Durban - More than half of the applicants for the Covid-19 Social Relief Distress (SRD) grant are young people.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) said in a statement that 60% of applicants who applied for the grant were youth, and this correlated with the youth unemployment rate in South Africa.
“This correlates with the unemployment rate amongst youth which is approximately 63%; of all the applicants (youth and non-youth), approximately 5% hold tertiary qualifications.”
Sassa said it had made great strides in alleviating poverty and providing a lifeline to the most vulnerable in society through the R350 Covid-19 SRD montly grant.
“This form of SRD was introduced to particularly target citizens of working age who are not accommodated in the social assistance safety net.”
Sassa said that the high rate of unemployment amongst the youth was a great cause for concern and the agency remained committed to playing its part in tackling unemployment.
“Furthermore the agency has made progress with regards to payments for this special grant, approximately 5 298 817 applications were approved, as at 19 July 2022, and 4 088 873 of those have received payment.”
The agency reiterated that Covid-19 SRD applications were done strictly online and not at Sassa offices.
It advised that Covid-19 SRD clients who have enquiries regarding their grants can contact Sassa’s toll-free customer care line on 0800 60 10 11 or send an email to grantenquiries@sassa.gov.za