What’s the grant amount?
The amount changes every year, but the child support grant is currently R500 per month per child.
What’s the application process?
You can apply for the child support grant by filling in an application form at your nearest SASSA Office or counter service point of a Regional Office. Application is free.
Your application form will be completed in the presence of an officer of SASSA. When your application is completed, you’ll be given a receipt. The receipt must be kept as proof of your application.
You’ll also need to show certain documents and provide some information, including:
- 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.
When you make the application, you should say how you’d like the money to be paid. The money can be paid out in cash on specific days at a pay point, or the money can be paid electronically into your bank account.
Remember that normal bank charges apply to any money going in and out of your bank account. You can decide to change the payment method at any time by filling in a form, but the change will only happen a month later.
If the grant is refused, you can appeal.
If it’s approved, you’ll start getting payments within 3 months. The payments will be backdated to the day you applied for the grant.
Payments will stop 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.
Your grant will be reviewed from time to time to check this. You must also inform the department of any changes in your or your child’s circumstances.