SASSA grant review: Don’t ignore SMS or your grant may lapse

SASSA has suspended 70,000 social grants due to incomplete reviews and urges beneficiaries to respond to SMS notifications and visit their offices for the necessary grant review process. Social grant beneficiaries have been urged to take heed of SMSes on grant reviews from the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA). SASSA, in a recent media briefing, said that the grant review process is ongoing and that70 000 grants were suspendedafter beneficiaries failed to comply with the social grant review process.

70 000 grants were suspendedafter beneficiaries failed to comply with the social grant review process. SASSA CEO ​Themba Matlou recently said in a briefing that SASSA planned to carry out 420 000 reviews and by the third quarter it had notified 400 000 beneficiaries to come forward for the review. SASSA explained that it had suspended and lapsed social grants of targeted beneficiaries who were found to have not disclosed important information that was requested in terms of the review.

In a statement last week, SASSA urged beneficiaries that have been flagged for a grant review not to ignore SMSes requesting them to visit a SASSA office for the grant review process. It also said grant recipients must ensure that SASSA has the most updated contact details for them so they can receive important communication regarding their grants. “Beneficiaries are required to undergo a grant review process to verify their continued eligibility for social assistance, prevent fraud or duplicate claims, which could result in the misuse of public funds which is an offence,” the agency said. For more information, beneficiaries can contact SASSA toll-free on 0800 60 10 11 during working hours, Monday to Friday.