IN CONVERSATION WITH VINCENT SKHOSANA Black Sash Communications & Media Manager.
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Black Sash notes the briefing delivered by SASSA CEO Themba Matlou this morning on the agency’s ongoing review process of social grant beneficiaries and the suspension of payments to thousands of individuals. While we appreciate the attempt to explain the legal framework and rationale behind the reviews, the reality for grant recipients on the ground tells a far more troubling story, one that cannot be brushed aside by semantics, administrative language or internal justifications.
We acknowledge that SASSA has a legal obligation to ensure the integrity of the social assistance system and conduct reviews as prescribed by the Social Assistance Act. However, this does not absolve the agency from its constitutional duty to ensure procedural fairness, transparency, and dignity in how these reviews are carried out.
Despite the CEO’s claim that no grants have been suspended, we are witnessing a surge in complaints from beneficiaries who have been cut off without clear explanation or notification. Our Community Monitoring teams, based across the country and our national Helpline have been overwhelmed with distress calls from elderly persons, people with disabilities and caregivers, many of whom only discovered their grants had been “flagged” when their money failed to appear. This was further exacerbated by the impact of bank verification checks on Older Persons’ grants, which also impacted grant payment delays and added to the fear, confusion, and queues at SASSA local offices.
We reject the notion that SMSs and bulk communication are sufficient or effective. Many grant beneficiaries, particularly in rural and peri-urban communities, have limited access to phones, network connectivity, digital platforms, or updated contact details, which SASSA themselves note.
Black Sash has consistently called SASSA out on its poor communication strategy, and bulk communication in a short time does not address the issue of beneficiaries not receiving their grants within a reasonable time in a way that SASSA can constitute adequate notice confirming that the beneficiary has been informed. It is the state’s duty to provide reliable, direct and accessible communication and not to shift the blame onto those who are most excluded from formal systems
We acknowledge that SASSA has a legal obligation to ensure the integrity of the social assistance system and conduct reviews as prescribed by the Social Assistance Act. However, this does not absolve the agency from its constitutional duty to ensure procedural fairness, transparency, and dignity in how these reviews are carried out.
Despite the CEO’s claim that no grants have been suspended, we are witnessing a surge in complaints from beneficiaries who have been cut off without clear explanation or notification. Our Community Monitoring teams, based across the country and our national Helpline have been overwhelmed with distress calls from elderly persons, people with disabilities and caregivers, many of whom only discovered their grants had been “flagged” when their money failed to appear. This was further exacerbated by the impact of bank verification checks on Older Persons’ grants, which also impacted grant payment delays and added to the fear, confusion, and queues at SASSA local offices.
We reject the notion that SMSs and bulk communication are sufficient or effective. Many grant beneficiaries, particularly in rural and peri-urban communities, have limited access to phones, network connectivity, digital platforms, or updated contact details, which SASSA themselves note.
Black Sash has consistently called SASSA out on its poor communication strategy, and bulk communication in a short time does not address the issue of beneficiaries not receiving their grants within a reasonable time in a way that SASSA can constitute adequate notice confirming that the beneficiary has been informed. It is the state’s duty to provide reliable, direct and accessible communication and not to shift the blame onto those who are most excluded from formal systems