Social Assistance Act, 2004 (Act No. 13 of 2004)RegulationsRegulations relating to the Application for and Payment of Social Assistance and the Requirements or Conditions in respect of Eligibility for Social AssistanceChapter 1 : General Requirements for Eligibility to Qualify for Social Assistance11. Persons eligible for social relief of distress |
| (1) | Subject to the provisions of section 5 read with section 13 of the Act, a person in need of temporary assistance qualifies for social relief of distress if he or she is— |
| (a) | affected by a disaster whether declared or not in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002); or |
| (b) | a South African citizen or a permanent resident or a refugee who resides in the Republic and— |
| (i) | is awaiting payment of an approved social grant; or |
| (ii) | the breadwinner— |
| (aa) | has been assessed to be disabled for a period of less than six months; or |
| (bb) | of that household has died and an application for social relief of distress is made within 12 months following the death of the breadwinner; or |
| (cc) | of that household has been admitted to a public or private institution for a period of at least one month; and |
| (dd) | does not receive any form of maintenance from a person legally obliged to pay maintenance to him or her. |
| (2) | Subject to the provisions of subregulation (1), a person may qualify for social relief of distress if refusal of the application may cause undue hardship as contained in the Procedure Manual for Social Relief of Distress as approved by the Minister. |
| (3) | A person is not entitled to a social grant in respect of himself or herself and social relief of distress simultaneously. |
| (4) | Where a person has received both social relief of distress and a social grant for the same period, the amount paid for social relief of distress must, subject to the provisions of subregulation (5), be recovered from any social grant payment, including an arrear payment. |
| (5) | Notwithstanding the provisions of subregulation (1), in the event of a declared disaster— |
| (a) | a person may qualify for social relief of distress if that household has been affected by a disaster as defined in the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act 57 of 2002); |
| (b) | the value of social relief of distress paid to a person as a result of a disaster referred to in paragraph (a), may not be recovered from any social grant payment, including an arrear payment; |
| (c) | a list of persons or households affected by a disaster as verified by the Provincial or Local Disaster Management Response Unit will be regarded as the final list for the provision of immediate humanitarian relief |
| (6) | Notwithstanding the provisions of subregulations (1) and (5)(a) and (b), in the event of an undeclared disaster— |
| (a) | a person may qualify for social relief of distress if that household has been affected by a disaster; and |
| (b) | a list of households affected by a disaster as verified by the provincial or local office of the Agency will be regarded as the final list of those who are affected for the purpose of disbursing social relief of distress. |
| (7) | Notwithstanding the provisions of regulation 7(1)(c), regulation 18(1)(c) and 18(4), social relief of distress may be provided to a child where— |
| (a) | the prevailing economic circumstances in the Republic warrants the provision of social relief of distress; or |
| (b) | failure to provide such social relief of distress would cause undue hardship to the child. |