WC SASSA faces significant challenges, despite progress
23 May 2023
Today, the Western Cape Provincial Parliament’s Standing Committee on Social Development was briefed by representatives of SASSA Western Cape on ongoing service delivery challenges – with specific reference to the imminent liquidation of the South African Post Office (SAPO). While some progress has been made, the DA in the Western Cape remains concerned at the level of service delivery experienced by SASSA’s Western Cape clients.
According to SASSA’s representatives, the contract between SASSA and SAPO has been ceded to Postbank since October 2022. SASSA has worked with Postbank to ensure that SASSA cards, millions of which were due to expire between March and June 2023, will remain valid until December 2023. SASSA further stated that it has worked to ensure the payment of grants directly into the bank accounts of the vast majority of its clients.
While these measures are encouraging, major questions remain. For one, many rural and older clients remain reliant on the direct withdrawal of grants from SAPO offices, and SASSA themselves admitted that this remains a concern – as does the number of doctors available to process disability grant claims.
More worryingly still, it seems that despite SASSA’s efforts, the ratio of SRD grant approvals to payouts has fallen dramatically. In April 2022, SASSA paid out 93.61% of approved SRD grants. In March this year, it paid out only 81.73% - meaning that more than 108 000 SRD grants went unpaid. This is also the lowest payment rate of any province in South Africa.