Civil society organisation Black Sash is calling on the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and the Department of Social Development to suspend all social grant reviews until proper communication strategies are put in place.
This follows widespread outrage after thousands of beneficiaries—many of them elderly or living with disabilities—were left without payouts due to investigations into possible undisclosed income.
Black Sash spokesperson Oliver Meth said the organisation’s helpline and monitoring teams have been inundated with calls from distressed recipients, many of whom claim they were cut off without warning or explanation.
“Our community-based monitoring teams who are at the different payment sites and pay points across the country, as well as our national helpline, have been overwhelmed with distressing calls from particularly the elderly people and people with disabilities, who many rely on these grants, have been flagged when their money has failed to appear.”
“This has further been exasperated by the impact of the bank verification checks that SASSA has been doing on the old person’s grant, which has also impacted on the grant payment delays and has added a lot of fear, a lot of confusion, and the queues that we’re seeing at the local SASSA offices.”
Meth stressed the need for community-based communication strategies and training for SASSA staff to ensure they have the capacity to manage the review process at local offices.
“Also publish clear criteria for review selection and provide beneficiaries with accessible avenues to challenge the decisions, and also to ensure that the affected beneficiaries have received reasonable notice and their commitment to working with civil society and grassroots organizations to improve the outreach and support mechanisms.”
VOC News
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