By Liezl Human on GroundUp
- Many SASSA beneficiaries throughout the nation seem to nonetheless be having hassle accessing their much-needed grants.
- While the state says the technical “glitch” which led to the disruption has been resolved for many recipients, it acknowledged that some submit workplaces had been nonetheless experiencing points.
- One mom we spoke to has spent the week making over 200 calls to the client name centre in a bid to get her 12-year-old baby’s grant.
A mom who lives in a rural space within the outskirts of Johannesburg has made over 200 cellphone calls to submit workplaces in determined makes an attempt to get her baby’s social grant.
The mom, who requested to stay nameless, has been phoning the South African Post Office since Monday to discover out why she hasn’t been paid however the traces are always busy. She confirmed GroundUp a screenshot of her cellphone information which reveals over 200 calls to the decision centre quantity. Her present account steadiness is R25.
“You depend on that money being in your account on that date. You budget … It’s terrible … And then you hear on the news that the problem has been fixed by SASSA [South African Social Security Agency],”
she says. The mom says she has had to borrow cash from individuals.
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However, her case isn’t remoted. She is amongst probably 1000’s of SASSA beneficiaries who’re but to obtain their grants this week.
The drawback began over every week in the past when recipients started reporting points with accessing their grants. Postbank apologised to grant recipients in a statement on 3 November, urging them to acquire their cash at ATMs and retailers as an alternative of submit workplace branches due to a system glitch.
In a video on SASSA’s Facebook page from 8 November, Postbank CEO Lucas Ndala stated, “The payment glitches started at some of the SAPO branches then the impact [of the glitch] extended to ATMs and some retailers. We managed to resolve the issue over the weekend. Most of the payment channels are working except at post offices where we are still experiencing some challenges. Work continues to resolve the challenge. We have already paid over 96% of grant beneficiaries. People mustn’t be alarmed, we are working on resolving this technical glitch.”
Evashnee Naidu, Black Sash’s KwaZulu-Natal regional supervisor, says that the Black Sash continues to be getting stories from across the nation from individuals in determined want of their grants. The organisation met SASSA officers final week to discover out what should be blamed for the problems.
Naidu says among the beneficiaries’ accounts confirmed zero balances and others weren’t paid the complete grant quantity. She says that Friday appeared to be the worst day, baby help grant beneficiaries accessing their grants by way of ATMs and retailers had been additionally not in a position to entry their cash.
Naidu estimates that 500 000 beneficiaries favor to get their grants in money from SAPO branches.
Thobeka Mqhucshwa instructed GroundUp that she went day-after-day since Thursday to test whether or not she might get her baby’s grant. She went to retailers for a cashback on Friday, however the card was nonetheless not working. It confirmed a zero steadiness on Saturday when she went to the ATM. Mqhucshwa stated she had no luck on Sunday or Monday. She was solely in a position to withdraw the grant at an ATM on Tuesday, but it surely was quick R75.
Another beneficiary, Nokhanyisa Mdudeki, has nonetheless not been paid. She went to Postbank on Friday and tried once more on Tuesday at an ATM however her card nonetheless didn’t work. Because of the glitch, Mdudeki, who’s unemployed, is probably not in a position to pay for transport for her kids. She nonetheless couldn’t entry her grant when she went to the submit workplace on Friday.
SASSA and Postbank didn’t reply to GroundUp’s questions.
This article was first printed on GroundUp