Dear Editor
The DA calls on the Department of Social Development and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to play open cards with beneficiaries of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant of R350 who haven’t been paid for two months.
The beneficiaries must also receive back pay for the months they did not receive their grants.
It seems that the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, and the SASSA CEO, Busisiwe Memela-Khambula, truly have no empathy for the poorest of the poor in South Africa. Children are literally starving – 1 009 children have died due to malnutrition in the past year. And those numbers only indicate the children who were hospitalised. How many more children have starved? How many adults are currently starving without any hope of providing food for their families?
While the R350 grant is too little, it means the world for South Africa’s poorest and most vulnerable. It could be the difference between life and death. DSD and SASSA must stop playing with people’s lives. It is time SRD grant beneficiaries received a definite date of payment. Without the grant many people won’t have access to sufficient food and water as mandated by Section 27(1)(b) of the Constitution. All South Africans deserve to live with dignity.
Regards
Bridget Masango MP
DA Shadow Minister of Social Development
