HOW the agency reclaims money

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Social welfare organisations predict we’ll see an increase in 2025 SASSA grant review proceedings for ‘core’ beneficiaries. There are several factors at play for this, but the biggest one is managing strain on the National Treasury’s social welfare budget.

As many of you know, a 2025 SASSA grant review can be initiated if the agency has reason to believe your circumstances have changed/improved since you were approved for a grant. You may have misrepresented your income in your initial application, or you may have an undeclared revenue stream that puts you above the qualifying income amount.

2025 SASSA GRANT REVIEW

Either way, the South African Social Security Agency has the right to request a 2025 SASSA grant review. However, authorities must give you three-months’ notice in writing beforehand it can do so.

Primarily, the agency will check on your income and asset eligibility. And if it finds you are over the limit, it does have the right to ‘reclaim ill-gotten government funds’ for the period in question …

PAY BACK THE MONEY

To keep the number of Old-Age SASSA beneficiaries manageable, the National Treasury enforces strict tests through the Social Pension (SOCPEN) system. Therefore, anyone with a private pension, savings, personal assets and income exceeding these limits will face a 2025 SASSA grant review:

R8 070 per month (R96 840 per year) income if single.
R16 140 per month (R193 680 per year) income if married.
Total assets of R1 372 800 if single.
Total assets of R2 745 600 if married.

For the country’s 13-million SASSA Child Support beneficiaries, applicant finances must show you earn less than:

R8 800 per month if married (R105 600 annually).
R4 400 per month if single (R52 800 annually).

WHAT IF YOU’RE CAUGHT?

As a result, SASSA is within its rights to demand that money be repaid for the period of time that your income/assets exceeded the qualifying amount. Don’t forget, you sign an agreement when you become a grant beneficiary that you will inform SASSA if/when your income increases beyond the qualifying amount. Cost of living is increasing but lying to SASSA is illegal.

SASSA will demand that you repay the monies you received ‘in error.’ However, if you think you have a case, you can appeal against SASSA’s decision through the Department of Social Development (DSD) HERE. You have 90 days to appeal their decision. SASSA will pass it along to the Independent Tribunal for Social Assistance Appeals (ITSAA) for final adjudication. �

WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO?

If your appeal is overturned, SASSA will insist you repay all ‘ill-gotten funds’ from the time period in question. An alternative path to resolution is to contact social welfare organisation, Black Sash. Their head office is based in Mowbray, Cape Town and they have experience resolving grant review problems: