Payment of grants goes without a hitch so far

EVERYTHING went smoothly and according to plan over the weekend as more than a million Eastern Cape social grant recipients were able to access their state sponsored money.

Of the 3.2-million social grants beneficiaries across the Eastern Cape, just more than 1.5-million of them were able to access their grants, through bank ATMs and merchants, this past weekend.

This was confirmed yesterday by South African Social Security Agency’s (Sassa) provincial head, Sakhumzi Yawa, who said the agency was thrilled that no major hiccups had so far been reported in connection with the payments.

Fears that social grants would not be paid this month came after courts had declared illegal the contract between Sassa and its grants payment implementing agency, Cash Paymaster Services (CPS).

The contract lapsed at the end of March, and in a last minute bid to prevent nonpayment to over 17-million grant beneficiaries across the country, the Constitutional Court decided to extend CPS’s contract with Sassa, by another year.

As a result, there was widespread speculation and fear that the over 17-million beneficiaries countrywide, would not be able to get their grants on time at the beginning of April, despite authorities.

Yawa yesterday said the province had targeted to pay more than 1.5-million beneficiaries over the weekend, while he said the rest of the 3.2-million beneficiaries, would be paid as of today.

“We are thrilled that everything went smoothly and that there were no serious challenges or hiccups reported in the grants payment process over the past weekend.

“The few complaints we have received were not about non-payment of grants, but related to some deductions made to some of the beneficiaries which they claim to have no knowledge of.

He said they have over the weekend targeted numerous assurances from to pay 1.5-million beneficiaries who receive their payments through banks and other chain store merchants with Sassa paypoints.

Yawa said from today, they would start paying the 1.7-beneficiaries who receive their grants in cash at paypoints.

Countrywide, of the 17-million beneficiaries, 78% receive their payment through banks and participating merchants or chain stores, while 22% receive theirs at paypoints.

During a snap survey by the Daily Dispatch on Friday and Saturday, scores of grant beneficiaries were spotted withdrawing their grants in various ATMs across East London, Mdantsane and King Williams Town.

A Mdantsane pensioner, Zakhele Mashologu who withdrew his grant allocation at a service station ATM on Friday night, told the Dispatch that he had been living in fear of not getting his cut since the news of Sassa and CPS troubles broke a few weeks ago.

“Because of all this talk that there was a possibility that grants would not be paid because of some challenges at Sassa, I have been living in fear because me and my family of four, depend on this old-age grant.

“I decided to come check when I was told that people were getting their money on Friday and I was pleased that I also got mine,” Mashologu said. —