April Fool’s Day fiasco
are being gifted the money — what else can we do? We do what we can; it’s that simple. We just have to be thankful,” she said.
Most child support grant beneficiaries say it’s impossible to get by on R350 a month. Pensioners, who receive R1510 a month, say this is also not enough to put food on the table.
Elderly people make up the majority of people in the queues at the collection point in Alexandra, some of them carrying bags with food and water and with umbrellas to guard against the sun during the long wait.
Samuel Malele has become accustomed to the long wait but was upset that it took so long because he could have used that time to look for other income.
“There’s three of us in the house and only my pension, so it’s not enough. After buying food and cleaning stuff for my children, it’s done,” Malele said, frowning and shaking his head at security guards whose acceptance of bribes contribute to delays at the Sassa office.
The 64-year-old was retrenched from his job at a scaffolding company and said he now looks for odd jobs to get by, or tries to make money from recycling. “I go out to collect bottles or sell scrap. Sometimes I do gardening or paint houses. If I don’t, what will we eat?” he asks.
Disabled beneficiaries are paid the same amount as pensioners and often have additional expenses because they require special assistance to get around. Sipho Nkosi (57) lives alone in a shack and struggles to walk, but most of his money is sent to KwaZulu-Natal, where his extended family relies on him to pay for groceries.
“I send R1 000 today and I’m left with R500. It’s nothing. Most of it is used to feed myself and for transport,” Nkosi said, while resting against a garage door. He explained that he usually buys one bag of mealie meal, two packets of beans, sugar, salt and two packets of chicken with the remaining R500, and depends on support from family members after that.
Maureen Zwane started her own business after struggling to get by on the R890 grant paid to foster parents. “I live with two of my deceased daughter’s kids. I have to pay their school fees and make sure they are fed. If it wasn’t for my baking busi- ness, I do not know what I would do,” she said.
Despite their frustrations with the system, all the beneficiaries at the Net1 collection point in Alexandra agree that even one month without a Sassa grant would spell disaster for themselves and their families.
“It’s going to break my life and my family. I’m already poor but I don’t even want to think of what else will go wrong,” Nkosi said.
“If I don’t get it, it will be dangerous because I will be desperate. It will be a tragedy,” Malele added.
Young mothers Nzima and Bhulawayo said they feared for their children’s health if the payments did not come through. Nzima, however, said she would probably make another plan to get money. “It’s only R350 but of course it is food out of my child’s mouth,” she said.
But not all beneficiaries are panicking over the possibility of not receiving their monthly grant. Sindisiwe Ngwenya (28) said the R350 grant from the state only supplements her other income, which exceeds R4 000 on good months and hovers at around R2 500 on bad months. She refused to reveal how she earns the money.
“The R350, I give it straight to the crèche to pay fees for my child every month. That’s all I use it for; the other stuff I can buy myself,” Ngwenya said.
“If I don’t get the grant, it will be dangerous because I will be desperate. It will be a tragedy”