The ongoing South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grants payment crisis has entered its third day, and some recipients in KwaZulu-Natal were paid as little as R63 and told to come back on Monday.
The crisis started on Wednesday this week when Postbank reported that it had experienced a technical glitch that resulted in some payments not being cleared.
Some recipients were told to come back the following day to get their grant, which they rely on to survive as they have no other income.
However, the money was still not there, and the challenges persisted, dragging on until Friday.
IOL was able to track a large number of distressed recipients and their relatives who are affected by the ongoing problem, which seems to have no end in sight.
They narrated how their only source of income has not been received, throwing them into a social ditch.
"I have been trying to collect a grant for my 73-year-old mother for days now; we only got R63 instead of R3,000," one worried resident said.
A citizen from Ndwendwe told IOL that his mother was supposed to get a total of R3,200 as she is also receiving a foster care grant for a grandchild whose mother died away a few years ago.
Instead, she ended up receiving R1,600,00 from a local shopping centre and was told to come back later on Friday.
Still, she could not get the rest on Friday.
"The money is still not there, and she has been told to come back and try again on Monday next week; this is very frustrating," the resident, who asked not to be named, said.
Another resident from Mtubatuba in northern KZN told IOL that on Wednesday she helped her grandmother go to her usual paypoint expecting to get R3,500 and was left disappointed.
"She ended up getting R480 and when she asked, she was told to come back on Friday or Monday next week.
"We have no idea what is happening with the money," she said.
Worse still, there are grant recipients who did not get anything, like a grandmother from Vryheid.
Her daughter told IOL that she went to a local Shoprite outlet expecting to get paid R2,500, but nothing came out.
"She came back empty-handed; there is no money," the daughter told IOL on Friday.
Other recipients who spoke to IOL were from Port Shepstone, Nongoma, Jozini, and Dlangwezwa, and they said they came back home empty-handed.
"I was supposed to get a grant for my child and came back home empty-handed. We don’t even have food," said the one from Nongoma.
The recipients asked not to be named for fear of victimisation.
The spokesperson of Sassa in KZN, Sandy Godlwana, said the challenge is with Postbank, adding that the money is available.
"We apologise to our grandmothers and grandfathers who could not get their money yesterday (on Thursday).
"We wish to assure them that Sassa pays out the money every month; it is just that there is a technical glitch with Postbank," Godlwana said.
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