Government to visit families of two social grant beneficiaries who died on Monday

Government officials will be visiting the families of the two people who died while waiting for social grants on Monday. At a briefing on Tuesday, officials sent condolences to the families of two social grant beneficiaries who died while in queues on Monday.

Although reports of aged people struggling while going to collect grants have been a regular feature of life in South Africa, there has been heightened focus on this during the lockdown.

One was from Pimville Soweto and the other from Hammarsdale in KwaZulu-Natal, according to Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the deceased was 63-year-old pensioner Thembisile Mavis Njapa, who died after she collapsed at the Hammarsdale post office. An ambulance team declared her dead on arrival. Social workers have been directed to provide support services to the families of those who lost their loved ones.

Zulu has appealed to grant beneficiaries to comply with the lockdown regulations by using their cards at local retailers as a measure to avoid long queues.

“This incident occurred on the first day of pension payouts to the elderly and people with disabilities. It’s a very sad incident.”

Zulu, alongside the acting Gauteng MEC for social development Panyaza Lesufi ,were on Tuesday visiting several social grant payment points across Pretoria.

#Day5 #lockdown briefing:https://t.co/TSq5ZL1qCz

— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) March 31, 2020

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