RESIDENTS have expressed their concerns as Sassa beneficiaries were spotted outside the Glenashley post office, many not wearing masks or practicing social distancing.
Grant recipients have once again flocked to post offices across the north Durban area to queue for hours in hopes of collecting their grants.
Despite President Cyril Ramaphosa’s warning that failing to wear a mask would be a criminal offence on Monday (28 December), many of the recipients were spotted queuing without masks and failed to adhere to social distancing protocols. With the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, death and infection rates continue to spike.
Spokesperson for the Durban North SAPS, Captain Raymond Deokaran said SAPS will be visiting the post office.
“It is an offence and they will be charged according to the act,” he said.
Also read: SASSA announces cut-off date for special Covid-19 grant appeals
Durban North resident, Nicole Vosser said that while the public has been called to wear masks and stay at home during the festive season, government facilities don’t seem to be facilitating the rules.
“This is not the first time I have seen people queuing there. It’s not even a day after Ramaphosa’s announcement that we need to wear masks and I see there are so many people all sitting together without masks or practicing social distancing,” she said.
Also read: Sassa beneficiaries flock to Durban North ahead of Christmas
A beneficiary in the queue who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “I keep my mask on all the time, but the mask I have is uncomfortable. There are a lot of people in the queue who don’t wear masks. I don’t think everyone has access to a high quality mask, some masks are made with heavy materials, so I can understand if it is difficult to keep the mask on while queuing for eight hours in the heat. It feels like you are the minority if you care about hygiene in the queue. There is no sanitiser provided outside the post office,” they said.
Nobuhle Njapha, spokesperson for the South African Post Office requested that only customers with an SMS visit the branch which sees 100 to 130 SASSA customers a day.
Njapha added that the Glenashley post office uses a ticket system to manage queues.
“This assists the office to control the crowd and exercise social distancing,” she said.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
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