The SASSA Child Support Grant | How To Apply SASSA Child Support Grant

So who can apply for the child support grant? 

You can apply for the grant if you are the primary caregiver of a child (a parent, grandparent or anyone who’s mainly responsible to look after the child).

You need to meet the following criteria to qualify:

• Be a South African citizen or have permanent residency.
• Not earn more than R48 000 a year (R4 000 a month) if you’re single. If you’re married, your combined income shouldn’t be above R96 000 a year (R8 000 a month).

If you are not the parent of the child then you will need to provide proof that you’re the child’s primary caregiver. You can use an affidavit from a police official or the biological parent, a report from a social worker or a letter from the principal of the child’s school as proof.

In order for the child to qualify, they must: 

• be under 18 years old,
• not be in the care of a state institution,
• live with the primary caregiver, who isn’t paid to look after the child.

Both the primary caregiver and the child must live in South Africa in order to qualify for the child support grant.

You cannot get the grant for more than 6 children who aren’t your legally adopted or biological children. You also may not get the grant if someone else is already getting a grant for the child.

SASSA will also perform a means test in order to determine whether an applicant’s income is less than a certain level in order to be eligible for the grant.

How To Apply SASSA Child Support Grant

You can apply for the child support grant by visiting your nearest SASSA Office and filling in an application form in the presence of a SASSA officer. The application is free and once you have completed the process you will be given a receipt. You must keep this receipt as proof of your application.

Documents that you need to take along with you include: 

• Your South African identity document (ID), which must be bar-coded,
• The child’s birth certificate, which must have an ID number,
• Your salary slip, bank statements for 3 months, or pension slips, and any other proof of income,
• If you’re unemployed, your Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) card – “blue book” – or a discharge certificate from your previous employer,
• If you’re not the child’s parent or guardian, a written note of permission from the parent or guardian that you should take care of the child,
• If you’re not the child’s parent or guardian, information about how you’ve tried to get the parents to pay maintenance,
• Information that shows that you’re the child’s primary caregiver.

Once you have been approved for the grant you will receive an amount of R440 per month per child. You must specify how you would like the grant paid when you are completing your application. The grant payment can be paid out in cash on certain days of the month or you can receive the payment electronically into your bank account.

You can change the payment method at any time by filling in a form, but the change will only happen a month later.

If your grant application has been rejected then you can appeal this decision and if SASSA then decides to approve your application you will start getting payments within 3 months of the approval of your application.

In this case, the amount that you receive will be backdated to the day you applied for the grant.

You will no longer receive payments if: 

• The child dies,
• The end of the month in which the child turns 18,
• If the caregiver doesn’t claim for 3 consecutive months.
• If the child is absent from the country, or
• The child is admitted to a state institution.

SASSA will review your grant regularly to check this. Should any changes occur in your or your child’s circumstances then you must inform SASSA.

If you need more clarity on the grant then you can contact the SASSA toll-free number: 0800 60 10 11, or Email: [email protected] for more details. You can also follow them on social media for any other communications.

Visit the SASSA website for more information.