MEDIA STATEMENT

22 APRIL 2022

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHES THE REGULATIONS FOR THE COVID-19 SOCIAL RELIEF OF DISTRESS (SRD) GRANT OF R350

PRETORIA: President Cyril Ramaphosa, during his 2022 State of Nation Address, announced that the COVID-19 SRD grant of R350 will be extended for a year from April 2022 to March 2023, "to ensure that no person in this country has to endure the pain and indignity of hunger". Given that the National State of Disaster was lifted in April, the Department of Social Development has endeavoured to develop the regulatory framework for the payment of the COVID-19 SRD grant within the Social Assistance legislation.

The Department put out regulations for public comment in February 2022 and has now concluded the process. The Department wishes to thank all the contributors and participants for the very fruitful discussions and the helpful comments they provided to enhance these regulations. The final steps such as obtaining the required concurrence and certification from the relevant Departments has now been concluded, and the Minister of Social Development has published the regulation through proclamation in the government gazette, notice 2042 of 2022 on Friday 22 April 2022.

Given that the Covid-19 SRD will now be provided for under a new legislative framework, and that additional qualifying and assessment criteria will be added, those in need of assistance will have to apply for the Covid-19 SRD, or reapply if they were previously in receipt of this grant. Fortunately, the entire application system remains a purely digital process, thereby enabling quick access and turnaround times. The application system will be opened at 12am on Saturday 23 April 2022.

Applications can be lodged either on the SASSA website at https://srd.sassa.gov.za. Further communication will be issued as more application channels are opened. All applicants are reminded that they will be considered for the Covid-19 SRD from the month in which the application is lodged, and this will be validated every month. This means that all applications lodged in April will be considered as from April 2022.

The Minister of Social Development will hold a media briefing in the coming days to provide further details on the implementation of the Covid-19 SRD grant.