News24 | Sassa pensioners complain of unauthorised deductions, slow service

The first of three waiting areas inside the Sassa office in Delft, Cape Town.

Sindisiwe Tshona/GroundUp

• Social Development Minister Dina Pule and Sassa CEO Themba Matlou conducted an oversight visit to the agency’s office in Delft, Cape Town, on Monday.
• Grant beneficiaries complained of unauthorised funeral cover deductions from their social grants, as well as long queues and insufficient toilets at the office.
• A few kilometres away, at the Sassa office in Bellville, which Pule visited a month ago, some beneficiaries complained they still had to spend hours in queues.
• For more financial news, visit News24 Business. 
  

Pensioner Christine Southgate has visited the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) office in Delft several times in recent weeks to stop a deduction for funeral cover from her grant. She says she never signed up for it.

She was one of a dozen grant beneficiaries who spoke during an oversight visit by Social Development Minister Dina Pule and Sassa CEO Themba Matlou at the office on Monday.

Southgate told the minister she had been visiting the Delft office to stop deductions for an Emerald Life policy. She does not recall signing up for the policy, and says she cannot afford to pay water and electricity bills because of the deductions.

“Since March this year, Emerald has been deducting money from my pension, yet I never signed any forms or gave consent for this. I already have burial cover through my church.

“Today is my fourth time coming back to try to resolve this,” said Southgate.

Delft pensioner Christine Southgate has been to Sassa several times to stop an unauthorised deduction from her grant.

Sindisiwe Tshona/GroundUp

She left the office again without being assisted, but, she said, a Sassa official took her details and promised to help.

GroundUp sent questions to Emerald. The article will be updated once a response has been received.

We also spoke to other beneficiaries who complained of deductions for Clientele Life policies. The company has asked for their details so it can investigate their cases.

Pule and Matlou also spoke to beneficiaries about the service they receive at the office, and their experience accessing online Sassa services. Some spoke about positive experiences, particularly the friendly Sassa staff. But others raised concerns about long queues and insufficient toilets, and asked the minister to increase the value of social grants.

Pule said she had wanted to get feedback directly from beneficiaries and staff.

“I also want to encourage officials to keep up their good work, because they work with a large number of people on a daily basis.

“At registration, I asked how many people they had helped by 12:30. They told me more than 100.”

She promised to bring in more officials to help people.

Better in Bellville, but problems persist

GroundUp also visited the Sassa office in Bellville, which Pule had visited over a month ago. At the time, staff complained about the slow biometric verification system being piloted at the office and about staff shortages.

Beneficiaries wait for service inside the Sassa office in Bellville, Cape Town.

Abonge Chiya/GroundUp

On Monday, several beneficiaries we spoke to complained of repeated visits and spending hours waiting to be helped, but some said there had been an improvement.

Rachel Lott from Elsies River said she arrived at 07:00 to seek help with her disability grant. When she arrived, there were already people waiting outside.

Lott said she had been visiting the office since May, to no avail.

“Everything is taking too long. The children and old people must come stand here in the cold early in the morning,” she said.

Another pensioner, Nathan Jordan, said: “I arrived here around 05:10. We stand outside against the walls, and that is not appropriate as it is cold and we are elderly people.”

He said it was his second time visiting the Sassa office to get help with his old-age grant.

Naomi Basson said she had applied for a pensioner’s grant last month and had been given an appointment date on which to return.

“I was helped this morning, and the service was good,” she said.

Christabel De Jager, another Sassa pension recipient, said the queue was moving quicker than on her previous visits.

Bellville pensioner Christabel De Jager says she sees an improvement at her local Sassa office.