London, May 12, 2020 (AltAfrica)-Millions of jobless South Africans have applied to receive the Covid-19 Social Relief grant which opens on Monday

The R350 COVID-19 relief grant for the unemployed is meant to support the vulnerable hardly hit by the crisis.

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#COVID19 | How to apply for the R350 Social Relief Grant #CoronaVirusSA #Day46ofLockdown #StayHome pic.twitter.com/qnkZy8WoiU

— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) May 11, 2020

In a test run of the programme conducted on Friday via WhatsApp platform of the Health Department, 15000 applications were loaded on to the system

On Monday Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu asked citizens who are unemployed and above 18 years old to apply for the grant.

But those applying must not be receiving any other state grant to qualify for this Covid-19 relief grant.

They are also expected to have a home address or resort to their GEO locations on their smartphones to make the process easier.

Citizens must make available while applying an ID number, name and surname, together with banking details and cell phone number.

They are also expected to have a home address or resort to their GEO locations on their smartphones to make the process easier.

Applicants without smartphones will also be able to access the new platform through an SMS using the Unstructured Supplementary Data Service (USSD).

“Volunteers and community development workers will be deployed to assist those who have no access to technology with applications. Manual applications will not be done at Sassa offices at all and there will be no need to fill in paper application forms,” he said.

According to her, electronic payments would be made to beneficiaries going forward as this meets the law of social distancing as set down in the State of Disaster Management Act.

“Applicants are cautioned not to provide their banking details to anyone, to avoid scams. Sassa will only request information once the application has been approved. All beneficiaries and applicants should never give their PIN number or the CVV number on the back of the banking card to anyone – not even Sassa.

Once applications are approved, Sassa will request confirmation of bank accounts through a secure site – this will also be done electronically,” the minister said.

Payments will be deposited in the bank accounts of successful applicants.

The launch also coincides with the staggered opening of Sassa offices today in which priority would be to deal with grants for old age people today and tomorrow.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Sassa officials will deal with child and foster grants recipients.