Millions of South Africans Not Receive SASSA Grant Payments in January 2024

In a disturbing turn of events, millions of South Africans did not receive SASSA grant payments in January 2024. This situation has caused panic among citizens, and currently, 150,000 reports from distressed SASSA grant beneficiaries have been recorded by authorities following the payment failure this month. With 47% of the country’s population relying on social grants, nearly 27.73 million citizens did not receive their payouts for January 2024. However, Minister Lindiwe Zulu assures the reinstatement of unpaid people with a double payment in February 2024.

Millions of South Africans Not Receive SASSA Grant Payments in January 2024

In a reassuring statement, SASSA, the South African Social Security Agency, states: The failure in January payments was caused by errors in the verification system due to incorrect SASSA banking details provided by beneficiaries when applying for grants or changing their payment methods. SASSA assures that those who did not receive their January grant will get their due payment in the next payment cycle.

The primary issue for millions of South Africans who did not receive SASSA Grant Payments in January 2024 is “incorrect banking details.” If you are also a victim, SASSA has requested affected beneficiaries to dial the Call Centre at 0800 60 10 11 for inquiry or visit the nearest SASSA offices to file complaints. It is also important for beneficiaries to keep checking SASSA status online to receive timely updates regarding approved payments.

We have received complaints from SASSA grant beneficiaries involved with issues of withdrawing their grants at retailers and not receiving the credited amount in their bank accounts, as they did not receive their SASSA grant payment for January 2024.

• The most common complaints were reported by parents and guardians who did not receive their January Child Support and Foster Child grant payments.
• In addition to parents, War Veterans and Older Persons Grant recipients were negatively impacted, being unable to receive the much-needed funds for January.
• Beneficiaries of Care Dependency and Disability Grants complained about delayed payments, both in online bank transfers to their accounts and grant payouts from retailers and the Post Office, with approval not being granted on exact payment dates.
• Social Relief of Distress grants were also delayed, leaving thousands of beneficiaries without any payment for the January grant.

Unprocessed SASSA Grant Application for January 2024

SASSA has failed to bring relief to grant beneficiaries, further complicating matters for new applicants with the beginning of the new year with exceeded the number of beneficiaries. It has come to our attention that thousands of applicants are encountering difficulties in receiving feedback from SASSA and are also finding it hard to communicate with officials regarding their social grant applications. These reports contain.

• SASSA Old Age Grant applications remain under process with no feedback provided by the national agency to the applicants on how they have not been processed and are still standing with pending verification.
• SASSA Social Relief of Distress (SRD) R350 grant applications also did not receive approval for January, leaving beneficiaries struggling to update their application details with no communication for assistance.

SASSA Minister Lindiwe Zulu Working to Resolve Payment Concerns

Amidst numerous reported complaints, we have received assurance through official communication channels that Minister Lindiwe Zulu is actively addressing the SASSA payment issues. The current progress follows.

• SASSA manifests that Child Support Grant beneficiaries will be reinstated for payment in February 2024 with double the payments.
• SASSA has prioritized the reinstatement of Old Age beneficiaries for payment in January 2024, especially those who were not paid in December or experienced delays.
• If you changed your SASSA bank details in December 2023, you will likely receive your grant payment in February 2024, starting from SASSA February 2024 Payment Distribution.
• The beneficiary verification system at SASSA has encountered challenges that require fixing and will soon be resolved.
• Communication channels are open for citizen assistance, and agency representatives will make additional public statements via appropriate platforms.