The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is the government body responsible for providing social grants to the country’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens. However, recently the Democratic Alliance (DA) received unsettling information that SASSA spent at least R1.5 million on a single event – R500 000 on a venue and R1 million on gifts – for an international women’s day event on 28 March 2023.
This is in stark contrast to the reality of SASSA offices across the country, which are understaffed and under-resourced, and where grant beneficiaries often have to make multiple trips without being helped due to regular system crashes. Additionally, out of 212 SASSA offices contacted nationwide, only four answered their phones. Minister for Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, further confirmed this in an answer to a DA parliamentary question where she revealed that over the past year, 435 and 175 SASSA offices experienced system and telephone problems respectively.
The DA believes that instead of wasting R1.5 million on a party with no discernible positive impact on the poor and vulnerable people SASSA is meant to assist, that money should have been used to address these serious concerns. With the rising cost of living, payment delays due to SASSA’s inefficiencies are more than just an inconvenience. They are hastening the death and destroying the hope of millions by eating into what little poor and vulnerable people have to spend on food and other necessities.
The DA will submit written parliamentary questions to determine why SASSA saw fit to spend such a large sum of money on this event, and will also continue to work to restore the dignity, lives and livelihoods of millions of South Africans who are struggling daily under the ANC government. It is time that Minister Zulu puts a stop to the frivolous wasting of money while people die on her watch, and makes every effort to address the problems at SASSA.
This article was written by Jurno.