National Minister for Social Development Lindiwe Zulu has been accused of misleading the public about the South African Social Security Agency’s (Sassa) failure to pay social grants on time.
Also read: Seniors suffer as technical woes disrupt Sassa grant disbursements
The accusations were made by Zulu’s Western Cape counterpart, Sharna Fernandez, during a sitting of the provincial legislature on Thursday, when she was widely criticised by members.
Zulu blamed technical glitches after thousands of social grant beneficiaries experienced problems with their payouts this month.
However, Fernandez called on the minister to tell South Africans the truth, adding that Zulu failed to tell the nation that Postbank was served notice on the 31st July that the switching service provider would not deliver services due to non-payment to the tune of R84 million.
According to Fernandez, Postbank subsequently went to court to ensure that services were provided.
The switching company, however, informed them that we are not ready to offer the service.
The SA Human Rights Commission met with Sassa on Wednesday to urge the organisation to avoid a repeat of this crisis in the next payment cycle.
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The Democratic Alliance complained to the commission last week, alleging that Postbank, Sassa, Zulu, and her department had violated South Africans’ human rights.
Thousands of senior citizens were unable to access their monthly Sassa grants from ATMs or Postbanks earlier this month.
Despite the issue having been resolved, a backlog remained, leaving a significant portion of elderly beneficiaries without access to their funds.
Dr Bongani Diako, spokesperson for Postbank, stated that their grant payment system had regained stability after being restored, but due to ongoing backlogs, some Sassa grant beneficiaries, including pensioners, would have to wait until the following day to access their funds.
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Picture: @Strashna / Twitter