Pensioner battles to get government subsidy

Despite qualifying for the government indigent subsidy – covering refuse removal, property rates and electricity – the City of Ekurhuleni has for five years failed to assist destitute pensioner George Makhoba, 75.

As part of its poverty alleviation programme, government launched the indigent policy, which is intended to guide the national initiative to improve lives of indigents, making it easier to have access to free basic services.

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In terms of the National Framework for Municipal Indigent Policies, the policy recognises the need for intergovernmental cooperation in dealing with indigents – placing a specific emphasis on the municipal sphere.

Makhoba’s struggle

It recognises the important role local government should play in effectively addressing the needs of indigent households.

The policy is aimed at including those currently excluded from access to basic services, through the provision of a social safety net. But for Makhoba, reaping benefits from the indigent policy has been “pie in the sky”.

“As a pensioner who relies solely on the government pension grant, I have had to use my meagre earnings from the state in paying for public transport to and from Ekurhuleni municipal offices,” said Makhoba.

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“I have patiently joined queues, hoping to be assisted by municipal officials – all in vain. The last straw was to be told that someone who was supposed to assist me was on leave and there was no-one standing in her place.

“For the past five years this has been my struggle and I am appealing to those in power to take up my plight on indigent benefits,” Makhoba pleaded.

‘Hard to survive’

Former Ekurhuleni MMC for infrastructure, Ndzipo Khalipa, who brought Makhoba’s plight to the attention of The Citizen, said the pensioner “struggles to make ends meet and finds it hard to survive”.

“For a pensioner to struggle for five years, unable to access services meant for deserving members of the public, is not only appalling but an indictment to the post-apartheid government,” said Khalipa.

Ekurhuleni MMC for finance Nkululeko Dunga has expressed unhappiness about the failure of municipal officials to implement the indigent policy.

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“We will from 1 July – the beginning of the financial year – be going into an aggressive approach to add as much people into our indigent register as possible,” said Dunga.

“We anticipate it to be above 200 000 indigents by the end of the financial year. While we have not been made aware of Mr Makhoba’s plight, we are ready to assist him immediately, if you can provide us with his contact details as soon as possible.

“We will dispatch field workers to engage in applications of identified indigents. We have also adopted, as a people’s government, targets for indigent applicants in areas of MMC deployments.

“The city spends well over R5 billion towards services rendered to indigents in the city and will maintain that expenditure, which was increased by R200 million in the new financial year.”

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Dunga’s department has tabled far-reaching proposals on the indigent policy, adopted by the council, which included:

• Raising the threshold from R250 000 to R500 000, in terms of value of property to be deemed indigent;
• The inclusion of residents living in informal settlements to qualify for the indigent coverage; and
• The removal of red tape in applications.

– brians@citizen.co.za