ActionSA is highly concerned that the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has failed to pay out 150 000 social grants – including child and old-age grants – when disbursements were most needed to prepare for the commencement of the work and school year.
This is, however, not the first time that the agency has failed to pay grants in the past year, with numerous technical glitches plaguing the agency while the ruling party has been unable to address endemic corruption.
As a party that values economic justice, ActionSA implores Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, to take the nation into her confidence and brief it on when this problem will be resolved.
In doing so SASSA must provide technical assurances on when the challenges will be resolved, and immediate payments made thereafter to those recipients who have not yet received their grants so that beneficiaries do not wait a further 30 days to pay out as suggested by their communications. Many vulnerable communities cannot wait that long.
There is a real human cost to these disbursement bungles.
It is also ironic that SASSA has failed to pay out grants days after President Cyril Ramaphosa said grants may disappear if the ruling party is not re-elected. The incidents show that the ruling party has simply been unable to administer grants efficiently and allowed corruption to seep into the organisation, with more than R50 million lost due to fraud and over 5 800 government officials fraudulently receiving grants to R5.8 million.
Under an ActionSA government, social welfare will be expanded while introducing a new Universal Basic Income Stimulus (UBIS) to replace the meagre R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant. We believe a UBIS could be funded through budget reprioritisation and tackling corruption.
Our proposed UBIS will be calculated on the food poverty line in year one, the lower-bound poverty line in year two, and the upper-bound poverty line in year three. This will not only support vulnerable South Africans but also stimulate the economy and help create jobs through the multiplier effect.
However, our success in government should be judged by reducing this number by providing opportunities for South African adults to work and support their families. We should never celebrate the millions of South Africans who depend on grants for survival. The only natural way out of poverty is through expanding access to jobs and opportunities for upward mobility.
ActionSA will continue to work to bring genuine economic justice to all people in South Africa, which many have not felt thirty years into democracy.
We believe the upcoming elections are the best opportunity to bring South Africa onto a path of prosperity where we lift our people out of poverty and offer them the dignity they deserve.
Ruling Party’s Continued Failure to Fix SASSA Forces 150 000 Recipients to Starve
ActionSA is highly concerned that the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has failed to pay out 150 000 social grants – including child and old-age grants – when disbursements were most needed to prepare for the commencement of the work and school year.
This is, however, not the first time that the agency has failed to pay grants in the past year, with numerous technical glitches plaguing the agency while the ruling party has been unable to address endemic corruption.
As a party that values economic justice, ActionSA implores Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, to take the nation into her confidence and brief it on when this problem will be resolved.
In doing so SASSA must provide technical assurances on when the challenges will be resolved, and immediate payments made thereafter to those recipients who have not yet received their grants so that beneficiaries do not wait a further 30 days to pay out as suggested by their communications. Many vulnerable communities cannot wait that long.
There is a real human cost to these disbursement bungles.
It is also ironic that SASSA has failed to pay out grants days after President Cyril Ramaphosa said grants may disappear if the ruling party is not re-elected. The incidents show that the ruling party has simply been unable to administer grants efficiently and allowed corruption to seep into the organisation, with more than R50 million lost due to fraud and over 5 800 government officials fraudulently receiving grants to R5.8 million.
Under an ActionSA government, social welfare will be expanded while introducing a new Universal Basic Income Stimulus (UBIS) to replace the meagre R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant. We believe a UBIS could be funded through budget reprioritisation and tackling corruption.
Our proposed UBIS will be calculated on the food poverty line in year one, the lower-bound poverty line in year two, and the upper-bound poverty line in year three. This will not only support vulnerable South Africans but also stimulate the economy and help create jobs through the multiplier effect.
However, our success in government should be judged by reducing this number by providing opportunities for South African adults to work and support their families. We should never celebrate the millions of South Africans who depend on grants for survival. The only natural way out of poverty is through expanding access to jobs and opportunities for upward mobility.
ActionSA will continue to work to bring genuine economic justice to all people in South Africa, which many have not felt thirty years into democracy.
We believe the upcoming elections are the best opportunity to bring South Africa onto a path of prosperity where we lift our people out of poverty and offer them the dignity they deserve.