How to apply for the care dependency grant

The care dependency grant helps the parent, primary caregiver or foster parent of a child with a severe disability who needs full-time and special care, from birth until the child turns 18. The amount is set each year in the national Budget. The care dependency grant page on gov.za gives the amount, but it may not show an increase straight away, so confirm it with SASSA on 0800 60 10 11.

Who qualifies

SASSA’s grant booklet says you must:

• be a South African citizen, permanent resident or recognised refugee,
• live in South Africa with the child,
• be the primary caregiver of a child under 18 who needs permanent care because of a disability,
• have the child’s disability confirmed by a medical or functional assessment,
• care for a child who is not permanently cared for in a state-funded institution, and
• pass the means test, which looks at your income and your spouse’s. The means test doesn’t apply to foster parents.

If the child is of school-going age, SASSA asks for proof that the child attends school. The booklet says a child not attending school, or missing proof, does not lead to a refused grant.

Foster children

A foster child with a severe disability may get the care dependency grant and the foster child grant at the same time. Your income as a foster parent is not counted.

The assessment

gov.za says a state medical officer must assess the child before the grant is approved, and that SASSA refers the child for this assessment. Take clinical information or a referral form from the clinic, hospital or doctor who treats the child, as a starting point for the assessment.

If SASSA turned the child down before on medical grounds, the booklet says you need a referral form completed by the facility or practitioner who treats the child.

What to take with you

Take certified copies of your documents. SASSA’s booklet and gov.za list:

• your 13-digit barcoded ID, and your spouse’s if you are married,
• your Section 24 refugee permit, if you apply as a refugee,
• the child’s birth certificate,
• a referral letter with clinical information from the child’s health practitioner or treating facility,
• proof of your marital status,
• your latest payslip (not older than three months), and your spouse’s, or other proof of income,
• three months of bank statements for every account you and your spouse hold,
• a bank confirmation letter or three months of statements for the account you want the grant paid into, which must be in your own name, and
• if you are the child’s foster parent, the court order that places the child in your care.

If you are not the child’s parent, gov.za says you must show that you are the primary caregiver, with an affidavit from a police official, a social worker’s report, an affidavit from the child’s biological parent or a letter from the child’s school principal. If you are the parent and the only one caring for the child, bring proof that you tried to get maintenance from the other parent.

How to apply

1. Go to the SASSA office nearest to where you live with your documents and the child’s medical information. If you are too old or sick to travel, a family member or friend can go for you with a letter from you or a doctor’s note that says why you can’t come.
2. SASSA refers the child for the assessment by a state medical officer.
3. Fill in the application form in front of a SASSA officer. Only you or a SASSA official may complete it.
4. Keep the receipt SASSA gives you. It is your proof that you applied.

After you apply

gov.za says it can take up to three months to process an application.

If SASSA can’t give you an outcome on the day, follow up at the office, call 0800 60 10 11 or email GrantEnquiries@sassa.gov.za.

If SASSA turns you down, it must tell you why in writing and how to appeal. Your appeal goes to the Independent Tribunal for Social Assistance Appeals, not to the Minister of Social Development. Appeal within 90 days of SASSA’s decision. The days count from the date of the decision, not from the day you hear about it, so don’t wait.

Ask a SASSA official to help you fill in the appeal form (Form 1). SASSA must send it to the tribunal within 15 days. You can also email your appeal to Grantappeals@dsd.gov.za. Include a copy of your ID and a copy of SASSA’s decision: the tribunal treats your appeal as lodged only once it has both. If more than 90 days have passed, you can still ask the tribunal to accept a late appeal on Form 2 and explain why you are late.

How you are paid

SASSA pays the grant into an active bank account in your own name. Children’s grants are paid after older persons and disability grants each month. How SASSA pays explains the payment order and where SASSA publishes the payment dates.

When the child turns 18

The care dependency grant ends on the last day of the month in which the child turns 18. From 18, a young person with a disability can apply for the disability grant in their own name if they meet its conditions, including a new assessment.

Keep the grant

• Tell SASSA when your income, marital status, address or phone number changes.
• Tell SASSA if the child no longer lives with you or someone else becomes the primary caregiver.
• Answer SASSA when it asks you to come in for a review.
• Tell SASSA before you leave South Africa for more than 90 days.

Stay safe

Applying is free. SASSA says it will never ask for your PIN. See how to spot SASSA scams.