Just over two weeks ago, SASSA pledged to provide an update to the Standing Committee on Social Development every fortnight with regards to their progress in processing Temporary Disability Grants (TDGs). The agreed deadline has passed, and they have yet to send through any progress report. No excuse has been received.
It is unacceptable that despite this humanitarian crisis, SASSA has opted to continue their lack of urgency in processing grants that people desperately need to sustain their livelihoods.
Further, on an oversight visit, MPP Gillion Bosman noted that SASSA has not opened a temporary service point at the Delft community hall, which was intended to help alleviate the pressure on its main offices. We are aware of further reports at Fisantekraal, where municipal officials stood ready to assist SASSA in opening the point but to no avail.
MPP Bosman says: “SASSA’s lack of urgency in dealing with this crisis by breaking its promises to the residents of the Western Cape is concerning and puts the commitment they made to manage the current crisis into question. It is disappointing that both the City and the Province have gone above and beyond by doing what they can to support where they are able to, whilst SASSA’s leadership and Minister Zulu are nowhere to be found.
We will seek answers to these urgent questions at the scheduled committee meeting for this Thursday. Further, we will also write to the SASSA CEO and Minister Zulu to urgently deal with the void in the Western Cape.
Our role is consistent oversight of the work of governments in supporting residents’ wellbeing, and at a time like this when we face a second pandemic of poverty and a humanitarian crisis, the importance of this role cannot be sufficiently underscored.”
