Services at SASSA offices in WC continues to lack, says grant beneficiaries

Services at the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) across the Western Cape, continues to be in a dire state.

PICTURE: SASSA

Grant beneficiaries have to queue outside of the Mitchells Plain SASSA office from as early as 4am, just to be assisted. On certain days there are long queues of people standing outside the office waiting to be helped, with no shelter from inclement weather like extreme heat or rain. Some leaving without being helped as systems regularly go offline and only a limited number of people being helped at a time.

This is just one such incident across the metro, where people are left with hands on their heads, but returns as this is their only source of income.

National Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu visited the SASSA office in Wynberg, on 26 January 2024.

 Western Cape Social Development MEC, Sharna Fernandez, says operations of SASSA fall outside of the mandate of WCDSD, and direct queries her office gets to the national department.

“My office has contacted Minister Zulu several times on previous occasions to meet about SASSA. The fact that the Minister was in Cape Town, meeting with a SASSA local office, without extending an invitation to my office is disheartening as I believe a collaborative approach is best to serve vulnerable citizens. We wish to work with Minister Zulu for the benefit of all those who are dependent on grants, for all those who wake up before the crack of dawn and walk far distances in the dark to withdraw their money. It seems however that the Minister is content to maintain the status quo of poor services to the most vulnerable,” says Provincial Minister Fernandez.

Fernandez met with SASSA’s provincial management during on 7 February, and says it has made progress in several service delivery areas, including its community outreach programmes, centralising its call centre platform, and modernising processes to mitigate long queues.

“I’ve said this before, my gripe is not with the provincial management of SASSA, but with national government. It is their top-down decision-making that has led to an agency that is riddled with problems. We need them to display leadership and focus on millions of grant beneficiaries who deserve quality service delivery,’’ said MEC Fernandez.

When Bush Radio News asked Minister Sisulu about this matter, she responded by saying, ‘’All provinces has got SASSA offices and all provinces has a regional manager as it is, the MEC knows they must speak to the regional manager who is usually the person who knows and is fully incharge and I have full confidence in all regional managers in all provinces. If the MEC is talking to things related to social grants, she knows there is a CEO, there are regional managers, and managers - so queries to be directed to her. I do not mind engaging, if I need to engage in a basis of a political issue but right now it is a technical matter that needs to be addressed by SASSA - both national and provincial.’’

 

Done By: Mitchum George