SASSA Children’s Grant

SASSA children’s grant is money given to qualifying individuals to cater to the needs of their children. Typically, raising a child is not a walk in the park. It is even more challenging when you are undergoing financial stress. To ease the burden of parents and guardians, the government of South Africa has put a financial infrastructure in place that provides financial support to qualifying individuals. This grant is issued through the South African Social Security Agency.

What is SASSA Children’s Grant?

The SASSA children’s grant or child support is a government grant issued to lower-income households to help parents to meet the primary needs of their children. The grant is intended to supplement the parent’s income and not to replace it entirely. Essentially, it is aimed at reducing the gap in South Africa’s cost of living.

This grant is given to the caregiver of a child. A child in this context is defined as anyone below the age of 18. However, you have to meet certain requirements for you to qualify for the grant.

Who Can Apply for the SASSA Children’s Grant?

A primary caregiver of a child can apply for the SASSA children’s grant. These can be a parent, relative, grandparent, or anyone who is primarily responsible for the well-being of a child. Even so, the caregiver has to meet the following requirements:

• Have permanent residency in South Africa or be a South African citizen
• You should be earning more than R52 800 per year or R4 400 per month if you are unmarried. If you are married, your combined income should not be more than R105 600 per year or R8 800 per month.

Proof of Being a Primary Caregiver

If you are a primary caregiver of the child but not their parent, you have to provide proof that you are responsible for the child. Some of the documents you can use as proof include:

• Affidavit from the child’s parent or police
• Letter from the child’s school principal
• An official report from a lawfully recognized social worker 

Requirements for a Child to Qualify for the SASSA Children’s Grant

For a child to qualify for the SASSA children’s grant, they must:

• Be 18 years and below
• Live with a primary caregiver. The caregiver should not be receiving any compensation for living with the child
• Not be under the care or protection of a government institution

In addition to these, both you and the children should be living in South Africa. And a primary caregiver who is not also the biological or legally adopted parent to a child or children will not receive grants for more than 6 children.

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You may also not receive the child support grant if someone else is already receiving the child’s grant. To ensure only deserving people get the grant, SASSA will perform a means test. This test will ensure only people with a certain income (defined by the terms and conditions of the grant) qualify for the grant. 

How to Apply for the SASSA Children’s Grant 

If you meet all the qualifying criteria, you can proceed to apply for the SASSA children’s grant. For you to apply for the grant, you need to visit the counter service point of a regional office or SASSA office close to you and fill in a child grant application form. You will not be charged to apply for the SASSA children’s grant. 

It is procedural to fill in the form in presence of a SASSa official. When you complete filling out your application, SASSA will give you a receipt. Keep this receipt well. You will use it later on as proof of application. 

Documents Needed When Applying for the Grant

For you to successfully apply for the SASSA children’s grant, you must provide certain documents. These documents include:

• If you are not a child’s biological parent or legally recognized guardian, you should provide a written note or letter of permission from a child’s parent or guardian showing that you should cater to the child
• Your (caregiver/guardian/parent) bar-coded South African identification card (ID)
• The child’s (children’s) birth certificate. The certificate must have an identification (ID) number
• Any proof of income – these could be your payslip, pension slips, or past three months’ bank statements.
• Your bluebook / Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) card or discharge certificate from your last job, if you are unemployed
• Proof that you are the primary caregiver of the child or children

During your application process, you should specify how the money should be paid to you. SASSA offers multiple payment methods including cash and electronic payment methods. For cash, you can pick your money from designated pay points on selected days. For the electronic payment method, the money can be wired to your bank account. 

If you choose the electronic method, you should know that the bank will charge you the normal transaction rates. Fortunately, you can change your payment method later in time by filling out a form. However, the changes you’ve applied for can only take effect after a month of application.

Your grant application can be refused. In case this happens, you can appeal. If it is accepted, you will start receiving the money three months after the date of application. However, SASSA will backdate the payments to the date of application.

When Will You Stop Receiving the Grant?

The grant payments will stop under the following conditions:

• If the caregiver or guardian of the child does not claim the grant for 3 consecutive months
• When a child dies
• If the child turns 18 – the end of the month when the kid turns 18
• When the child is taken into a government institution
• If the child is not present in the country

The grant award will be reviewed regularly to check for these changes. You should also update SASSA in case of a change in your or your child’s circumstances. 

Reasons Grant Denial

You will not receive the grant if you are:

• Not the primary caregiver of a child
• Being compensated to look after a child
• A representative of a facility that caters to the needs of a child
• If another person is already getting the grant on behalf of the child

It is also important to note that only people whose income is below a given level can receive the grant. SASSA will determine whether your income meets the conditions using the ‘means test.’

SASSA Children’s Grant Amount

How much is the SASSA child grant in 2022? The SASSA children’s grant amount is R480 per child per month in 2022. However, this amount keeps changing yearly. 

The primary caregivers of orphaned kids can submit an application for CSG top-up which will give them an additional R240 on top of the set R480 per child per month. Essentially, every child will receive R720 per month.

FAQ

SASSA children’s grant is a financial support plan aimed at easing the financial burden of caregivers, parents, and guardians. it is not a replacement for regular income. Instead, it supplements income for parents and makes it easy for them to meet the basic needs of their children living in South Africa. 

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