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By Manyane Manyane 
3h ago
Johannesburg – After spending the night queuing outside the post office to arrive on time for the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) R350 special grant, many recipients were turned away and told only those who had never received the money were eligible for payment. while others were told there is no money, they said.
The grants were announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in April as part of the rand 500 billion economic and social relief measures during the pandemic after the distribution of food packages was marred by corruption and mismanagement and not reach out to those in need.
Qualified individuals were expected to receive the grant from May until next month.
The Sunday Independent this week visited three post offices in Vaal and found desperate recipients who said they “start the queue at night to avoid spending long hours in lines” to be up front when doors open in the morning just to have tell them there. There is no money.
Tumelo Mokhomong was one of the recipients who slept outside the post office in Evaton Mall. But when morning came, he was told that only pending payments for May, June and July would be made.
“I spent the whole night here, from 6 in the afternoon until 6 in the morning. I was the first person in line in the morning, but they said there was no money. The last time I received it was in July. Now we are told that only people who did not receive their payment in the first three months would receive it, ”said a dejected Mokhomong.
The 30-year-old admitted that they are risking his life by sleeping on the street, but said they had no other choice due to the long lines. “Last month there were people who hit everyone in the queue and wanted to burn us with gasoline. We were lucky to survive that day, ”he said.
Recipients at a post office in Palm Springs Mall were also told that August and September payments would not be made, and that the queue would be shortened to just 200, this included Thabang Chaka, who said he had been to the queue from 5 am risking your safety.
“Some people, like me, have to walk long distances to get here. I have to travel from Orange Farm around 3.30am just to be told there is no money. This is not fair at all, ”he complained.
Themba Sithole was also disappointed after he was rejected.
“They told me that we have to give a chance to those who have not received anything. They said I should come in October to get my money. This is sad. The president said that this money would be available every month. There is something very suspicious at the post office, ”he said.
And Maggy Thobedi got mad after her tail was cut off.
“We always get up early and these people don’t even think about it. They don’t think we’re coming here because we really need that money, ”he said.
The leader at the post office confirmed that those who received their money in the past three months, especially those who received up to R1050, would not receive their grant.
“There is nothing we can do. Apparently, there is no money to pay these people. There is confusion in Sassa regarding this money. There are many things, some people registered with their bank details but they (Sassa) still send their money to post offices.
At the Mafatsana post office, Aubrey Molete was one of those ordered to collect the money on September 28. He said he was out of the post office since 2:45 a.m. M. And that, after his ID was verified, he was told to come at the end of the month. While others were told that the “signal” was poor.
The response of the spokesperson for the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), Paseka Letsatsi, to our questions was a repetition of what he had said before: “Beneficiaries who chose to collect their money at the post office should only present themselves there after receiving an SMS indicating that the money is available for collection to avoid inconvenience. Applications are reviewed every month in the event that a beneficiary’s financial situation changes from month to month, so it is not automatic that once you have been approved for a month, you receive your money every month. “
Political analyst Dr. Metji Makgoba said that the ANC did not handle the distribution of these funds with professionalism, integrity and competence.
Instead of accepting his mishandling of the situation, excuses were made to show his systemic disrespect for blacks. This is a microcosmic expression of a larger implementation problem in South Africa that advocates how the ANC has not implemented its own policies and has not taken the poor into account. “
As a result, the poor had to wait many, many months and days for something that can hardly sustain their livelihood. We are surprised? Being poor and black in this anti-black society means being systematically disrespected, misrecognized and ignored by this oppressive government to the point of dehumanization, ”Makgoba added.
Activist and leader of the 1976 Soweto uprising, Seth Mazibuko, said it was an insult to the poor to stand in long lines for R350.
“How decent the amount is and how decent it is distributed is not important to the government, as long as it reaches the voters before the next election.
People are supposed to be so obsessed with the ruling party that they should forget about those who steal millions of Covid-19 funds and focus on the R350 or food packages. “
Independent Sunday
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