From Monday (14 September) social grant applicants will be able to apply for certain social grants online, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) says.
The pilot project will at this stage cover the Child Support, Older Persons, and Foster Child grants and Sassa said that other grants will also be added to the portal after a review process.
“This should be a relief to grant applicants as it will save them the inconvenience of standing in queues at Sassa offices in order to apply for their grants,” the agency said.
“The added advantage is that the convenience of online applications eliminates the risk of being infected with the Covid-19 virus because there will be no need to gather at public places in order to apply.”
“This remote self-service will be possible on both a computer and a mobile phone. The turnaround time is 10 days, provided the applicant supplies all the stipulated documents such as identity documents of applicant and spouse as well as banking details among others.”
Sassa said that users will be able to access the following features online:
- Applications for grants for foster child grant, older persons grant and child support grant;
- Online submission of the required supporting documentation linked to the application;
- Change of circumstances (payment method, banking details, address);
- Status of application.
To access this service, applicants need to have an email address to sign up and to be able to login for further services. Feedback to applicants will be sent through SMS notification to applicants with no email addresses and an email response will be sent to applicants choosing to be contacted by email.
A receipt will be generated when the application is completed.
The testing of the system will run from 14 September 2020 till 25 September 2020. It is important to note that required supporting documents to be attached must be certified. These documents should be certified by a commissioner of oaths,” Sassa said.
Sassa said that applications can be lodged on its secure website here. The website was not online at the time of writing.
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