In review of the special adjustment budget tabled by national Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, the amount allocated for Covid-19 related social grant funding has decreased by R9-billion. President Ramaphosa is previously on record in front of the nation as having pledged R50-billion for humanitarian relief at this unprecedented time.
MPP Gillion Bosman says: “The most vulnerable in our communities suffer the most with the ongoing economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Parents are struggling to put food on the table, feed their children, and keep their families sheltered and warm in the coldest winter in over a decade. Yet national government has reduced special grant funding.
Ultimately this places an even heavier burden on the Western Cape’s provincial Department of Social Development, which already goes above-and-beyond to fill gaps left by national and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).”
With many resident losing their jobs or facing reduced incomes, the demand for social relief of distress grant disbursed by SASSA will only continue to rise.
MPP Bosman comments: “Minister Mboweni promised a zero-based budget. That means starting from scratch and prioritising funding in line with the greatest needs. However, if that were truly the case, we would see a rise in support for social grants and humanitarian efforts – not a decrease. This begs the question of whether national government is actually paying attention to the realities people face on the ground.”
SASSA has continuously failed our residents. Whether it be through inaccessible systems, the slow opening of their offices which most people use for applications, and technological glitches resulting in improper payments, the agency legislatively charged with caring for our most vulnerable has not stepped up to the plate in their hour of desperate need.
A number of individuals who applied for SASSA grants in April have still yet to receive feedback on the status of their application. To add insult to injury, SASSA is quiet on whether or not such applicants will be back-paid for the months already passed. There have been over 10 million applications, yet only just over 3 million have been paid out.
MPP Bosman adds: “I have previously written to SASSA Western Cape and the national Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, requesting their briefing of the WC Standing Committee for Social Development. There is no doubt that SASSA and the minister’s representatives will need to explain the logic of their national departments and colleagues in this about-turn in funding for the poorest of the poor.”
The DA in the Western Cape will continue to take up the plight of our most vulnerable communities, and all the more so in light of an out-of-touch with reality cabinet in Pretoria.
