Services are categorised by grant type and assigned to specific days of the week.
This was highlighted by Shivani Wahab, marketing and communications director for the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) Western Cape in response to complaints from grant recipients facing significant challenges as result of service delays and inefficiencies to access funds.
Recipients from various areas of the Helderberg have reported long journeys, often requiring money for transport to the Sassa office in Eerste River and long queues outside the building. To avoid this and ensure assistance, many have resorted to camping outside the office overnight. One recipient shared that she camped out overnight for consecutive nights on three separate occasions for assistance. What’s more, is that of the hundreds who embrace the queues and endure the harsh nights a few tens out of hundreds of people are helped, with the rest being turned away by agents limited to this number per day.
The middle-aged recipient questioned the possibility for Sassa to open satellite offices or use a hall on certain days closer to home to service Helderberg residents. “Surely this is feasible, as people are going to extremes such as borrowing money to get to the Sassa branch and sleeping outside the building, putting their dignity on the line and themselves at risk to ensure they are helped,” she said. “Having to resort to such measures is just not fair, considering that most people are elderly, some disabled and battling health conditions.”
Another recipient expressed dismay at witnessing an elderly woman asking security to get a letter and being told to stand in the trailing queue because the service point is filled to capacity inside. The line is filled with mothers with babies and young children, elderly persons and disabled people who endure the tiring queue with the possibility that they may not be helped and most likely be turned away.
Wahab said that Sassa Eerste River operates on Monday (older-persons grant), Tuesday and Wednesday (disability grant), Thursday (child-support grant), and Friday (social relief of distress grant and appointment bookings). There is a service point in Kraaifontein. Another in Strand has not been operational since August due to renovations. The Eerste River office serves such communities as Sir Lowry’s Pass, Gordon’s Bay, Somerset West, Strand, Lwandle, Nomzamo, Macassar, Eerste River, Kuils River, Blackheath, Happy Valley, Wesbank and Mfuleni.
“As a result, there is often a high influx of clients and a significant demand for services at this particular contact point,” Wahab said. “Services are segregated per grant type which is then linked to specific days of the week. Older-persons grants are scheduled for a Monday allowing us to prioritise our elderly clients. Our disability grant clients are our focus area on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to ensure that they are treated with dignity and respect. Thursdays are reserved only for child-support grant clients.”
She mentioned that beneficiary education is conducted on-site where recipients are engaged and advised not to sleep over at any contact point for services.
Ablution facilities, outside the premises, for those who choose to sleep over are not available, and that is beyond Sassa’s control. An appointment system has been implemented to ensure every client who requires Sassa services is duly assisted. For this Fridays are reserved, with the Sassa Eerste River Office confirming appointment bookings for the next three weeks, with over 210 clients booked for each Friday.
Due to the closure of the Strand service point, there are currently 11 grant administrators at the contact point, with an estimate of 21 clients per official. In the past week the Sassa Eerste River office has attended to approximately 210 to 240 clients on disability grant and child-support grant days. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays the number of clients accessing the office for services exceeds 400 per day.
Wahab also assured that all communication with clients about service availability, waiting times and changes to operations are conducted through beneficiary education in the office waiting room (through posters, TV screens and face-to-face engagement). Community radio and the existing provincial Sassa stakeholder network are used as reliable platforms for broader beneficiary education in the province. General Sassa information may be accessed via official Sassa social-media platforms and the Sassa website.
Recipients may lodge complaints, enquiries and disputes via the Sassa toll-free number or email. All enquiries, disputes and complaints are logged on the Integrated Customer Care Application System. A reference number is generated and issued to the client upon receipt. If able to resolve immediately, a response will be provided to the recipient and the incident will be closed on the Sassa system. If unable to resolve immediately, the matter will be escalated to the relevant Local Office Manager to investigate and respond within three working days. The response will be provided as per the recipient’s preference: telephonically, email, or formal letter. The response and any supporting documents will be uploaded onto the system, and the matter will be closed once a final response is provided.
