SASSA: ‘Some spend R120 to get R350 grant’ – as MPs grill Lindiwe Zulu

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu will be held accountable for her department’s shortcomings on Wednesday, as MPs gather to give the politician a bollocking. A meeting has been called in Parliament, requesting that Zulu explains the challenges facing SASSA. Both the rollout of the R350 grant and the lapsing temporary disability grant will be analysed.

What some people pay to access the R350 grant

These developments come just days after GroundUp reported that some R350 grant recipients are spending almost a third of their living allowances on claiming the payments. Local post offices, particularly ones in rural locations, are being overwhelmed by huge queues and a sheer lack of COVID-19 protocols:

“Now we have to pay the owner of the car from the R350 that we are going to get here. The sad part is when the offices close and you have not received help and you have to come back again, keeping in mind that we are hiring a car with the same R350. This is all because of being unemployed. The return journey costs us each R120.”

Nandile Ngemntu – you can read the full GroundUp report here

A day of reckoning for Lindiwe Zulu and SASSA

Lindiwe Zulu will indeed have a lot to account for during her Parliamentary dressing down. Her ministry has been lambasted to high heaven, for deciding to pull the plug on the temporary disability grants. Over 210 000 people saw their support funds halted at the end of December. Insult was then added to injury when SASSA detailed the steps to reapply.

Somewhat inexplicably, Zulu and her department told the recipients they would have to fill out their forms in-person at SASSA offices across the country, while also providing a doctor’s note to confirm they still need disability payments. The whole fiasco has caused large queues and possible super-spreader events, flying in the face of government advice.

The R350 grant has also been hampered by a string of technical glitches. Delayed payments, confusing schedules and contentious rejections have tarnished a project that has helped financially support almost seven million South Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lindiwe Zulu is in for a rough ride, that’s for sure.