Every SASSA grant on one page. Older Persons, Disability and Care Dependency pay R2,400 a month. Child Support and Grant-in-Aid pay R580. The Foster Child Grant pays R1,300, and the SRD grant pays R370. Below is who qualifies for each one, and how an application works.
People say "the SASSA grant" as if there is one. There are seven, and they pay very different amounts for very different reasons. The biggest pays R2,400 a month. The smallest pays R370. Apply for the wrong one and you waste a day in a queue. Apply for the right one and the money follows you every month. This page puts the whole system on one screen: every grant, the 2026 amount, who each one is for, and how an application actually works. If your question is only about the R370, the SASSA Status Check on our homepage is your page. This one is the full map.
Every Grant And Its Amount
Here is the system at a glance, at the 2026/27 amounts. One rule runs through the whole table: you may hold only one main grant in your own name. Grant-in-Aid is the single exception, because it is an add-on, not a grant on its own.
Grant
Monthly amount
Who it is for
Older Persons Grant
R2,400
Adults aged 60 and older
Disability Grant
R2,400
Adults 18 to 59 who cannot work because of a disability
Care Dependency Grant
R2,400
A parent or caregiver of a child under 18 with a severe disability
Foster Child Grant
R1,300
A foster parent caring for a child placed by a court
Child Support Grant
R580
The main caregiver of a child under 18
Grant-in-Aid
R580
An add-on for a grant holder who needs full-time care
SRD Grant
R370
Adults 18 to 60 with almost no income
Important: amounts change with the national budget, usually in April and sometimes again in October. The Foster Child Grant rose to R1,300 in October 2026. Always price a decision on the current figure, not on what a neighbour received last year.
The Grants, One By One
Older Persons Grant
The pension, in everyday language. You qualify from the age of 60, and SASSA runs a means test on your income and assets: a small private pension or savings does not close the door, a large one does. It pays R2,400 a month and, once approved, it pays for life, with reviews only when SASSA asks for them.
Disability Grant
For adults from 18 to 59 who cannot support themselves because of a physical or mental disability. A medical assessment is part of the application: a state doctor examines you and reports whether the disability is temporary or permanent. A temporary award pays for a set period, usually six to twelve months. A permanent award continues, with reviews. It also pays R2,400, and at 60 it converts to the Older Persons Grant.
Care Dependency Grant
R2,400 for the parent, foster parent or primary caregiver of a child younger than 18 whose severe disability means the child needs permanent home care. The child goes through a medical assessment, and a means test looks at the caregiver's income. This is the grant families miss most often, because nobody tells them a disabled child's care is itself a qualifying reason.
Child Support Grant
R580 a month, paid to the person who actually looks after the child day to day: a parent, a grandparent, any primary caregiver. The child must be under 18, and the means test reads the caregiver's income, not the child's. It is the most widely held grant in the country and the fastest to process when the birth certificate and ID are in order.
Foster Child Grant
R1,300 a month for a child placed in your care by a children's court. Because a court has already decided the placement, this grant carries no means test. The grant follows the court order, so when the order is extended, the grant continues, and when it lapses, the grant stops until the court renews it.
Grant-in-Aid
The add-on. If you already hold an Older Persons or Disability grant and you need another person to care for you full-time because of your physical or mental condition, Grant-in-Aid adds R580 a month on top. A medical report supports the application. It never pays on its own: no main grant, no Grant-in-Aid.
SRD Grant
The R370 Social Relief of Distress grant, for adults 18 to 60 who hold no other grant, receive no UIF, and pass the monthly bank test that keeps inflows under R624. It is the only grant applied for online, and the only one reassessed every single month, which is why its applicants live on the status check. The full route is in our guide to the SRD grant application process, and a declined month usually traces back to the income reason explained in our means income source identified guide.
How To Apply
Every grant except the SRD is applied for in person, at a SASSA office, and every application is free. Anyone who charges you a fee to apply is running a scam, full stop.
Go to your nearest SASSA office. Take your ID document. For child grants, take the child's birth certificate too. Disability and Care Dependency applications need the medical assessment, which the office arranges or accepts from a state doctor.
Bring proof of your circumstances. Proof of residence, your bank statement, proof of income or unemployment, and a marriage certificate where it applies. For the Foster Child Grant, the court order is the core document.
Complete the application with an official. You fill in the form at the office, in front of a SASSA official. You never pay, and you never hand the form to an intermediary outside the building.
Keep your receipt. The office stamps a receipt or gives you a reference. That paper is your proof of the application date, and the date matters if anything is questioned later.
Wait for the outcome, then act on it. SASSA notifies you of the decision. If a month or an application is declined, ask for the reason in writing and use the appeal route inside 90 days. A SRD month that sits at pending is still being checked, which is a different thing from a decline.
When The Grants Are Paid
The main grants pay in the first week of every month, in a fixed order: older persons first, then disability, then the children's grants. The full year, with the revised November dates, sits in our SASSA grant payment dates for 2026. The SRD grant works differently: each approved month carries its own personal payday, loaded after approval, and you read yours off your status result rather than off any calendar.
What Our Team Tells Applicants
At the offices our team visits, the same confusion walks in every day: a grandmother caring for three grandchildren who has never heard of the Care Dependency Grant for the one child who needs full-time care, or a family paying a "runner" to submit a form that the office accepts free over the counter. The system is not generous, but it is specific. Each grant exists for one clear situation, and the fastest applications we see are the ones where the person walked in asking for the grant that matches their situation by name, documents ready. Learn the seven names on this page and you are already ahead of the queue.
Questions Applicants Ask About The Grants
My mother gets the Older Persons Grant. Can she also get Grant-in-Aid? Yes, that is exactly what Grant-in-Aid exists for. If she holds the Older Persons Grant and needs full-time care from another person, the R580 add-on can be applied for on top, with a medical report supporting it.
I care for my late sister's child. Which grant applies? It depends on the paperwork. If a children's court placed the child with you, that is the Foster Child Grant at R1,300. If you are simply the person raising the child day to day, that is the Child Support Grant at R580, tested on your income.
Why was my grant application declined? The reason is always specific: means over the line, a document mismatch, a medical assessment that did not support the claim. Ask for it in writing at the office. For the SRD grant, the reason prints next to the month on your result, and the declined status guide walks through what each one asks you to do next.
Questions People Ask About This Page
How many SASSA grants are there?
Seven grants make up the system: Older Persons, Disability, Care Dependency, Child Support, Foster Child, Grant-in-Aid and the SRD grant. The first six are the long-standing social grants. The SRD grant is the R370 payment that started in 2020.
Can I receive two SASSA grants at the same time?
You can hold only one main grant in your own name. The one exception is Grant-in-Aid, which is an add-on paid on top of an Older Persons or Disability grant. A caregiver can also receive Child Support for a child while holding no grant of their own, and holding any other grant closes the SRD grant.
Which SASSA grant pays the most?
The Older Persons, Disability and Care Dependency grants pay the most at R2,400 a month in 2026/27. The Foster Child Grant follows at R1,300. Child Support and Grant-in-Aid pay R580, and the SRD grant pays R370.
Are SASSA grants means tested?
Most of them are. SASSA checks your income and assets for the Older Persons, Disability, Care Dependency, Child Support and SRD grants. The Foster Child Grant is the exception: it follows a court placement and carries no means test.
Where do I apply for a SASSA grant?
At your nearest SASSA office, in person, and the application is free. Bring your ID and the supporting documents for the grant you are applying for. The SRD grant is the only one applied for online, on the official SRD portal.
How do I check the status of my grant application?
For the SRD grant, run a status check on the official portal with your ID number and the phone number on your application. For the other grants, ask at the SASSA office where you applied, or call the toll-free line on 0800 60 10 11.
Final Verdict
Seven grants, seven different jobs. The big three pay R2,400 and carry a person who cannot work or who cares for someone who cannot. The child grants keep food on the table at R580 and R1,300. The SRD grant catches working-age adults at R370. One main grant per person, Grant-in-Aid as the only add-on, and every application free at a SASSA office. If you remember the amounts and the one-grant rule, you already understand the system better than most people who queue outside it.
Written By
Bridget Sibanyoni
Bridget Sibanyoni is Grant Africa's author: a publishing professional, editor, content writer and proofreader based in Pretoria. She writes the site's SASSA grant guides in plain language, working alongside the team's researcher, and every guide is fact-checked by Robynn Hera and approved by Lindelwa Mzolo before it is published.
Facts, Checked Against Trusted Sources
The 2026/27 schedule pays R2,400 a month for the Older Persons, Disability and Care Dependency grants, R580 for Child Support and Grant-in-Aid, R1,300 for the Foster Child Grant and R370 for the SRD grant. Source: Department of Social Development
Social grants are the main source of income for 67.9 percent of households headed by older persons. Source: Statistics South Africa
National Treasury counted 4.1 million Older Persons Grant recipients in 2024, and funds the SRD R370 payment until 31 March 2027. Source: National Treasury
About 8.2 million people receive the SRD grant each month, and every grant application at a SASSA office is free of charge. Source: South African Social Security Agency
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