SASSA Grant News Today 27th January 2023- Increasing numbers of Western Cape residents have been filing complaints about Sassa with their local government. However, progress toward a solution has been slow for them.
Following a meeting between Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu and Members of Executive Council to discuss the rising number of complaints directed at the South African Social Security Agency, the Western Cape government issued a statement (Sassa).
A delegate from the provincial administration made it clear that they were dissatisfied with the meeting’s outcome.
The Western Cape government members present at the conference voiced serious concern to Minister Zulu about the volume of complaints lodged against Sassa.
The meeting, however, did not appear to have a significant impact on the situation.
the following are examples of complaints that have been received:
As Sassa tries to do most of its business online, its citizens have no way to interact with it in person.
Beneficiaries are reportedly being booted off the online application page before they get a chance to finish the process.
Continual loadshedding and a plethora of system malfunctions have made it difficult to respond to beneficiaries’ questions and concerns.
Beneficiaries’ wait times are lengthened and their time is wasted due to the Sassa office’s excessively long lines.
The SRD grant portal has been malfunctioning, preventing timely processing of SRD grants.
Beneficiaries have gone months without receiving their refund before finally receiving it in a lump sum, making it more difficult for them to reapply because their income would appear to be larger.
A common misconception is that doctors practicing Sassa medicine are incompetent.
The response time from Sassa to questions and comments has been extremely long.
Even though Minister Zulu acknowledged that this was an issue that needed attention, she proposed giving Sassa “time to prepare to provide comments at another engagement,” so delaying the issue’s resolution.
They “welcome Minister Zulu’s commitment to a stand-alone engagement with Sassa,” but they want to make sure it happens quickly so as not to waste people’s time and add to their pain.
