Pensioners frustrated about poor service
‘We have been begging, pleading and praying and yet they are dead on their feet’ - says frustrated pensioner
IT has been 15 months and an 82-year-old Empangeni resident is still unable to access a grant for one of her four disabled children.
Pushed from ‘pillar to post’, frustrations intensified on Thursday after pensioner Anna Matthee was told services were offline again at the Ngwelezane office with a stop payment being put on her daughter’s disability grant.
Aged between 48 and 54, Matthee’s four disabled adult children cannot walk and talk. The housebound siblings crawl on the floor just to get around the house with their aged mother having to provide for the family.
However, despite re-registering for the new South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) cards last year, Matthee said she had only been back-paid for three of her children.
The new biometric-based payment solution for social grants was rolled out in February 2013.
The aim of the system was to strengthen, modernise and improve the integrity of the country’s social security system and eliminate all forms of fraud and corruption.
But for vulnerable beneficiaries, including Matthee, they have exhausted every avenue for help in accessing their grants and have reached a dead end.
Letter
Taking up the matter and fighting for the cause of housebound pensioners has been Ward 23 committee secretary, Ray Peyters, who last year forwarded a letter to the Minister of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities, Lulama Xingwana as well as five parliamentarians.
‘There are so many people in this situation and we don’t want the public to resort to violence, destruction and unpleasant tactics to get proper service.
‘We have been begging, pleading and praying, but we cannot seem to motivate SASSA. They are dead on their feet and their system needs to be upgraded,’ said Peyters.
He said the matter had been reported to the Manager at the Ngwelezane office but the problem had still not been rectified.
‘I gave two bloodcurdling screams in the office on Thursday so that they knew we had a major problem. When is this going to be sorted out? We have to queue for hours and when salespeople come into the office, we wait further. There is so much we can take and no more,’ said Peyters.
When the Zululand Observer contacted SASSA on Friday, spokesperson Vusi Mahaye said the matter would be investigated and requested Matthee’s details.
Read more about pensioners woes at SASSA here
