WATCH: Covid relief grant recipients turned away at Queensburgh post office
Grant recipients are frustrated at being sent away from the post office in their community and are demanding that something be done.
RESIDENTS of Queensburgh, some of whom arrived early to be at the front of the queue at the post office, were sent away while trying to collect their Covid relief grant of R350.
Chris Schutte, a grant recipient, sent a message in the early hours of Wednesday morning to the Queensburgh News expressing his frustration at the poor service offered by the post office in his community.
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“They blame it on the load shedding, but they have refused to pay people out since last week Friday,” he said.
Schutte said he couldn’t understand why some people were being served while he and others in the queue were turned away ostensibly due to the system being down.
“There was no load shedding in this area last night, which was the excuse they gave us yesterday (Monday), when they said the system was still down because of overnight load shedding. I can’t believe what is going on and why there is now a poster on the door saying they will not be paying out this relief grant indefinitely,” said Schutte.
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When contacted for a comment, Sandy Godlwana, a spokesperson for the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) said she had been unaware of the problem.
“Sassa has a contract with the post office to pay our recipients and we need to make sure we find out what is happening here because people rely on that money,” she said.
Godlwana said she would find out what alternative arrangements could be made if the post officer was unable to carry out this service in the Queensburgh area.
Comment from post office spokesperson
Johan Kruger, a spokesperson for the South African Post Office (SAPO) said he was looking into the situation and would revert as soon as he had received feedback from the post office in the community.
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He confirmed that it isn’t usual for post offices to refuse to pay the grants and display such announcements on posters.
“I will need to check with the manager of the branch and find out what the problem is,” he said. “Until I know more about this situation I cannot make any comment except to say this isn’t usual in any way.”
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
WATCH: Covid relief grant recipients queue outside the post office in Escombe:
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
