\u201cWe will do everything possible to help with these interim measures, but national government must take action to stabilise the social grants service for the sake of millions of citizens.
<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of this solution must include a saving grace for the post office, in the form of private investment, to keep this critical service afloat.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Getting worse<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, in a statement on Thursday 20 April, after a visit to the Grassy Park Civic Centre, Western Cape minister of social development Sharna Fernandez said the Sassa crisis was getting progressively worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn February I met with Sassa management to discuss a laundry list of problems which my team and I picked up during oversight visits at Sassa offices across the province, and from the numerous complaints our office received from grant beneficiaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had a follow-up meeting with Sassa Western Cape management, with more issues on the agenda, especially given the chaos we witnessed in Grassy Park this week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSassa has informed beneficiaries who are using Postbank issued gold cards, which expire soon, to either replace the card at identified Sapo branches or alternative venues provided by Postbank, or participating retailers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However with many Sapo branches closed and a lack of communication about alternative venues, scores of beneficiaries are in limbo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGrant beneficiaries who found no joy at Sapo service points in other areas were apparently sent to Grassy Park Civic Centre, which exacerbated the situation leading to even longer queues for the most vulnerable members of our society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have implored Sassa officials to find an urgent solution to assist beneficiaries living in areas where Post Office service points are closed, and who may not want to go the cardless withdrawal route,\u201d said Fernandez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mitigation plan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Sassa has outlined a mitigation plan to deal with the replacement of gold Sassa cards as the majority of the 5,9 million beneficiaries in the country, of which 396 903 reside in the Western Cape, need to replace the cards by June. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fernandez added that communication between Sassa and beneficiaries needs to improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are elderly beneficiaries, those with disabilities, those living in far-flung rural areas who may have no idea how to go about doing cardless cash withdrawals and are now panicking because they do not know where to replace their cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere seems to be a huge disconnect between Sassa, Sapo and Postbank, an issue which requires urgent attention on a national level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI once again call on the national minister of social development, Lindiwe Zulu, as I have been doing continuously for nearly a year, to do her part to assist the most vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ward 72 councillor Kevin Southgate says poor communication from Sapo has exasperated the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSince we made the Grassy Park Civic Centre available we are still seeing an influx of people from all over and the problem is the poor communication from Sassa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven yesterday, Thursday 27 April, during a public holiday we received many enquiries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople were enquiring whether they would be paid out if their Sassa cards were expired, so it is clear that the communication is poor from Sapo,\u201d said Southgate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only places available for card renewal in the area is the Retreat Civic Centre on a Monday and Thursday, the Retreat Post Office and the Grassy Park Civic Centre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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