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Recipients have been sleeping outside Sassa’s office in Raisethorpe, Pietermaritzburg, hoping to get a spot at the front of the line to renew their expired disability grants.
PHOTO: Nompendulo Ngubane / GroundUp
- Many beneficiaries, mostly elderly, have been sleeping outside the doors of Sassa’s office in Raisethorpe, Pietermaritzburg, to renew their expired disability benefits.
- Others say they arrive before dawn, but the line is already snaking by then.
- Sassa says that the Raisethorpe office is understaffed due to Covid-19.
Dozens of social grant recipients have been sleeping outside the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) office in Raisethorpe, Pietermaritzburg for nearly two weeks, hoping to get a spot near the front of the line, it reported. GroundUp.
Most of the people seen outside the office Monday were elderly and had blankets wrapped around them after spending the night outside.
At around 11:00 a.m., a group began to complain that despite their long wait, they still had not been assisted because a limited number of people were allowed to enter at one time.
Howick’s Ntombemhlophe Ndlovu said he slept with other recipients outside the offices in cardboard boxes Sunday night.
The 58-year-old said she has stage four cancer, but despite being the closest to the front of the line, she was told officials wouldn’t help her because she didn’t have an ID.
She said:
I am wearing a diaper and I have a pipe that helps me when I have to urinate. I have to renew my scholarship after it expired in January. My identification was lost and I was hoping that when I arrived with a certified copy of identification they would help me. Now I have to borrow money so I can get a temporary ID. In my condition, I don’t know if I will handle another queue at the Home Affairs offices.
The Raisethorpe office serves people from Woodlands, Northdale, Allandale, Copesville, Swapo A and B and other surrounding areas.
‘There is no money for transportation or food’
Hlengiwe Mkhize from Cinderella Park said she joined the queue at 05:30 and by noon she was hungry and tired.
Mkhize said:
When I arrived, the line was already long. I am here to renew my disability allowance that expired in November. I am diabetic and I am taking medication. People who have been called in take forever to get out. There are still many of us who are waiting for a date to come back and see the doctor to renew grants.
Swapo B’s Johannes Mthandazi said he was in the offices to inquire about his grant money that he had not received for two months last year. He said he arrived at the offices at 04:00.
Mthandazi said:
There are no chairs or toilets here and we are tired and hungry. Other people have gone home because it is clear that they will not get help today. Some of us have to wait, if we have to sleep here we will. We don’t have money for transportation or food. All we have to do is wait.
Sandy Godlwana, a provincial spokesperson for Sassa, said the department was aware of the influx of beneficiaries to its offices. He said it was due in large part to staff shortages and strict Covid-19 restrictions.
Godlwana said that only six people were on duty at Raisethorpe.
“The office is working on a schedule because some staff members are ill. The department has also made announcements using different media platforms to inform grantees about the renewal dates of different grants. Sassa has been affected by the pandemic. But we are trying to keep our offices accessible to people, “Godlwana said.
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