JOHANNESBURG – The Democratic Alliance (DA)’s Bridget Masango said that the social grants crisis was evidence that government was not doing its job.
The DA on Tuesday lodged an urgent complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) against Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu together with her department, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and Postbank.
This over the ongoing issues grant beneficiaries have been experiencing when trying to access their monies.
Speaking outside the SAHRC’s offices in Johannesburg, Masango said there had been glitch after glitch since Postbank took over the payment of Sassa grants.
“But the fifth of September, when the older persons did not get their grant, that was the last straw for us as the DA which is why we came, said to ourselves let’s take this to the Chapter Nine institute that’s mandated to actually promote and protect and to ensure the observance of rights of South Africans. And we are saying there are many rights that are being violated here.”
She said that at the end of the day, it boiled down to the fact that whether it’s at the hands of government or a government agency, the work’s not getting done.
“That’s where things go totally south because these people who are getting grants – you have older persons, you have people with disabilities, you have children, you have foster children, you have army veterans, those are people who are already vulnerable.”