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Payees waiting in line around the building near the post office on Commercial Road on Friday. Most people are there to check on the progress of their special Covid-19 grant requests. (Mkhuseli Sizani, GroundUp)
- People have flocked to post offices in Nelson Mandela Bay to check on the progress of their special Covid-19 grants.
- Staff and security have urged people not to visit payment points unless they have received an SMS confirming that their money is available.
- There were meandering queues outside the post offices at Commercial Road, Algoa Park and the Ziyabuya Mall in KwaDwesi on Friday.
Dozens of frustrated R350 Covid-19 grant recipients lined up outside the post offices in Nelson Mandela Bay on Friday.
This despite previous warnings from staff and security not to visit the payment points unless they have received an SMS confirming that their money is available.
Many people GroundUp spoke with said that visiting post offices seemed to be more successful in receiving assistance than waiting at home.
On Friday morning, GroundUp visited the post offices at Commercial Road, Algoa Park, and the Ziyabuya Mall in KwaDwesi.
At each there were meandering tails with very little physical distancing. While people wore masks, not all of them were worn correctly.
Most of the people said that they had arrived at 05:15, but were seen shortly after the post office opened due to the new reservation system.
This system, they said, prioritizes people according to the last three numbers of their IDs. So by this morning, people whose IDs ended with 082 and 087 were notified.
At the Ziyabuya post office, recipients said they were frustrated with the new identity document reservation system. More than 300 people were still outside at 11:30.
Lulamile Ntondini from Soweto-on-Sea has been applying for the R350 Covid-19 special grant since June, without success. He said it was his fourth visit to the office to check on the progress of his application.
He said:
I have tried all the tricks that other grantees used, but to no avail. Other recipients advised me to make requests through different cell phone numbers and to keep coming to verify my money at the post office.
On Friday, they again told him to come back next week.
The father of two said he desperately needs the money to buy food for his children.
“The last time I had a job was in 2018. Since then I have depended on my mother’s old-age grant,” he said.
Sisa Ndiza from the informal Westville settlement complained about poor queue management by staff.
“Our identification numbers only allow us to come on Fridays, but we have to start from scratch each week due to mismanagement of the queues by officials. Some people are just making their way even though they haven’t received notifications.”
Mawande Ndlendle, 38, of New Brighton joined the queue on Commercial Road to ask about the request he made three months ago. “My application keeps saying it is pending. I have three children at home and I need money to buy food for them. So I decided to come here to verify my money.”
Sassa provincial spokesperson Luzuko Qina confirmed that the system had changed.
He said the Post Office had found a “simpler solution to manage overcrowding at its outlets.” He said that they initially introduced an SMS system, followed by a reservation system. “And now, the last three digits of the identity document.”
Qina said the latter approach has helped in many areas of the country, while a “dual approach” is being implemented in some areas.
