Your R370 status isn’t a judgement someone makes about you by hand. It comes from SASSA’s eligibility rules being run against government and bank records, and the rules are run again every month. If you know which rules and which records are involved, a result that seems random usually starts to make sense.
The rules every SRD month is tested against
SASSA confirmed in January 2026 that the qualifying criteria for the COVID-19 SRD grant had not changed. To be approved for a month, you must:
- be 18 or older and under 60;
- be a South African citizen, permanent resident or recognised refugee, hold a Special Angolan, Lesotho or Zimbabwe exemption permit, or be an asylum seeker with a valid section 22 permit;
- be registered on the Home Affairs database and live in South Africa;
- not live in a state-funded institution, and not receive another social grant for yourself;
- not unreasonably refuse offers of work or training; and
- pass the means test: income of no more than R624 a month, which is the food poverty line.
The R624 threshold has been challenged in court. The Gauteng High Court found it unconstitutional in January 2025, but the state appealed. The Supreme Court of Appeal heard the case in August 2026 and had not delivered judgment by early October 2026, so SASSA still applies R624.
Which records SASSA matches you against
SASSA doesn’t ask you to prove your income each month. It compares your ID number with other databases, and a “hit” on any of them can turn a month into a decline:
- Home Affairs confirms your identity and age, and whether you are recorded as deceased.
- Banks show money coming into your accounts. SASSA checks bank data monthly, and deposits above R624 can be read as income from another source.
- The UIF shows whether you are registered as a contributor or claimant.
- SARS shows whether an employer has filed an IRP5 tax certificate for you.
- NSFAS shows whether you receive student funding.
- Persal, the government payroll, shows public-sector salaries.
- SASSA’s own grant system shows whether you already get another grant.
- Correctional Services shows whether you are in custody.
A match doesn’t always mean you are better off than the rules allow. Records can be out of date, and a once-off deposit from a relative looks like income to a computer. Our guide to SRD decline reasons goes through each match and explains which ones are worth challenging.
How your life changes show up months later
Because the test runs every month, your status follows your circumstances, sometimes with a delay while the records catch up:
- Start a job where the employer registers you for the UIF or files tax, and months after the start date can come back declined.
- Lose that job, and once your income and UIF records no longer show earnings, later months can be approved again.
- Turn 60, or start receiving a different grant, and the SRD stops because you no longer fit the age or “no other grant” rule.
- Receive larger amounts into your account in one month, and that month alone may be declined.
Our page on why the R370 result changes each month explains how to read a mix of approved and declined months. To see your own outcome, follow the steps in the SRD status check guide on srd.sassa.gov.za. If you still search for this grant as “R350”, the move from R350 to R370 explains what changed.