Please note that the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) website is experiencing excessive web traffic which will cause a traffic slow down to the application process. SASSA is aware of the slowdown on its applications channels due to excessive traffic on the SASSA website.
“This is a clear indication of the huge need for food aid among others, from distressed inhabitants of the country, and therefore the President couldn’t have reinstated this grant at a better time. This morning, we added two new online channels for application in order to ease the pressure on our website, namely https://govchat.app/login and Facebook messenger, https://www.facebook.com/govchat.org”: said Busisiwe Memela-Khambula, the SASSA CEO.
The application process was made through two methods being the website (https://SRD.sassa.gov.za) or WhatsApp on 082 046 8553 only. Applications opened yesterday (6 August 2021) at 09:00 but within 45 minutes time the utilisation of the server hosting the website was above 95%. “This resulted in the website slowing down dramatically, which necessitated us to use our disaster recovery sites and add more channels for application immediately. Our technicians are on high alert and will monitor the impact of these interventions in order to continuously improve the application experience for our clients”: Memela-Khambula added.
SASSA is currently working on additional application channels that will assist individuals without smartphones to also apply effortlessly. The Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) will be is the channel that will be added.
SASSA further reiterated that anyone who is still experiencing technical difficulties with WhatsApp or the website should remember that they may still apply through the course of August and applications will be taken the whole month of August to apply for the grant in order to receive their August payments.
