LIFELINE FOR BENEFICIARIES
Sassa April pay bungle worrying
BUSISIWE Hlatshwayo suffered a stroke in 2005, which left her partially disabled and with impaired speech.
This deemed her eligible to get a disability grant from the government, which is currently R1 510.
Since 2006, Hlatshwayo has been getting her grant from the Schoemansdal Community Hall near Malelane, Mpumalanga.
Yesterday, her sister Siphiwe Magagula accompanied her to the pay point.
“We spend R80 for a return trip from our home to here. Our house is about 10km away. It has always been easier for us to come to the hall to get her money,” Magagula said.
“We live with our younger sister who is still in school. She gets R360 in child support grant. We are all dependant on the grant because I am unemployed.”
Hlatshwayo said she spent R1 000 on food alone.
“I also buy R300 prepaid electricity. The money is not enough because we have needs as women.”
I would struggle to “make ends meet should I not get paid next month
She could pay R10 for a trip in a taxi, but “we have to walk quite a distance to get to the main road and my sister cannot walk for too long”, Magagula said.
“The transport we use fetches us from home. It is convenient, and going all the way to the plaza or nearest town in Malelane to get to the bank would cost us more money,” she said.
Malelane is about 34km from their village.
Yesterday was the first of two payment days at the hall. On the first day, they cater for pensioners and the disabled. Child support grants will be collected today. There are 2 175 beneficiaries in the area.
There are fears that social grants would not be paid out come April 1 because the contract between the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) – through which payments are done – ends on March 31.
The Constitutional Court has A pensioner sits on the floor as she waits in the queue to collect her grant in Mpumalanga yesterday. declared the contract invalid.
Though chances of nonpayment remain high, the Department of Social Development is adamant that no beneficiary will go hungry.
However, Hlatshwayo knew nothing about the chances of nonpayment next month. She said she had not been told anything or seen the story in the news.
Another beneficiary, Nhlanhla Zungu, 30, who has been wheelchairbound since he was only six, said he needed the money to support his wife and two-year-old child.
“We live with my aunt and uncle, who are pensioners. We need the money because I cannot work and I have a family to support. I would struggle to make ends meet should I not get the money,” Zungu said.
He said though he had an ATM card, he preferred coming to the pay point because it was close to his home. “If I were to go to town, I would have to pay R10 fare for one trip. Here I am given preference because I am in a wheelchair and people at ATMs do not care about your disability. The officials are caring,” Zungu said.
He said he bought R500 worth of groceries, while R400 goes towards his child’s day care fees and transport. He also has a retail account and a loan with a monthly instalment of R300.
Another beneficiary, Samuel Nkosi, 68, said he also preferred collecting money at the hall.
“I have forgotten my pin code. However, if government said the only way to get the money was to go to the bank, I would go.
“I do not spend money to come here because it is close to my home. The officials treat us really well,” Nkosi said.