On Thursday, 17 October 2024, amandla.mobi will picket at Sassa and DSD and at Treasury on Friday, 18 October 2024, to spotlight the out-of-control SRD grant issues and pressure Minister Tolashe and Minister Godongwana to urgently fix and increase the grant.

In their four-year fight for the R370 SRD grant, the organisation ran an R370 SRD grant survey to understand how the grant issues have intensified since 2021. Among the 500 people who took the survey, over half highlighted having been unfairly declined for the grant and unsuccessful appeals. Of those who have been approved to receive the SRD grant, 31% say they were never paid.

More recently, Sassa introduced a new biometric system that has caused even more problems for recipients [1]. Over 400 people said they have been affected by the biometric system, while others said they were unaware of the new system. Furthermore, half of the people who took the survey said they feel Sassa’s services have got worse over the last 12 months. One R370 grant beneficiary said:

“I think Sassa is getting worse. They would decline payments because they feel there’s a ‘means of income’, but how can that be true with an empty bank account? I think it is very wrong to do that to the poor; R370 is not even enough to buy your monthly necessities.”

Recently, Sassa was reported to have underspent R4 billion on SRD grants [2]. In 2023, DSD returned R15 billion, which was meant for grants, to National Treasury [3]. “It is unacceptable that people continue to suffer because Sassa and DSD fail to manage their budgets. The new DSD minister has failed to detail a plan to fix the grant, even after trying to contact her multiple times. We are forced to take action because Minister Tolashe has chosen to ignore the concerns of grant recipients in her first 100 days in office,” says Tlou Seopa, amandla.mobi Senior Campaigner.  

The organisation is encouraged that other organisations and movements are also taking action, with IEJ and #PayTheGrants taking Sassa, DSD and Treasury to court over SRD unfair & exclusionary regulations on October 29th and 30th.

The pickets are planned as follows:

Thursday 17 October 2024

10 am to 12 pm – Sassa Head Office, Pretoria

1 pm to 4 pm – Department of Social Development, Pretoria

Friday 18 October 2024

9 am to 12 pm – National Treasury, Pretoria

For more information and interviews, contact

Tlou Seopa

amandla.mobi Campaigner

Email: [email protected]

Cell: 067 654 6027

Tebogo Malatji

Member Engagement Officer

Email: [email protected]

Cell: 062 393 1330

References

[1] SASSA’s new ID verification process sparks alarm, Marecia Damons for GroundUp, 19 June 2024.

[2] SASSA underspent R4-billion on SRD grants, says Auditor General, Marecia Damons for GroundUp, 12 September 2024.

[3] Department of Social Development returns R15 billion to Treasury after failing to pay grants, Norman Masungwini for City Press, 17 September 2023.