The R370 catch: Why family help could cost you your SRD grant

The unemployed Free State man, Moeketsi Thomas Masooa, in his late twenties, supports up to five dependants in a shared family home, and the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant is the thin line separating his household from nothing. Yet a flaw in SASSA’s automated system is threatening that lifeline, for him and thousands like him.

E-wallet transfers are getting grants declined

Masooa has experienced declined and lapsed SRD applications firsthand. His frustration is directed at a system he believes punishes the very people it was designed to protect.

Visit somethingsdifferent.biz for more information.

When friends or family send money through e-wallets or cash transfers, a common act of solidarity in South African communities, SASSA’s automated systems can flag these transactions as proof of additional income. The result: an instant application decline, leaving vulnerable recipients without support when they need it most.

“I really hope SASSA will stop declining SRD payments due to simple e-wallets and cash sends because it does not really mean we are working,” said Masooa.

“It is just another help, maybe from a friend or family, meeting SASSA halfway in terms of helping the poor,” he added.

Informal support networks are a lifeline, not a loophole

Across South Africa, family and community support networks have long been a cornerstone of how the poor get by. Penalising these acts of solidarity undermines the very social fabric that holds vulnerable households together. South Africa’s unemployment rate exceeds 32 per cent, among the highest in the world.

For young people, the picture is bleaker still, with youth unemployment surpassing 60 per cent in many provinces. The Free State, where limited industrial development and a declining agricultural sector offer few opportunities, is particularly hard hit.

Masooa holds a matric certificate and is actively looking for work. But in a province where qualified candidates compete for positions that barely exist, the odds are stacked against him. When grant issues arise, he must travel between 5 and 20 kilometres to reach SASSA services, a journey that costs money he cannot afford to spend away from food and necessities.

What Masooa wants SASSA to do

His requests are simple and reasonable. He wants the grant amount increased to provide meaningful support, and he wants SASSA to stop treating informal family assistance as income. He was also unaware of any additional support programmes he might qualify for, a communication gap that likely affects hundreds of thousands of recipients nationwide.

“It is just another help,” said Masooa

For a man trying to hold together a household of six on R370 a month, that is exactly what it is.

Read full story at source