Outrage as temporary disability grants suspended January 7, 2021NEWS Disability activists in Makhanda have labelled the suspension of temporary disability grants as a violation of human rights. The South African Social Security Agency has suspended temporary disability grants from the start of 2021. SASSA says the high cost involved, and the need to comply with the law, forced them into this “challenging” decision. Temporary Disability Grants due to lapse in February 2020 were extended to 31 December 2020 because of the national coronavirus lockdown. At the end of December 2020, SASSA suspended a total of 210 778 disability grants nationally. Explaining the decision in a statement on 7 January 2021, SASSA said temporary disability grants paid during lockdown had cost the state more than R1.5 billion. Continuing to pay them until the end of March 2021 would cost an additional R1.2 billion.