The morning sun hasn’t yet risen over Soweto when I arrive at the local SASSA office. It’s 5:30 AM, and already the queue snakes around the building, down the block, and disappears around the corner. Some people sit on folding chairs they’ve brought, others on pieces of cardboard laid over the cool pavement. Many have been here since 3 AM, determined to be among the first served when the doors open at 8.
“This is my third time this month,” sighs Nomvula Khumalo, a 47-year-old mother of three who lost her job as a domestic worker during the pandemic. “Last time they told me there was a problem with my verification. The time before that, the system was down. Today I pray for better luck.”
Nomvula is one of approximately 8.5 million South Africans who depend on the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant – a lifeline that, while modest at R370 per month, often stands between recipients and absolute destitution. And now, after years of short-term renewals and persistent uncertainty, SASSA (South African Social Security Agency) has announced the extension of this critical grant until March 2026, bringing both relief and new complications to the country’s most vulnerable citizens.
The Extension: What’s Changing
The announcement, made by Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu during a press briefing in Pretoria, extends the SRD grant for a full two years beyond its previous endpoint – the longest extension since the grant was first introduced as an emergency measure during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020.
“This extension recognizes the ongoing hardship faced by millions of South Africans who remain excluded from economic opportunities,” Zulu stated. “While we continue working toward more permanent solutions to address poverty and unemployment, this grant provides essential support to those with no other means of income.”
The monthly amount remains unchanged at R370 – a figure that falls far below South Africa’s food poverty line of R760 per month. However, several significant operational changes will affect how and when recipients receive their grants:
First, payments will now be disbursed according to a staggered schedule based on the last three digits of recipients’ ID numbers, spreading payments from the 1st through the 20th of each month. This replaces the previous approach of processing all payments in the first week of each month, which frequently led to system crashes, long queues at payment points, and delayed disbursements.
Second, SASSA is implementing enhanced verification requirements, with all recipients needing to confirm their eligibility every three months through the SRD website, WhatsApp line, USSD service, or in person at SASSA offices.
Third, the agency is expanding its banking integration, encouraging more recipients to receive funds via direct deposit rather than cash collection, though the option to collect from retailers like Shoprite, Pick n Pay, and Boxer will remain available.
For many recipients I spoke with, the extension itself overshadows these operational changes, bringing a rare sense of certainty in otherwise precarious lives.
“At least now I know this help will continue,” says Thembinkosi Nkosi, a 29-year-old from Orange Farm who has been unable to find steady work since completing his matric. “Before, every few months we would worry that the grant might suddenly end. Now I can plan a little further ahead.”
The Human Reality: On the Ground
To understand what the SRD grant truly means in people’s lives, I spent two weeks visiting communities across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape, speaking with dozens of recipients about how they use this modest sum and what the extension means for them.
In a small informal settlement outside Pietermaritzburg, I meet Grace Mbatha, a 53-year-old grandmother who cares for three grandchildren after their mother passed away from HIV-related complications. Grace leads me into her immaculately kept one-room dwelling where she meticulously records every cent of her grant expenditure in a worn notebook.
“See here,” she says, pointing to neat columns of figures. “R180 for maize meal, beans, and oil. R90 for electricity. R50 for the children’s transport to school. R30 for soap and washing powder. And if we’re blessed, maybe R20 for something special for the children at month-end.”
The mathematics of survival on R370 requires extraordinary discipline and impossible choices. Many recipients described similar careful budgeting, often prioritizing staple foods that provide maximum calories per rand, carefully rationing electricity, and postponing essential healthcare when funds run short.
In the Eastern Cape’s rural areas, where food prices are often higher due to transport costs and access to retailers is limited, the grant stretches even less far. Outside Mthatha, I visit a community where grant recipients have formed a cooperative buying group to leverage their collective purchasing power.
“Ten of us pool our money to buy in bulk from the monthly wholesaler’s truck,” explains cooperative leader Simon Madikizela. “We can save maybe 15% this way, which means one or two extra days of food each month. Still, by the third week, many families here are down to one meal a day.”
The inadequacy of the grant amount was a consistent theme across all conversations. Yet equally consistent was the recognition of how essential even this modest support has become, particularly as South Africa continues to grapple with an official unemployment rate above 32% and significantly higher rates in many rural areas and townships.
New Payment System: Benefits and Concerns
SASSA’s decision to implement a staggered payment schedule represents a significant operational change that officials hope will address the persistent technical issues that have plagued the grant’s disbursement.
Under the new system, payments will be allocated as follows:
- ID numbers ending in 000-099: Payments on 1st-2nd of each month
- ID numbers ending in 100-199: Payments on 3rd-4th of each month
- ID numbers ending in 200-299: Payments on 5th-6th of each month
- ID numbers ending in 300-399: Payments on 7th-8th of each month
- ID numbers ending in 400-499: Payments on 9th-10th of each month
- ID numbers ending in 500-599: Payments on 11th-12th of each month
- ID numbers ending in 600-699: Payments on 13th-14th of each month
- ID numbers ending in 700-799: Payments on 15th-16th of each month
- ID numbers ending in 800-899: Payments on 17th-18th of each month
- ID numbers ending in 900-999: Payments on 19th-20th of each month
“The new schedule will reduce pressure on our payment systems and should result in fewer technical failures,” explained SASSA CEO Busisiwe Memela-Khambula in a statement. “Recipients will have more certainty about exactly when to expect their payments each month.”
While many recipients welcome the potential for more reliable disbursements, the staggered approach creates new challenges for those assigned to later payment windows.
Outside a SASSA office in Durban, I meet Zandile Dlamini, whose ID number ends with 873, placing her in the second-to-last payment group. “Now I must wait until the 17th each month,” she says, visibly distressed. “My rent is due on the 5th. My children need school supplies at the beginning of the month. How do I explain to my landlord that I can’t pay until the government decides it’s my turn?”
For recipients like Zandile, the consistent date may be helpful for planning, but the delay compared to the previous system – where payments theoretically began on the 1st of each month for everyone – creates new hardships and potential additional costs in terms of late fees or emergency loans.
SASSA officials have acknowledged these concerns but maintain that the benefits of a more reliable system outweigh the disadvantages for most recipients. They have also indicated that recipients facing particular hardships due to their payment dates can apply for reconsideration, though no formal process for this has been established.
Verification Challenges: Digital Divide Concerns
Perhaps the most contentious aspect of the extension is the enhanced verification system, which requires recipients to reconfirm their eligibility every three months. While intended to reduce fraud and ensure grants reach only eligible individuals, the verification process introduces significant barriers for many, particularly those with limited digital literacy or access.
“I don’t have a smartphone,” explains Gogo Nzimande, a 67-year-old from rural KwaZulu-Natal whom I met at a community center where younger volunteers were helping elderly residents with their applications. “I don’t know how to use the internet. When they say verify online, it means nothing to me. I must travel 25 kilometers to find someone who can help me.”
For Gogo Nzimande and countless others, the digital requirements of the SRD system – while efficient for some – create near-insurmountable obstacles. The costs associated with digital verification are also substantial for those on extremely limited incomes. Data costs for accessing the SASSA website or WhatsApp line, transport expenses to reach areas with network coverage, and potential fees paid to those providing assistance all effectively reduce the already inadequate grant amount.
Social justice organizations have raised significant concerns about these barriers. “The verification requirements disproportionately exclude the most vulnerable – the elderly, those in deep rural areas, and people with disabilities,” notes Thandiwe Zulu of the Black Sash, an advocacy organization that has monitored the SRD implementation since its inception. “While we welcome the extension, we remain deeply concerned about the administrative exclusion of eligible recipients through overly complex verification processes.”
SASSA has promised additional support measures, including assistance at local offices and potential partnerships with community organizations, but details remain vague. Meanwhile, at every SASSA office I visited, I observed informal “helpers” charging vulnerable applicants between R50-R100 to assist with applications and verifications – an exploitative practice that further depletes recipients’ limited resources.
From Temporary Measure to Semi-Permanent Solution
The SRD grant’s journey from emergency measure to semi-permanent fixture of South Africa’s social security landscape reflects both its critical importance and the country’s ongoing economic challenges.
Initially introduced as a six-month response to the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, the grant has now been extended multiple times as the government has recognized both the persistent need and the political impossibility of withdrawing support from millions of vulnerable citizens.
“The reality is that the SRD grant has become a de facto basic income for working-age adults with no other support,” explains Dr. Nomonde Mkhize, a social policy researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand whom I consulted during my investigation. “Each extension moves us closer to a permanent incorporation of this grant into our social security framework, though without the statutory protections and guaranteed funding of established grants.”
The timing of this extension – carrying the grant beyond South Africa’s next general election expected in 2024 – has not escaped notice from political analysts.
“No government could afford the political consequences of ending support to 8.5 million voters before an election,” notes political commentator Jabu Nkomo. “The extension provides breathing room for whoever forms the next government to develop more permanent solutions without the immediate pressure of millions losing their only source of income.”
Those permanent solutions are increasingly discussed in terms of a comprehensive Basic Income Grant (BIG), which would provide more substantial and reliable support to working-age adults with no income. A government technical committee is currently exploring funding models for such a program, with recommendations expected in late 2024.
Minister Zulu referenced these longer-term plans in her announcement, describing the SRD extension as “a bridge toward more comprehensive social security reform” and noting that lessons from the SRD implementation would inform the development of any future permanent programs.
The Local Economic Impact
Beyond individual survival, the SRD grant has significant impacts on local economies, particularly in poorer communities where the collective spending power of grant recipients supports small businesses.
In Mqanduli, a small town in the Eastern Cape, I visit a spaza shop owned by Nolitha Bam. The small store’s shelves are carefully stocked with items in the smallest available quantities – single tea bags, individual candles, cigarettes sold one at a time.
“Business completely changes during SASSA week,” Nolitha explains, pointing to a calendar where she’s marked the new payment dates for her area. “Sales can double or triple on those days. The rest of the month is very quiet because people have no money left.”
Similar patterns repeat across the country, with small traders, informal food vendors, and transport providers all experiencing cyclical business tied directly to grant payment dates. The new staggered system will spread this economic activity throughout the month, potentially creating more stable demand but potentially reducing the concentrated busy periods that many small businesses have built their models around.
Economists note that grants like the SRD have a high “multiplier effect” in poor communities, as recipients typically spend the entire amount immediately on basic needs, circulating money through local economies rather than saving it.
“Each rand of grant money typically generates between R1.60 and R2.50 in local economic activity,” explains economist Sarah Moyo of the University of Cape Town. “The grant doesn’t just support recipients but creates economic activity that benefits non-recipients as well, particularly in areas with few other sources of cash flow.”
This economic impact helps explain why even business organizations that typically oppose expanded government spending have generally supported the SRD extension, recognizing its role in maintaining consumer spending in economically marginalized communities.
Looking Forward: Uncertain Futures
As my investigation concludes, I return to the SASSA office in Soweto where I began. The afternoon sun now beats down on a queue that has barely diminished since morning. New arrivals continue to join the back of the line, many having traveled from outlying areas at considerable expense simply to check on their applications or address problems in person.
Nomvula Khumalo emerges from the building after nearly seven hours of waiting. Her verification issue has been resolved, she tells me with visible relief, and her payment should process on the 14th of next month according to the new schedule.
“It’s good to know the grant will continue,” she says. “But is this the life we dreamed of in 1994? Standing in queues for hours to receive money that doesn’t even cover basic food? I’m grateful, but I still hope for better – for real opportunities, not just survival.”
Her sentiment captures the complicated reality of the SRD extension. It represents essential support that keeps millions from complete destitution, yet it falls far short of addressing the structural unemployment and inequality that necessitate such support in the first place.
For the 8.5 million South Africans who depend on the SRD grant, the extension until March 2026 provides crucial breathing room and a measure of certainty in deeply uncertain lives. The operational changes – staggered payments, enhanced verification, and expanded banking options – bring both potential improvements and new challenges that will unfold over the coming months.
What remains indisputable is the central place this grant now holds in South Africa’s social fabric. What began as an emergency stopgap has evolved into an essential pillar of support for the country’s most vulnerable citizens. Whether it ultimately transitions into a more substantial and permanent Basic Inc
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How To Apply and Receive The SASSA SRD Grant For March 2025