Human rights organisation Black Sash, says the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has the responsibility to ensure that social grants do not end up with people who don’t qualify for them.
The organisation is calling for an extension of the lapsed temporary disability grant to March 2021.
Last month’s termination has affected more than 200 000 disability grant recipients.
Recently, there were long queues at Sassa offices in Cape Town.
In the video below, Sassa clarifies reports on temporary disability grants:
This prompted the Department of Social Development in the Western Cape to reach out to the Sassa national offices for assistance.
Black Sash national director Lynette Maart says grant recipients should not be blamed for the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is not the grant beneficiaries’ fault that we are in a COVID-19 situation, it is not their fault that the system had to take a reduced number of people – some of them have not been communicated to.”
“Yes they send out a general communication but some people don’t have a phone to get an SMS to say you must come in for an appointment. People wait for a long time and become impatient,” explains Maart.
Click on the audio file below to listen for more:
