Beneficiaries want shorter waiting times and better service from staff at the office
Social grant beneficiaries in Mamelodi are demanding better treatment at the local SASSA office after two people collapsed while waiting outside in a long line.
The two incidents happened last week while this GroundUp reporter was at the SASSA office. The snaking queue was made up of mostly of the elderly and people with disabilities.
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The first to collapse was 36-year-old Isaac Msiza. He said he became faint, his whole body began to shake, and he fell to the ground. Msiza later told GroundUp that he has epilepsy. He said he had been standing in the scorching heat for more than two hours.
"I come here often to reapply for my disability grant. Sometimes I find three long queues that move very slowly. SASSA workers must attend to us faster because we are sick and want to go home to take our medication," he said. A female security guard later took Msiza's application documents inside.
About 10 minutes after Msiza's incident, an unidentified elderly woman who was sitting on a chair in the line fainted. She was taken inside to be assisted.
The incidents infuriated other people in the queue. They said queues are always long and move very slowly.
Sinnah Madimela, a disability grant applicant, said she became disabled four months ago when she was struck by a tractor while working on a farm. "SASSA workers keep us waiting for more than three hours ... When we finally get inside, they just look at our papers for a few minutes and tell us to come back after two months," she said.
Gauteng SASSA spokesperson Sesame Kgabi said the agency is aware of the two incidents. "The causes may be related to their medical conditions." According to Kgabi, the agency's staff stabilised the elderly woman at the scene.
Asked to comment on the claims that beneficiaries are often forced to wait for hours in long queues, Kgabi said the Mamelodi office deals with a high number of applicants but are "unable to serve them all".
"Another delay often has to do with network connectivity and this is communicated to our clients. We apply the first come first served queuing system, except for declared serious conditions."
Kgabi urged people to use SASSA's online self-service platform to submit their applications, but she acknowledged that some beneficiaries may find this challenging.
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