SASSA is now "drowning in a set of administrative challenges" when it comes to their R350 grant, as was said to Parliament. This comes after SASSA introduces a further appeals process when millions of rejected applications were found.
It was revealed when SASSA representatives spoke to the National Assembly that 300 000 email claims have not yet been seen to as well as 4000 phone calls being receiving no answer daily.
To deal with these issues with backlogs, SASSA will be instating a call centre which will handle 90% of the email claims and 80% of the phone calls.
This issue of backlogs becomes an even bigger issue when the fact that SASSA spent millions in effort to improve the systems a few years ago. The DA said the Department of Social Development paid a total of R2.5 million to multiple technical advisers to see to administrative issues in 2018.
DA's Shadow Minister, Bridget Masango, has said, "The Democratic Alliance (DA) has learned that the previous Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, spent more than R2.5 million for a technical task team to review the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) business model and make recommendations in reforming how SASSA made its cash payments."
Masango has said that should SASSA have taken the advice and suggestions they were given, "vulnerable South Africans might have had more of a fighting chance these past six months with their R350 grants," but that the way they handled it has now lead to uncertainty in many lives.
SASSA is urging those who receive funds from the R350 grant to seriously consider changing their payment method to using a bank account. They have therefore opened up their system for applicants to change their preferred payment method.
The period for preferred method of payment is scheduled for Monday, 31 August 2020 to Sunday, 06 September 2020, 24 hours a day. Approved beneficiaries of the grant can change their payment method by visiting https://srd.sassa.gov.za during this period.
SASSA CEO Totsie Memela explained that, “The payment process is delayed if money is sent to a closed account, as SASSA has to wait for the funds to be returned before sending it to the Post Office for collection. Clients who update their details are advised to ensure that their information is captured correctly to avoid any further delays."
To conclude, SASSA has said that anyone who doesn't update their information during this window period, or who gives incorrect banking details will have the payments for the remaining months sent through to the Post Office.
This Special Relief Distress Grant will expire in October 2020.
