Beneficiaries of the government’s R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant won’t be able to access the website over three weekends while the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) undertakes system maintenance.

People won’t be able to submit applications or check their grant status during the downtime, Sassa said in a statement on its Twitter account.

“Beneficiaries should please note that during these times the SRD website will not be available. We apologise for any possible inconvenience this maintenance might cause,” it said.

However, applicants will be able to submit claims to Sassa on WhatsApp. 

The dates for system maintenance are:

• Friday May 27 to Sunday May 29 (5pm to 11pm)
• Friday June 10 to Sunday June 12 (5pm to 11pm)
• Friday June 24 to Sunday June 26 (5pm to 11pm)

To submit applications via WhatsApp:

• Add 082 046 8553 as a contact on your phone.
• Open WhatsApp and type “hi”.
• After receiving a reply respond with “help”.
• You will receive various options. Reply with “4”.
• This will take you to the Sassa platform where you should type “SRD”.
• Confirm whether you are applying for yourself or someone else.
• Submit your first name, surname and ID number. 
• After submitting your documents, you will receive a message on WhatsApp stating the next steps.

Sassa urged applicants who have applied using the website srd.sassa.gov.za not to apply again on WhatsApp. 

Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said about 9-million applications for the monthly R350 grant were received since the application channel opened on April 23. 

“In the last cycle, more than 15-million applications were received, of which approximately 10.6-million were approved and paid,” said Letsatsi.

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