Who Qualifies for the SRD Grant, and How the Means Test Works

What are the requirements?

Age

18 or older and under 60 at the time of assessment. At 60 the Older Persons grant applies instead.

Residence

Living in South Africa. The grant is not paid to people outside the country, whatever documents they hold.

Legal status

A South African citizen, permanent resident, recognised refugee, or the holder of a valid special permit — the Special Angolan Dispensation, the Lesotho Exemption Permit Dispensation or the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit Dispensation. An asylum seeker with a valid Section 22 permit or visa may also apply. Details must match Home Affairs exactly; expired or mismatched documents cause automatic declines.

Home Affairs registration

You must be registered on the Department of Home Affairs database. Every monthly check runs against it.

Income

Below R624 in the month — the means test, explained next.

No other support

Not receiving another social grant in your own name, UIF payments, or an NSFAS bursary or stipend.

Not in a state-funded institution

You must not be maintained or cared for in a state-funded institution.

Willingness to work or study

You must not unreasonably refuse employment or educational opportunities offered to you.

What verification will I have to complete?

Identity is confirmed by facial biometric authentication, known as eKYC. Four situations trigger it:

1. Every new applicant must complete eKYC before the application can be approved.
2. A referred status means logging in to the SRD portal and requesting a link to update your information and complete eKYC — see clearing a referred status.
3. Changing your cell phone number requires facial recognition verification — see changing your SRD phone number.
4. Approved but not paid means requesting a verification link and completing the facial recognition process — see approved with no payment date.

Additional documents or information may also be requested during one-on-one screening. The step-by-step is on SRD identity verification.

How does the means test work?

The means test is SASSA's monthly income check: you qualify for a month only if income from all sources is below R624 for that month. The figure is set in the SRD regulations; some sites quote R628, which is wrong.

SASSA does not rely on what you declare. It matches your ID against SARS records, UIF, NSFAS and the deposits into bank accounts linked to you. A month with R624 or more arriving triggers the alternative income source identified decline for that month.

A once-off transfer above the threshold can be explained in an appeal; regular deposits cannot. See every decline reason and its fix.

Who does not qualify?

• Anyone receiving another SASSA grant in their own name — Older Persons, Disability, War Veterans, Grant-in-Aid, Care Dependency or Foster Child. A Child Support Grant is paid for the child, not the caregiver, and does not exclude you.
• Anyone receiving UIF benefits in the month
• Anyone funded by NSFAS in the month
• Anyone on a government payroll
• Anyone with income of R624 or more in the month
• Anyone under 18, or 60 and over
• Anyone living outside South Africa

How does SASSA check eligibility?

Automatically, every month, by matching your ID against the Department of Home Affairs, SARS, UIF, NSFAS, banks and credit bureaus, and its own grant records. There is no interview. A mismatch anywhere produces a decline with a reason for that month; the same checks run again the next month, so a decline is never permanent. What is being matched while a month is pending is shown on why a month stays pending.

How do I stay eligible after approval?

• Keep income, including deposits into your account, below R624 each month
• Keep your phone number and banking details current on the portal, so verification messages reach you and payments can be made
• Complete any identity-verification link SASSA sends
• Tell SASSA if you start work or another grant — receiving SRD while ineligible is recovered later

Ready? See how to apply for the SRD grant.

Common questions