Dear Editor
As part of our investigation into the recent closure of the South African Social Security Agency’s (SASSA) Khayelitsha office, I will be inviting the management of the agency to appear before the Standing Committee on Social Development. The closure, which took place with minimal notice, left thousands of SASSA clients stranded without access to vital grants, thus causing severe disruption to their daily lives. As a body whose primary purpose is to provide oversight into social development-related affairs in the Western Cape, it is vital that we ascertain what went wrong in these circumstances.
I will also extend an invitation to the Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) to attend the same session. SASSA and DSD had shared the same building in Khayelitsha, which closed for renovations on the 14th of July. However, it appears that the DSD has made alternative arrangements to continue to provide services to the residents of Khayelitsha. By contrast, visits to the site on Friday revealed that the interim facility procured by SASSA is unusable due to its small size, and numerous safety hazards for both SASSA staff and clients. The fact that SASSA has failed to continue its operations in the face of the same circumstances faced by the DSD leaves many questions which must be answered.
I trust that an engagement between SASSA, the Provincial DSD, and the Standing Committee will be vital. By understanding the circumstances which led to this failure, I hope to ensure that such an issue never occurs again.
Regards
Dan Plato, MPP
DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Social Development
