The Older Persons Grant, which many people still call the old age grant or the pension, is paid on the first date in each monthly cycle. Next up is Friday 30 October, then Wednesday 2 December and Tuesday 5 January 2027.
Older persons grant payment dates for 2026/27
Read the “Older persons” column. The other two columns are for disability and children’s grants, which are paid after you.
| Month | Older persons | Disability | Children’s grants |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | 2 April | 7 April | 8 April |
| May 2026 | 5 May | 6 May | 7 May |
| June 2026 | 2 June | 3 June | 4 June |
| July 2026 | 2 July | 3 July | 6 July |
| August 2026 | 4 August | 5 August | 6 August |
| September 2026 | 2 September | 3 September | 4 September |
| October 2026 | 2 October | 5 October | 6 October |
| November 2026 Revised | Friday 30 October | Monday 2 November | Tuesday 3 November |
| December 2026 | 2 December | 3 December | 4 December |
| January 2027 | 5 January | 6 January | 7 January |
| February 2027 | 2 February | 3 February | 4 February |
| March 2027 | 2 March | 3 March | 4 March |
Dates are paid on or after the day shown, and a weekend or public holiday moves a payment to the next working day.
Apart from the revised November date, every older persons’ date in this table falls between the 2nd and the 5th of the month. In eight of the twelve months it is the 2nd. May, August and January are the exceptions, with the 5th, the 4th and the 5th. A payment is made on or after the day shown.
The table runs from April 2026 to March 2027, which is the 2026/27 schedule. We have no dates beyond 2 March 2027 in the sources we checked, and we will add them once SASSA publishes them.
The revised November date
The November row is marked “Revised” and shows Friday 30 October. SASSA moved the November cycle because of the 4 November local government elections, and older persons were given the earliest of the revised dates. That means two payments in October, on the 2nd and the 30th, exactly four weeks apart. The full story, including what SASSA asked beneficiaries to do, is on our November 2026 payment dates page.
Copy your next three dates into your cellphone calendar. For the same table with every grant, use the 2026/27 payment schedule, or return to the SASSA payment dates hub.
How much the older persons grant pays
Since April 2026 the Older Persons Grant has been R2,400 a month. The increase was reported by SAnews on 25 February 2026, and the Department of Social Development’s 2026/27 schedule page confirms it.
| Grant | Monthly amount | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Older Persons | R2,400 | People aged 60 and older who pass the means test |
Amounts took effect in April 2026. Checked 2 November 2026.
Amounts for every other grant are on our grant amounts for 2026 page.
Why older persons are paid first
SASSA’s published schedule does not explain the order, so we will not guess at the reasoning. What the schedule does show is a fixed pattern. In all twelve months of 2026/27, older persons have the earliest date. Disability grants follow, and children’s grants come last.
For you, the practical result is a clear one. You usually have the first payment of the cycle, and you should check your own date rather than a friend’s or a neighbour’s. If a family member on a disability or children’s grant says their money has arrived or is still to come, that tells you nothing about yours.
How the grant is paid
SASSA pays grants through more than one route. A grant can be paid into a bank account, onto a Postbank or SASSA card, or at a cash payment point. Which one applies to you depends on the payment method on your own grant, and we cannot see that.
Confirm your own method with SASSA, and do not rely on what a friend does. We do not describe collection times, queues or fees at any payment point, because we have no verified source for them. How quickly money shows up at a bank is up to the bank: check your statement for the arrival date and ask your bank if it is unclear. Questions about a Postbank account or card, such as a blocked card, are for Postbank through its own website, and our guide to the SASSA gold card and Postbank covers the card side.
The date in the schedule is the day SASSA pays. It is not a promise about the time of day the money shows or the hour a payment point opens. Plan your trip, or your wait, with that in mind.
Planning around the gaps between payments
The gap between two older persons’ payments runs from 28 to 34 days. The shortest gaps are 28 days, for example from 5 May to 2 June and from 2 February to 2 March. The longest is from Wednesday 2 December to Tuesday 5 January 2027, which is 34 days and has the festive holidays inside it. The revised November payment on 30 October is 33 days before the December date.
This is a general suggestion, not financial advice. When you know the dates months ahead, you can match your regular costs to them, decide in advance how much cash you need rather than withdrawing everything, and avoid carrying more than you must. Our December 2026 payment dates guide has more on the long December gap.
If the money does not arrive
Work through these in order.
- Check the date in the table for the month in question, including the revised 30 October date for November.
- Wait until that date has passed. A payment is made on or after the day shown, and a weekend or public holiday moves it to the next working day.
- Check your statement or card history for the arrival date, and ask your bank or Postbank if you are unsure what you are looking at.
- Contact SASSA: the toll-free call centre is 0800 60 10 11 and the email address is [email protected]. If you must go to an office, take your original ID.
- If someone has asked you for money, a PIN or your card to “sort it out”, stop and report it on SASSA’s anti-fraud line, 0800 701 701.
Never hand your card or PIN to anyone, even a helpful stranger, a neighbour or a “grant agent”. Never pay anyone to check, speed up or fix a payment. Our official links and scam warning page lists the real SASSA contacts.
Turning 60 and your first payment
The grant is for people aged 60 and older who pass the means test. We do not give means test figures here, because they change and SASSA does the assessment. To apply, go to a SASSA office or use services.sassa.gov.za, and SASSA will assess your application. Take your original ID to an office.
We cannot tell you how long the assessment takes, or which month your first payment will cover, because the sources we checked do not say. Ask SASSA, and keep any reference number you are given. Do not assume that anything moves over automatically from another grant or from SRD. The SRD criteria cover ages 18 to 59, so a person who turns 60 should look at the older persons grant and apply for it. Our older persons grant guide walks through the application.
Caring for someone who is paid on a different day? See disability grant payment dates and child support grant payment dates.