DA calls for urgent interim support for millions of Covid-19 R350 grant recipients

16 April 2021

The DA calls on the minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, to come up with a temporary plan to support Covid-19 relief grant recipients.

6 million grant recipients did not receive their R350 grant for the month of March. The solution SASSA provided is that recipients would receive double at the end of April. This solution does not consider the fact that these recipients rely on the grant each month as it is their only form of subsistence.

In a statement by SASSA's spokesperson, Sandy Godlwana, it was stated that the reason for this delay is due to SASSA's transition into their new financial year. According to Godlwana, this meant that various tasks had to be completed before the payment could be released.

SASSA knew when the change in their financial year would take place well before the transition date. A contingency plan should have been devised and extra resources allocated to make provisions for additional tasks that needed to be completed during this time. This could have prevented such delays and supported desperate recipients through these tough times.

This is yet another instance of SASSA and the Department of Social Development failing our country's most vulnerable citizens. The DA finds it simply unacceptable.

Issued by Bridget Masango, DA Shadow Minister of Social Development, 16 April 2021