New COVID-19 grant, old Sassa problems A sharp increase in the number of social grant recipients after the introduction of the special grant during the pandemic has exacerbated the strained grant payment system. A Sassa office. @OfficialSASSA/Twitter
The COVID-19 social relief of distress grant has exposed long-standing challenges at payment sites across the country, especially in rural areas where recipients are exploited and paypoints are not in good condition and robbed routinely.
With a further three-month extension on the COVID-19 grant, hundreds of Eastern Cape beneficiaries in particular will continue to struggle to collect their R350 from Post Offices. Those who live in rural areas have to walk long distances or sleep outside the premises to ensure they get their money. But it is not only the recipients who have been affected.