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 5 : Review of Social Assistance30. Powers of Agency to suspend, increase or decrease amount of social assistance on review |
| (1) | The Agency must, within 30 days of the date on which social assistance will be reviewed, inform the beneficiary, primary care giver, care giver or a foster parent by electronic communication or any other means of communication of the date of such review. |
| (2) | The Agency must review social assistance— |
| (a) | at any time where it has reason to believe that changes in the beneficiary's financial circumstances may have occurred; |
| (b) | on expiry of the validity of the identity document of a beneficiary, if the beneficiary is a refugee; |
| (c) | in case of a foster child grant, on expiry of the court order; or |
| (d) | in the case of a care dependency grant, where there is reasonable belief that the physical or mental disability of the child is no longer permanent. |
| (3) | In the case of a review contemplated in subregulation (2)(d) the Agency may request the parent, primary care giver, or a foster parent to make the child available for re-assessment of his or her physical or mental disability by a medical officer. |
| (4) | Upon receipt of a report by a medical officer contemplated in subregulation (3) to the effect that the child’s physical or mental disability is no longer permanent or has changed, the Agency may either suspend or cancel a care dependency grant in respect of that child. |
| (5) | The Agency must, by electronic communication or by any other means of communication, request a beneficiary to submit a life certificate annually to prove that he or she is still alive. |
| (6) | If a beneficiary fails to provide the requested information or documentation contemplated in section 4(1)(b) of the SASSA Act, the Agency may within 30 days of notifying the beneficiary thereof by electronic communication or by any other means of communication, suspend payment of social assistance, in which case the beneficiary must, by completing the relevant documents, apply within 30 working days of the suspension for the restoration of such social grant. |
| (7) | If an application is made for the restoration of social assistance contemplated in subregulation (4), the Agency may restore the social assistance from the date on which it was suspended. |
| (8) | If a beneficiary applies for social assistance to be increased and the Agency is satisfied that it should be increased, the social assistance must be increased with effect from the date of application for such increase. |
| (9) |
| (a) | When a beneficiary informs the Agency of a change in financial circumstances and the social assistance is to be decreased as a result of the change, the decrease will be effected from the first day of the month following the change in the beneficiary's financial circumstances. |
| (b) | The beneficiary must be informed by electronic communication or by any other means of communication of the decrease, the reasons therefor and of the 30-day period for application to review the decision to decrease his or her social assistance. |
| (10) |
| (a) | Where evidence exists that changes in the medical or financial circumstances of a permanently disabled person have or may have occurred, the review of the social grant may be done in accordance with paragraph (b). |
| (b) | The Agency, may, at any time from the date of application for a disability grant, request the beneficiary to undergo an assessment in terms of regulation 4(b). |