GARDEN ROUTE  KAROO NEWS - The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) will remain open and operate with a reduced staff complement under the adjusted alert level 4. 

Applications for social grants at all local offices will be staggered according to grant type.

Thus, Mondays will be for older persons, Tuesdays for disability grants, Wednesdays and Thursdays for child grant applications, and Fridays for appointments and spill-over from the week. Some of the changes that were made by the Department of Social Development during its response to Covid-19 has enabled it to fast-track digitisation of its services.

These include the online booking system for disability grants, which has significantly cut down on time and costs for both Sassa and grant applicants. The department appealed to disability grant applicants to use the Sassa online booking system, which can be accessed through the agency's website at www.sassa.gov.za.

This will allow applicants to book dates for the disability assessments. The staff at Sassa offices can also assist clients

with this system to ensure that they avoid repeated visits to local offices. Sassa will continue with the staggered payments of grants, with the first payment date reserved for older persons, followed by disability grants and the payment of all child grants.

July's payments of social grants started on Tuesday 6 July.

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