The building of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament The Western Cape Provincial Parliament wants Sassa to explain how thousands of vulnerable people were unable to access their grants. File Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency (ANA)
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape has called on the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) to brief its provincial parliament’s Standing Committee on Social Development on its latest payment fiasco.
Earlier this month, thousands of Sassa grant beneficiaries were left empty-handed after a technical glitch at Postbank.
Dan Plato, MPP and DA provincial spokesperson on social development said the urgent briefing is for Sassa to explain the current issues with payment of social grants, in particular in the Western Cape, problems with pay points, and the role of the South African Post Office in all of this.
"This request for a briefing follows the revelations that despite a chorus of apologies by Minister Lindiwe Zulu for Postbank payment issues, the Department of Social Development apparently returned over R15 billion in social relief of distress (SRD) grants to the National Treasury in the past financial year.
"This comes as thousands who applied for the R350 grant have not received it. The department said it could not locate SRD grant applicants through their phones, however, no other alternative options were used to reach these applicants," Plato said.
He said the large sum of money returned to the National Treasury highlights the Department of Social Development’s failure in its mandate to help poor and vulnerable South Africans.
"They have been severely impacted by the gross incompetence of the ANC government, as many depend entirely on these grants to survive.
"The DA in the Western Cape will also be writing to the Provincial Minister of Social Development, Sharna Fernandez, to seek an update on what this latest grant debacle means for Western Cape SRD grant applicants.
"While we are tirelessly trying to improve and better the social and economic conditions of our residents, our efforts continue to be hindered by these kinds of problems, caused by national government failures," Plato added.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL