DA to approach SAHR commission over SASSA grant payments scandal
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it plans to lay a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission over the South African Social Security Agency’s continuous failure to pay social grant beneficiaries on time.
“The issue of late or non-payment of grants is a clear violation of citizens’ rights to life, equality, dignity, food and social security. The minister [Lindiwe Zulu] has failed time and time again and it is time she accounts for her lack of action,” said the DA’s representative for Social Development, Bridget Masango.
Masango said Sassa’s incompetence has led to desperate elderly people sleeping and queueing in the cold outside the agency’s offices for days at a time in an urgent bid to receive their grants. She said many people had to return home empty-handed, without any means to care for their families the following month.
“In addition to the inhumane treatment of the vulnerable and elderly, Sassa is now hiding behind technical glitches and empty promises regarding the payment of the R350 special Covid-19 social relief of distress grant.
“They are grandstanding on the mere 2% of special grant recipients that received payment. This is nothing to brag about, in fact, it only serves as a reminder of their failures,” said Masango.
Meanwhile, Communications Minister Mondli Gungubele announced last week that the new payment switch meant money from failed transactions was erroneously deducted from beneficiaries’ accounts, affecting approximately 600,000 people.
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