SASSA to Help R350 Grant Recipients –  Updated May 2026

The SA Social Security Agency (SASSA), according to social development minister Lindiwe Zulu, is developing a strategy to assist recipients of the R350 social relief distress grant (SRD) in finding employment.

This information was disclosed by Zulu in response to an EFF-submitted written parliamentary question.

What steps would her department take to accommodate the more than 500,000 persons who will be turned away from the SRD owing to financial restrictions, inquired the red berets?

SASSA 350 Recipients Jobs

With the aim of supporting Covid-19 SRD users to access employment possibilities, SASSA is now working to develop a data-sharing connection with the ministry of public works and infrastructure and employment and labour.

Zulu said, “In addition, the department has completed a framework on integrating social protection users to sustainable livelihood projects, with an aim to providing skills targeting the jobless and those on the SRD database to boost chances of employment.”

SASSA 350 Program Focus

According to Zulu, the department would concentrate on helping those in need, with a concentration on young people and women in particular.

“The department and its organizations, working development agencies, deliver skills development initiatives through this program that have the ability to produce cash and provide employment possibilities,” she added.

These initiatives are meant to help people who cannot be helped by social grants or the SRD Grant and to direct them toward more sustainable employment opportunities and other forms of economic activity.

SASSA Card

A basic income grant is on the table, according to ANC social transformation subcommittee head Lindiwe Sisulu earlier this month.

“We were the committee that allowed R350 to be given to our people during lockdown as a temporary solution for their sustainability.

We came to the realization that basic income handouts may be handled in addition to that.

We met with Treasury on multiple occasions to discuss whether we could launch this now with the resources we have available or whether we may choose to stick with the R350 for a while, she added.

Enoch Godongwana, the finance minister, will make the ultimate decision, according to Sisulu.

It is a cost that will need to be accounted for in the budget.

He is attempting to figure out a solution, making sure we can use this as an ongoing and sustainable strategy to guarantee that individuals without access to any resources at all or to any other means would receive help from the government, she added.

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