SASSA WC denies it is on the verge of collapse

A briefing by the South African Social Security Agency of South Africa (SASSA) to the Standing Committee on Social Development in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament on Monday, 2 December 2024, has revealed ongoing systemic challenges within SASSA, with no clear plan to resolve them.

SASSA in the Western Cape is denying that it is on the verge of collapse. SASSA has for long been struggling with systems being offline, inadequate offices, and capacity challenges.

In November, the Standing Committee on Social Development visited Belville offices as part of unannounced oversight visits.

On Monday, officials appeared before the same committee to account

Acting Regional Executive manager, SASSA Western Cape, Michael Sibusiso Nhlangothi, revealed that out of the top 20 offices with the highest number of grants processed in the country, four are in the Western Cape are ranked in the top 10 and 7 are in the Top 20.

‘’In the entire country, Bellville is number 1, Eersterivier is number 2, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu ranks fourth and fifth respectively, separated by Johannesburg local office in third place. Wynberg, Mitchell’s Plain, and Paarl makes Top 15. We need to look at 1 000 781 beneficiaries and more who come to our office on a daily basis.

Nhlangothi elaborates on grant standards.

‘’An application is completed by a grant administrator level five, which is the lowest level you can get at SASSA. An employee who is on level five needs 21 minutes to complete an application, which means 20 applications can be completed a day.’’

‘’Anybody who comes to our offices leave the office with a letter, whether the application is approved or is not approved. Remember, we are not even obliged. Our target says it seven days, but we're already ahead. We're process applications in one day.’’

He reiterated that clients or SASSA recipients must wait in the queue for their turn before they are processed.

Beneficiaries are subjected to long wait times due to poor communication, inefficient systems, and a lack of digital application support at the community level.

‘’Our work means that clients must wait on the queue for their turn before they are processed. There is nothing that we can do about that. If we can try to say that people should not wait on the queue, there will be chaos. People will break the offices, will push each other. So queues are part of our work.’’

Remember also that we use SOCPEN system. SOCPEN system closes at 16:30 daily at head office. It is not in our hands. It's a central control system, which is closing at half past four to prevent actions of fraud. So even if we keep people further than four o'clock, we're still going to keep them, but not assist them.

The Acting Regional Executive manager, SASSA Western Cape, Michael Sibusiso Nhlangothi, highlighted some interventions to mitigate challenges. Tthere are other contributing factors for those waiting long in the queue. Nklagoti highlights misinformation, opportunist, and fraud as some factors.

‘’One, members of the public misleading beneficiaries to sell spaces on queues. We have almost lost this war of engaging members of the public, stakeholders, because the unemployment out there make people to be creative and seek employment in different ways. I know for the fact that in some of the offices, our members were in great danger because they were being intimidated for stopping people from sleeping over because this means bread on the table for other people.’’

‘’Give me R50, I will stand on the queue so that you can be number one tomorrow. And that is something in the means that we know that it happens in most of our offices. We've engaged police, we've engaged some stakeholders, we have done everything, we've spoken to the police. I also want to indicate one of the things that was reported in the media that these people that sleep over there, we deny them ablution facilities. We cannot open ablution facilities in the office that is closed at night, because we are one creating a situation where people will come and fill the office at night.’’

‘’And when there are no staff members and there is no control. So during working hours, all ablution facilities are available and water also. The disability grant application coming to our offices but get declined. 24 percent of Disability Grant applications that are coming to our office are declined. Disability Grant applications coming to our office when they are not from the province.’’

‘’Another contributing factor is unemployment. People apply for disability grant, all 44, 000 of the disability grant came back as temporal disability grant.  It's a grant. And only 4,000 was permanent disability grant. So the temporal disability grant is 44,000, and that tells us that people are using the grant for putting food on the table because they're not, employed. Disability Grant is the only grant for persons of the age of 18 to 59. Once you turn 18, you receive child support grant.’’

Nhlangothi says SASSA aims to operate for 12 hours in 2025.

‘’We are currently engaging in union and other stakeholders on the extension of service hours at local offices from 8 hours to 12 hours. One of the main things a AGM grant administration has got an instruction that by July, there must be these offices working in 12 hours that we want to introduce the shift.’’

He also outlines some of the factors affecting service delivery

‘’The stubborn structural practices, no Sassa footprint in some part of the region, where SASSA footprint is needed most, but overabundance in areas where there is less need,’’ said Michael Sibusiso Nhlangothi, Acting Regional Executive manager, SASSA Western Cape.

Postbank has reassured social grant beneficiaries that their existing SASSA Gold Card will continue to work until it is replaced by the new Postbank Black Card.

This comes after confusion over the expiration date of the Gold Card, which was set for 31 December.

SASSA Western Cape has committed to participating in public outreach initiatives from early 2025, as part of a Standing Committee resolution.

Done By: Mitchum George