Durban - THERE was outrage on social media after a photograph was posted of two women at a till point, holding a South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) card and allegedly buying alcohol with it.
Twitter and Facebook users were angered by the photograph while others felt it was the woman’s money, therefore she could do what she wanted with it and that she might not have swiped the card, but could have withdrawn the money beforehand.
However, the Daily News could not establish how recent the photograph was nor where it was taken.
Sassa KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Sandy Godlwana said although the veracity of the picture could not be authenticated, Sassa had received reports of widespread abuse of the cards, with child support grant recipients believed to be making purchases with them at bottle stores.
“We discourage the use of Sassa cards or social grants to purchase liquor, paying for hairdressers, buying beauty products and buying luxuries instead of necessities intended for social assistance,” Godlwana said.
“Sassa local offices have been requested to be on the lookout for this. We intend to table the observations in our meetings with the Department of Social Development and counterparts, with the view of putting together an intervention plan to minimise the blatant abuse of social grants.”
Social Development KZN spokesperson Mhlabunzima Memela said they needed to find a way to ensure that Sassa cards were only used to purchase food and clothes, and not alcohol.
“We condemn the use of Sassa cards to purchase liquor. The grants are paid to South Africans who need financial assistance to deal with challenges and to be able to provide for children and their families. Our government did this because of the challenges of unemployment. Therefore it’s a disgrace to see people using these cards to buy alcohol,” he said.
Black Sash KZN regional manager Evashnee Naidu said it would be more concerning if the card holder was a child support grant recipient and was abusing the grant that was intended for the care of her child or children.
“The Black Sash is shocked and concerned that these kinds of images seem to be surfacing quite often as of late,” Naidu said.
“It would also help if commercial entities took social responsibility as well, and prohibited the purchase of alcohol using Sassa cards.
“This poverty alleviation measure is intended to provide for basic needs of families, who are unable to do so on their own,” she said.