R350 grant latest: Minister Zulu drops hint on when payments will restart

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu is scheduled to address the media on Wednesday 4 August, to present more details about the revival of the R350 grant. The popular SASSA scheme, which will now run until March 2022, is set to cost R27 billion to fund – but this commitment will provide a safety net for millions of struggling South Africans.

Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu says the department will make an announcement tomorrow on the date for applications of the reinstated R350 social relief grant.

— Pitso Tsumane (@PontoWaCelebo) August 3, 2021

Payment dates for SASSA grants

Announced during his last address to the nation, President Ramaphosa confirmed that the R350 grant would be open to MORE applicants. Unemployed carers who also receive other SASSA payments can now receive the SRD handouts.

This is the third time that the R350 grant has been kickstarted, following its initial introduction in April 2020. The measure was meant to be a temporary support structure to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. But, with the COVID-19 situation evolving in an unpredictable manner, the fiscal relief mechanism has been something of a mainstay.

When will the R350 grant be made available again?

It’s understood that a Basic Income Grant will be introduced by the government at some point next year. Funding the project, however, is a daunting task. For now, the R350 grant takes centre stage – and Lindiwe Zulu revealed yesterday that payments are likely to restart ‘by the end of August 2021′ (this month):

“The target is to start paying out to those eligible by end of this month. It will be a new process for those who are applying for the first time but otherwise the process is going to be the same as it was before. Safe to say, there’s a new category of people who are going to be applying. These are the caregivers who have been excluded the previous time.”