PICS | Seniors challenge long lines to enroll in Sassa grants

Crowds of pensioners lined up in the early hours of Monday morning to register to receive pension subsidies, braving the cold and a global pandemic to seek help when the offices of the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) reopened on Monday. .

Older people, over the age of 60, arrived at the Johannesburg CBD at 04:30 to take their place on the line, with no physical distancing observed.

Some, however, were rejected, despite arriving hours earlier. They were told to sign up for their grants another day, but were not told why.

READ | Sassa to Launch New Covid-19 Aid Grant Application Process

Marius *, who had been waiting since 06:30, said that when the line arrived it wound its way more than 20 meters from the road.

He said there was no communication on whether they should stay in line or go home. They had been told that Sassa would only help 80 people.

“We are just standing here [and] We do not know if they will serve us.

“We are standing here in case we are helped,” he added.

Older people are more vulnerable to Covid-19 infection than others, but Marius said he had no choice but to stand in line.

“That is the situation,” he said.

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An elderly couple told News24 that they had arrived at the offices at 04:30, seven hours later they were still waiting.

Another 60-year-old pensioner, who arrived at 05:00 to register for his pension, said the line had not moved much since Sassa let a group of people into the building.

‘Come back tomorrow’

“They only took a few people and then they said that [rest] You must go home How can we go home, it’s not even 4:00 PM?

“They said we must return tomorrow, where will we get money to return? We don’t have any,” he said.

Rebecca *, also 60, was told that Sassa would only serve 80 people and that the rest should return the next day.

She said she had been freezing in the cold since early morning, but still hoped they would help her.

“The line only moved once [since this morning] And now they tell us to go home, how can they say that?

“They don’t explain, they don’t say anything. They just told us that they will take 80 people,” Rebecca said.

“Those people, the big shots, should come and see how we are suffering and do something inside, so that we can finish up and go home,” he added.

Like many others, Rebecca continued to wait in line, hoping that she could still be served.

Just a few hours later, Sassa officials came out to speak to those who had been waiting and also implemented physical distancing measures.

Stool on the pavement forced members of the police to move the elderly to the limit, but this made little difference to those who had been in the same place for hours.

Sassa spokesman Nandi Mosia said they were doing their “best level” during the shutdown, with a small number of staff.

“Sassa is also required to comply with the closing regulations.

“All of our offices will only operate with 1/3 of their staff. This will obviously affect normal service.

Capacity

“It is with this that only a certain number of clients will be able to enter our office to provide a service. A limited number of different beneficiaries will be allowed, depending on the capacity of the facility,” said Mosia.

He added that access to health facilities is also restricted, meaning that medical evaluations will not be conducted for a grant application.

Mosia said the challenges experienced were from those who wanted to apply for special Covid-19 grants. These applications are not made in the Sassa offices and are only done electronically:

Whatsapp: 0820468553

email: [email protected]

USSD: * 134 * 7737 #

Under the lock, Sassa provides these services:

Monday and Tuesday: old-age grant applications only

Wednesday and Thursday: Child support and foster care subsidies.

Friday: Recovery from work on other days.