The SRD Means Test: What R628 a Month Actually Means
When SASSA checks whether you qualify for the SRD R370 grant, it does not check once and forget about you. It checks every single month. One of the main things it looks at is your income.
The limit is R628 a month. If SASSA calculates that you received more than R628 in a given month, it will decline your application for that month. Even if you were approved the month before. Even if nothing in your life has changed.
This is the means test. Understanding it explains a lot of confusing decisions.
What is the means test?
The means test is how SASSA decides whether you need the grant. The SRD R370 grant exists for people with no income or very little income. It is specifically for people who are not receiving income or a social grant from another source.
To check this, SASSA looks at your bank account. It works with the South African Revenue Service and other government systems to check what money came into your account in the month being assessed.
If the total is more than R628, SASSA declines you for that month.
Why R628?
The R628 threshold is set by the Department of Social Development. It represents the food poverty line, which is the estimated monthly cost of basic food needs. The idea is that the grant should go to people who cannot meet even that amount from their own income.
This figure is reviewed periodically by government. The amount in this article is the current figure for 2026. If you are reading this after a budget announcement, check whether SASSA has updated the threshold.
The check is monthly and automatic
This is the part that catches many people by surprise.
SASSA does not run a single check when you first apply and then leave your account alone. The check runs every month, automatically. A system runs it, compares the result to the threshold, and approves or declines you. No human reviews your specific account each time.
This means your outcome can change from month to month without you doing anything differently. Approved in one month. Declined the next. Approved again the month after. All because of what money moved through your bank account in each of those months.
If this has happened to you, you are not alone and you are not being treated unfairly. This is how means-tested grants work.
What counts as income
SASSA looks at bank inflows. That means any money that arrives in your account, regardless of where it comes from.
A salary counts. A wage payment counts. A transfer from another person counts. A payment for casual work counts. A UIF payment counts.
Money you received and then spent the same week still counts as an inflow for that month. The system does not track what you did with it. It only looks at what came in.
If your account received no money in a given month, or only small amounts that stay below the R628 total, you are below the threshold for that month.
The family deposit problem
A very common situation: a parent, sibling or friend sends money to help you cover rent or buy groceries. Maybe R800 for the month. That single deposit pushes your total inflows above R628. SASSA declines you.
The person who sent the money had no idea it would affect your grant. You did not think of it as income. But SASSA’s system sees an inflow above the threshold and makes an automatic decision.
This is not a flaw. It is how the system is designed. But it does mean you need to be aware of what goes through your bank account in any month you are relying on the SRD grant.
One practical point: if you receive help from family, ask whether it can come in the form of groceries, airtime or a direct bill payment rather than a bank transfer. That does not move through your account as an inflow.
See also: How Businesses Prepared Freight for Successful Transportation
What “alternative income source identified” means
If your decline reason reads “alternative income source identified”, the means test is the cause.
SASSA found money in your bank account or in your financial records that it is counting as income above the threshold. It might be a bank deposit. It might be a UIF payment. It might be income flagged through SARS.
The decline applies to that specific month only. It does not automatically affect the months before or after. If your account returns to below R628 the following month, you can be approved again for that month.
What to do after this decline
Check which month the decline applies to. Each SRD assessment is for one specific month.
If you believe the income SASSA found was not regular income and should not count, you can appeal. The appeal goes to the Independent Tribunal, not back to the same SASSA office that declined you. You will need to explain what the money was and why it should not be treated as income.
To check and follow the status of your application, MySRD at mysrd.org.za is an independent information website not connected to SASSA or government. It shows you what SASSA’s system holds for your ID number.
SASSA toll-free: 0800 60 10 11 SASSA WhatsApp: 082 046 8553
Can spending the money first change anything?
Some people ask whether withdrawing or spending money before SASSA runs the check will help.
No. SASSA looks at what came into your account during the assessment month, not what balance was left at the end. Moving money out does not change what came in. The inflow is already recorded.
Summary
The SRD means test checks whether your bank inflows for a given month stay below R628. The check is automatic and runs every month. Any money that enters your account counts, including once-off family deposits.
Because the check is monthly, your outcome can change month to month. Approved one month and declined the next does not mean your application is cancelled. It means your income for that one month was above the threshold.
Understanding this makes the grant system easier to follow, even when the results are frustrating.
