VRYHEID: Frustration continues at post office

The never-ending long queues at the post office for the R350 social relief grant continuously causes frustration for beneficiaries, as some spend days in the lines without getting paid.
The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) tried an intervention last week, when they met with the SAPS and post office management to try and forge a way forward that will benefit all.
In the meeting, they identified a group of people who will control the line and ensure that everyone gets inside to get paid. However, the group that was chosen included some community members who have been identified as those demanding R100 from beneficiaries to be able to go into the post office to get paid.
“We know there are amaphara harassing people to pay R100 so that a beneficiary can be able to go inside and collect their R350. Already, R350 is not a lot of money and having to deduct R100 from that is extortion. We asked the SAPS to assist in controlling the lines, but we also chose some of those implicated people to control the line. Even Cllr Dube assisted in the matter, so we are hoping that going forward, we will not be having such problems,” said ANCYL branch secretary Zipho Zwane.

Also read: Vryheid KZN:  SASSA looks to cut long queues by changing grant payment method of the R350 relief

The efforts in trying to help with the collection of R350 have proven unfruitful, as people continue to complain that they are being forced to hand over money. “This does not help, because these are the same people who have been demanding money from us and they continue to do so. A lot of people borrow money to come collect this R350 and then they have to cough up another R100 to be able to get their money. This is not assisting us in any way. One person collapsed here because he had been standing in the sun since the morning. The post office only takes 150 people and sometimes they don’t even make that 150 because they complain that the network is down. At times, they close earlier than usual as well. There are a lot of people who spend days in the queue; some even sleep outside the post office in order to be first in line, but because of these amaphara, they end up being right at the back of the line, since they do not agree to pay the R100. Government needs to intervene in this, because one day a person is going to die here; this strategy is not working,” said one of the beneficiaries who did not want to be named. Ward Coucillor Lawrence Dube, who also took part in trying to intervene, said that, “It was hurtful to see people queuing there in the middle of the night and end up not getting paid because there were amaphara who were demanding R100 in order to be first in line. They were intimidating and insulting people, and they were even carrying weapons. Hence, as leaders of the community, we felt there was an urgent need for an intervention. We got the police involved and the post office admitted that this was beyond their power. We asked how many people the post office was able to pay in a day, and they said 150. We then came to an agreement that they must issue 150 tickets, which will allow those people to be able to get paid. We also got volunteers to control the lines, so it is now better than it was before. However, the beneficiaries themselves are part of the problem, because they leave post offices closer to them and come here, therefore creating commotion. There are people from Nquthu and Ulundi who also come here for their R350, so that is beyond our control, but we have tried our best to intervene.”

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