POLOKWANE – On 1 July, it should have been the beginning of a new month for gogo Mamaine Molibeli as she was supposed to receive her grant with which she takes care of her three grandchildren. Upon arrival at the collection point where she normally withdraws the money, she was told she was not on the system and that she must visit the Sassa offices.
“With the queues at the Sassa offices, I had to go home with the promise of coming back the next day, but what these people don’t ask themselves is with which money are we supposed to travel back and forth? I am a pensioner, I do not have the energy to be going back and forth inquiring about the grant money which is why I ask that this matter be sorted out as soon as possible,” she pleaded.
Another young mother who encountered similar issues with her grant money is Jemima Mabasa, who receives a child grant. She also went to withdraw money and was told that she only has R20 in her account. She explained that at first she thought the woman who was assisting her was mistaken.
“I actually thought she was joking because I cannot imagine how I could only have R20 left for the month when I never withdrew any of the money. The woman had to print out the slip to show me that I really only had R20 on the card,” Mabasa said.
Sassa Senior Manager Communications, Norman Kutama, stated Sassa has been working in partnership with the South African Post Office (SAPO) since 1 April this year and last Tuesday SAPO reported technical problems with regard to their payment system which was resolved the following day and promised from now on such problems will not happen again.
“The system improvement remains the responsibility of SAPO, however, as Sassa pays every month’s grants into beneficiaries’ accounts who then have to use the new Sassa card either at a post office, merchants or ATM to access their grants. All beneficiaries experiencing problems with regard to accessing their grants can visit their nearest SAPO or Sassa offices for assistance,” he said.
