Sassa beneficiaries bear the brunt

With deadlines looming ever closer in the protracted Sassa saga that is playing itself out in the Constitutional Court, recent interactions I have had with councillors, grant beneficiaries and Sassa officials have made it abundantly clear that all is still not well with the running of our social grant system.

During a visit to Pretoria north last week, I met grant beneficiaries who still suffered from illegal deductions from their Sassa accounts. This weekend, I received a message from a concerned councillor in Benoni. She informed me that Sassa beneficiaries that had switched over to the new card complained that they are not receiving their grant payments.

Throughout the country, stories reach us of grant beneficiaries who either have huge sums of monies deducted from their grants or have no money from either card – the old CPS card or the new Sapo card!

How is this possible when every single undertaking has been made by the Minister of Social Development Susan Shabangu, the acting CEO of Sassa Abraham Mahlangu and regional managers from all the nine provinces that systems are in place to rollout the transition.

Now, Sassa workers have gone on a protected strike, which means that card swaps and new applications are not being processed, and pensioners and other vulnerable beneficiaries have to wait in long queues.

This is the experiences of beneficiaries whose constitutional rights are being violated, disdainfully, over and over. Bridget Masango, DA

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