By: Zethu Gweva
The South African Social Security Agency grant recipients are not all happy about the increased payments and the changed dates.
According to a SASSA beneficiary Bathethelele Buthelezi, the money should be used to curb the spread of Covid-19 and assist all the unemployed graduates.
“The money should be kept so that when this pandemic is over there is enough money to provide jobs for unemployed graduates,” she said.
Another SASSA recipient Ayanda Sogoni aged 25 that has a seven-year-old child to feed said the sixth of May will not make things better.
“We understand this is done to curb the spread of the virus but it was difficult to wait for the month to end to get our grants, now it will get worse as we will have to wait for more days.”
Eastern Cape SASSA Spokesperson Luzuku Qhina said as from May SASSA grants payments will increase. People living with disabilities and older persons will receive their grant on the fourth and the rest on the sixth of every month.
“People are receiving their social grants as automated,” he said.
The special Social Relief of Distress grant will be received by those who are unemployed which will be R350 and SASSA recipient payments will be increased by R300 per child which will be added to Child Support Grants in May only, making it R740 per child.
From June until Oct 2020 this grant payment will go back to R440 per child but each caregiver will get an additional R500 regardless of the number of children they look after.
All other grants will increase by R250 for a period of six months.
In-addition, Nozinzile said Sigidi, 66, said the dates set are too far as they are hungry now and have no food to eat.
“I did not even know that the grant payment dates have been changed, I just found out now as you asked me,” she said.
Qhina said that the staggering of social grants is a necessity and is meant to save lives and restore the dignity of the population.
“We are trying to avoid long queues,” said Qhina.