The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) says more than five million Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant applications had already been received by Wednesday, 11 August 2021.
Applications opened on Friday Friday 6 August.
The highest number of applicants were in the 20 to 24 age group, followed by 25 to 29.
Over 5 million Covid-19 SRD Grant applications received as at 11 August 2021. The graph shows high levels of unemployment in the 20-24 age group followed by 25-29 #SASSACARES #Covid19SRDGrant @The_DSD @nda_rsa @PostofficeSa @GCISMedia @GovernmentZA pic.twitter.com/Aug3P78yhE
— SASSA (@OfficialSASSA) August 13, 2021
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced that the SRD would be reinstated until March 2022.
The application process suffered from technical problems in the first few days, with the Sassa website crashing under the weight of numerous applications.
SASSA added two new channels, hoping to ease the pressure on the website and the WhatsApp line: an app option called gov.chat, and Facebook messenger.
Applicants still have until the end of August to apply for this month's grant.
In the previous round of the SRD grant, millions of applicants were rejected because they already received state support, which precluded them from getting the grant.
This time, the grant can also be extended to unemployed caregivers who currently receive child support grants.