Sassa festive season grant: Officials vow beneficiaries are treated well [VIDEO]

As the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) prepares to pay out grants for December next week, officials have vowed to deal with challenges to ensure that recipients are treated well.

National and provincial representatives of Sassa briefed the Standing Committee on Social Development on services on Monday.

Challenges

The officials provided revealed details of the current problems experienced by officials and the strategies in place to address those challenges .

Sassa faces allegation of fraud in its social relief grant system and claims of people collapsing in massively long queues at its various offices.

The agency distributes permanent social grants to over 27 million people in the country every month.

Reassurances

Sassa’s acting regional manager in the Western Cape Michael Nhlangothi said has assured beneficiaries that the challenges are being dealt with.

“We want to reassure the members of the standing committee that Sassa services are not at risk of collapsing. As a result, Sassa continues to provide dignified services to the citizen of the Western Cape, despite all challenges brough by fiscal pressures.”

Help

Nhlangothi has however appealed to the committee for help.

“When we get this opportunity, we don’t only see it as an opportunity to account, but an opportunity to also cry to you to say, as politicians and representatives of the people who elected you to help us so that we can help the people, because these are also our people, our mother, our sisters, our children and our disabled relatives.”

Festive Sassa cheers

Meanwhile, Sassa last week provided some early festive cheer for beneficiaries of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant by processing payments before the festive public holidays.

Payments of the R370 grant are generally made at the end of every month from the 25th.

However, not it will be paid out before Christmas.