Pretoria – Over 2.6 million beneficiaries had already accessed their social grants by 10am, the social development department said on Saturday morning.
Social grants payments were underway across the country for beneficiaries who received their grants through ATMs and merchants. At 10am, 2.6 million beneficiaries had already accessed their grants, the department said in a statement.
Beneficiaries were encouraged to contact the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) call centre for any enquires on 0800-60-10-11. So far, over 1500 queries had already been handled.
“Government wishes to remind beneficiaries who receive their grants at pay points that they will receive their grants as normal from Monday, 3 April 2017. Additionally we urge beneficiaries to use the official Sassa branded card to access their social grants,” it said.
The social grants increases announced by former finance minister Pravin Gordan during his budget speech in February were also effective from Saturday.
The old age grant would increase by R90 to R1600 for pensioners over the age of 60, and to R1620 for those over 75. The disability and care dependency grants also increased by R90 to R1600 a month. Foster care grants increased by R30 to R920 a month and the child support grant increased by R20 to R380 a month.