SASSA News – Beneficiaries to Undergo Biometric Identity Verification
In todays latest SASSA News – The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, commonly referred to as the R350 grant, will be subject to an identity verification check, as revealed by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa). There will be a facial recognition test involved.
The Sassa’s announcement affects many applicants for the SRD Grant. Some grant recipients, such as those who change their mobile phone numbers or who have a specific SRD grant status or who select particular payment methods, will be negatively impacted.
Which Recipients of the R350 Grant Will Have to Submit to Facial Recognition?
- Users that are interested in changing their mobile phone number
- Those who have been referred for an SRD grant and who wish to withdraw their referral
Customers who choose to be paid through the cash send payment method Customers who have requested that a Post Bank account be opened in their name - A recipient of an SRD award may change their mobile phone number for a variety of reasons. The customer will not receive an SMS from Sassa notifying them that their money is ready for collection unless they have updated their mobile phone on the SRD grant website.
Referred SRD grant status indicates a false application was received from the cellphone number used to apply, as per Sassa.
Applicants with a Referred status on their SRD grants must get in touch with SAFPS to have the hold removed. Applicants who have resolved their issues can send an email to [email protected] to confirm their status.
After that, recipients will have to go through a facial recognition process.
Sassa said that they will send two SMS messages to the recipients. The link in the second SMS must be clicked by the recipients. The duration of this link is strictly limited to three days (or 72 hours).
If a recipient does not receive an SMS with instructions on how to register for the new biometric identification verification system, they can contact Sassa at 0800 60 10 11 to have instructions resent to their phone.
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