The South African Social Security Agency [Sassa]was in Alexandra last week on a nationwide integrated community registration outreach programme.
The aim is to get more beneficiaries in the zero- to one- and 16- to 18-year-old categories accessing the child support grant. This follows a finding by Unicef which stated that this age group was the least registered on the welfare system in the country.
The Alex programme was preceded by a door-to-door campaign which encouraged 400 mothers and babies to risk bitterly cold weather to get their babies registered for the grant at Sankopano community centre.
Frascina Makhaya, a beneficiary and mother of an 11-week-old baby, commended the agency for bringing the service to them. “The process went smoothly and I look forward to the grant which will support my baby and enable me to use my meagre income for other household needs,” she said.
Daphne Feris, customer care support manager for the agency, said the Gauteng exercise targeted 30 wards in Alexandra, Soweto, Rosettenville, Cosmo City and Ekurhuleni. It would also see to those who turn up for other options such as old age, disability, foster care, care dependency and war veteran grants.
Feris added that there was also a low uptake on a new grant called grant in aid, which is linked to old age and disability grants.
“Its purpose is to support costs for services engaged to help the aged, disabled and infirm in order to reserve their own grants for their other needs,” she said.
She urged people who were uncertain if they qualified for grants to check with the nearest Sassa office where a means test would ascertain their status. This also applied to those who were employed, as they may be found to qualify after all deductions had been taken off their pay.
“The sliding scale used determines varying amounts which many people may be entitled to through the welfare system,” she said.
Feris also confirmed reports of complaints by old age grant recipients being conned and unauthorised deductions going out of their accounts.
She said the agency had no authority over their grants once disbursed and debit cards had been issued, as the recipient could make withdrawals on their own.
“The reported cases are investigated and Sassa has not been found to have played any role in the deductions,” she concluded.
Details: Daphne Feris 079 500 4598.
