid through this specific mobile payment channel will continue to be paid.
- A small number of clients are on “referred status”. These are approved applications that cannot be paid due to a challenge with identity verification i.e. ID number has been confirmed to have been used in fraudulent matters such as Identity theft. The clients have been advised and a process has been put in place for clients to confirm their identity through a biometric verification process.
- There are about half a million clients who have not yet complied with FICA requirements on their Postbank accounts. Clients are required to finalise this FICA process or to upload alternative banking details, to enable payments.
b) As these challenges (in most part) require action on the part of the client, it is not possible to provide a date on when all clients will be paid. Once the client’s payment method is corrected by the client, and verified, SASSA will be able to effect payment to the client.