‘I still don’t know why’: SASSA SRD applicant on the rejection she can’t explain

She’s stopped expecting good news when she checks her phone. Another SASSA notification, another rejection she can’t explain. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, is one of 18 million South Africans who rely on SASSA grants, receiving the R370 monthly SRD grant while supporting between three and five dependants in a shared Gauteng home.

The question SASSA won’t answer

What frustrates her most isn’t the poverty, it’s the silence. Her SRD application has been declined and lapsed before, and each time, she’s left guessing why. There’s no clear explanation, no simple way to find out what went wrong. So, she does the only thing she can: she travels more than 20km to the nearest SASSA office to ask in person.

That trip isn’t cheap. Transport costs eat into a grant that’s already stretched to breaking point, forcing her to weigh getting answers against buying food. For an unemployed grant recipient with retail and customer service skills, that trip also means time she could be spending job hunting, in a province where opportunities are scarce and unemployment sits above 32%.

R370 doesn’t stretch far enough

Every rand of her grant goes toward food and groceries, yet she still runs out before the month ends. She didn’t know other support programmes existed beyond her SRD grant, no one told her. If she could change one thing about the system, she says, it would be simple: increase the grant amount.

It’s not today’s struggle that worries her most. It’s tomorrow. Asked about her biggest financial concern, she didn’t hesitate, her children’s future, and whether they’ll inherit the same fight she’s living now.

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