Cape Town - Unemployed Western Cape residents are among thousands of applicants still waiting for payouts from the social relief distress grants (SRD) they had applied for and which were approved last year.
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) in the Western Cape said they were hoping to reach a million payments by the end of this week for payments from last week – this is little relief for those still waiting.
An unemployed Philippi resident, who identified herself as Ntombi, said she was still waiting for payment, nearly a year after she submitted her application.
“The application was approved for about two months, August and September last year, and declined for October but approved again for November and December. But I still haven’t been paid.
“I re-applied after the announcement of the extension of the grant in February and my application is still pending approval,” she said.
Another applicant, Andisiwe Ceba, has yet to see a cent of the grant.
Ceba said she had been incorrectly listed as a recipient of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and despite appeals, had been disqualified.
“I lost my job in 2020 due to Covid-19 and I received UIF benefits for only one month. My application was rejected. I am unable to submit any documents to prove that I don’t receive income and therefore eligible,” said Ceba.
SASSA said it was currently processing back payments for 2021.
Western Cape spokesperson, Shivani Wahab, said around 750 000 beneficiaries had been paid so far.
“We expect payments to increase to over a million by the end of the (current) week,” said Wahab.
She said the payments currently being made in the week were for “the reconsideration appeals” for the period of August 2021 to November 2021.
“Although the new iteration of the grant was supposed to be seamlessly introduced from April 1, the changes to the qualifying criteria stalled payments. No one has yet been paid for April or May and around half of the applicants were paid in June,” said Wahab.
Social justice and civil society organisations have vowed to mobilise all relevant people in a bid to put pressure on the national government to rescind its decision to impose “unfair” regulations that govern the SRD grant.
Almost a year after millions of people applied for the R350 grant after its extension in April, some have yet to receive payments.
Spokesperson for civil society group, #PayTheGrants, Francina Nkosi, said a programme of action was being discussed and scheduled to take place in August.
However, an online petition on Amandla.mobi had already gathered over 65 000 signatures of the 75 000 target in a bid to scrap regulations that discriminate grant application.
Nkosi said the regulations and the grant payment delays threatened to cause rifts in communities as many had become wary of supporting the beneficiaries.
"SASSA has not committed itself to payment dates for many approved beneficiaries and the situation cannot go unchallenged," said Nkosi.
The Black Sash Trust, represented by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), has approached the High Court in Pretoria, challenging the "unconstitutional" elements of the regulations.
The organisation said the regulations placed an “unfair burden” on the millions of people who were still feeling the social and economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government capped the budget for the SRD grant to only provide for 10.5 million beneficiaries and declared that only those who received an income below R350 per month would qualify.
The food poverty line in South Africa is R624 per month and about 18.3 million people live below it.
Black Sash said the regulations introduced even “more punitive restrictions” on social assistance, and described the means test as “arbitrary”.
“The launch of litigation is our last resort to continue holding the South African Social Security Agency, Department of Social Development and the presidency accountable for failing to implement a R350 grant system that can be accessed quickly and timeously by all those in need.
“If the government doesn’t listen to our people, we hope they listen to the courts,” the organisation said, adding that the delay had contributed to widespread suffering and hunger.
The GOOD party has criticised the government for the delays.
Secretary-general Brett Herron said according to a recent report by the Institute for Economic Justice, cumulatively, over the past three months, 27m fewer payments of the SRD had been made, compared to the previous rate of payments.
“This is a crushing disaster for those whose lives depend on this tiny income,” said Herron.
He called on the government to start planning the way for a universal basic income grant.
Weekend Argus