SASSA crackdown overwhelms KZN offices

Scores of people queuing outside SASSA’s KwaMashu branch. Photo: Tsoanelo Sefoloko

Long queues form outside SASSA’s branch in KwaMashu, Durban, almost daily. Many beneficiaries are turned away and have to make two or three trips before being assisted.

GroundUp visited the office at 2.45pm on Tuesday and found hundreds of people in the queue. Some had rented chairs, for R3, to sit on. We heard an official was telling people to come back on Friday as the branch was at full capacity.

Nontobeko Ntuli from uMzinyathi said she did not receive her old age grant at the end of January and was told on 5 February to bring additional documents. Ntuli is one of about 495,000 people whose grants have been placed under review as part of SASSA’s eligibility crackdown.

“I spent R54 just to come here. I hope that today they will assist me because I have everything that they said I must bring,” said Ntuli.

Ncamisile Nhlumayo said she arrived at 6.30am to apply for a child support grant, but doubted she would be helped after hearing from others who arrived earlier that they were still far from the doors.

“Last week Tuesday I was here, and I was turned away because I was told that the system was down,” said Nhlumayo.

Mabusi Nxumalo, who was there to apply for a child support grant but was told to return on Friday, said repeated trips were costly. “I spend R30 whenever I come here. I will have to talk to my boss to give me another day for me to come here and finish applying for the SASSA grant because I am not permanently employed.”

Black Sash KwaZulu-Natal regional manager Evashnee Naidu said SASSA’s decision to place beneficiaries on review and require them to visit offices in person had overwhelmed local branches.

She said SASSA did not have the capacity or infrastructure to manage the influx, with some beneficiaries returning seven or eight times, undermining their dignity.

KwaZulu-Natal SASSA provincial spokesperson Musa Mdlalose said offices typically experience high volumes after payment cycles, particularly from SRD R370 beneficiaries. The Home Affairs system, used to verify the identities of beneficiaries, is often down, which causes delays, said Mdlalose.

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