Sassa beneficiaries across the Western Cape are more frustrated than ever for “not getting the dignified service they deserve.” So says Western Cape Minister of Social Development Sharna Fernandez.
In a press release dated 22 February she referred to a long-anticipated meeting held the day before, at which she raised some of her department’s concerns over Sassa’s service delivery challenges.
She said she appreciated the transparent way in which the Western Cape and national management of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) responded to these concerns.
“I am pleased with the amicable relationship we continue to cultivate,” she pointed out.
Fernandez implored Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu to make herself available for further engagement with Sassa, so she can hear first-hand the countless complaints of its beneficiaries, who are not experiencing the level of service that they have a right to.
At the meeting on 21 February she shared the laundry list of problems her team had picked up during oversight visits to the social grant agency’s offices across the province and from the numerous complaints her office had received from grant beneficiaries.
Some of the issues include communication challenges between Sassa and the department, ineffective queue management at Sassa offices and Postbank system glitches that lead to delays in funds appearing in beneficiaries’ accounts.
According to Fernandez’s statement, more service points were needed to ensure vulnerable citizens did not have to travel far to access a Sassa office and spend much of their welfare grants on transport.
Load shedding also stalled service delivery.
“Sassa has committed to looking into our concerns, especially those we encountered during visits to the local offices,” Fernandez said.
According to the agency’s feedback at the meeting Postbank’s systems had been stabilised, IT infrastructure challenges had been resolved, connectivity challenges minimised and IT security bolstered.
But Sassa’s communication strategy required improvement.
“It had committed to looking into complaints received from beneficiaries in a bid to improve service delivery and ensure people were treated with dignity,” Fernandez said.
She also said Sassa was procuring inverters and batteries to help during load shedding. Tablets and sim-cards had been provided to staff at some offices.
“This was not a once-off engagement. Sassa Western Cape has committed to regular meetings with us to ensure the lines of communication remained open. In this way we will foster an effective working relationship benefiting vulnerable beneficiaries who rely on us to be their mouthpiece.
“Let me be clear, our fight is not with Sassa management, but with national government; its duty is to ensure the millions of South Africans dependent on grants receive good-quality services and are treated with dignity.”
