Community organisation amandla.mobi says that hundreds of its members have said they have still not been paid their R350 grant for April. According to SASSA’s Post Office payment schedule, payments started on 1 April 2022, but according to grant recipient Kgothatso, they have not been paid and haven’t gotten any answer from Sassa: “I went to the post office and didn’t receive April grant. What must I do? Do I have to re-apply?” Another recipient, Nikiwe, said: “I haven’t received the payment for April.”
Sassa has not acknowledged payment issues. On the 25th of April 2022, TimesLIVE reported that Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi had stated that all R350 grant recipients who chose the “cash send” option had been paid via bank accounts or through the post office.
Tlou Seopa, a Campaigner at amandla.mobi, said: “President Ramaphosa committed to extending the R350 SRD grant to March 2023 in his SONA speech. Finance Minister Godongwana said the same in his budget speech. But we have received hundreds of messages from people stating they have not been paid for April. Our team has spoken to many R350 grant recipients over the phone, and they are panicking that they won’t get paid at all or that the grant has been ended. All this is a result of poor communication by Sassa.”
The organisation says that a quick look at the comments on SASSA’s own Facebook page shows that people are not only angry and frustrated with the government’s failure to pay the R350 grant in April, but there is also a lot of frustration at the last minute requirement for recipients to re-apply, and issues with the re-application process.
amandla.mobi is calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene and hold Finance Minister Godongwana and Social Development Minister Zulu accountable for failing to adequately allocate funds and distribute the grant to everyone who needs it. The qualifying criteria, on the other hand, is horrendous and inhumane. President Ramaphosa must stick to his commitment and ensure his Ministers serve the people as they are supposed to. SASSA has no power to fix all issues with the grant unless Treasury and DSD first fix their internal quarrels about the grant, and go public with them. SASSA must also be held accountable for the mishaps of the R350 grant and explain to people what is going on.
For more information and interviews about the experience and confusion about April payouts, amandla.mobi has three grant recipients available to share their stories.
Contact Campaign lead Tlou Seopa on 067 654 6027.
Community Engagement Manager Thabisile Miya is also available to share her overall experience with communicating and interacting with members.
Contact: 063 472 0680
amandla.mobi is a community organisation not connected to DSD or SASSA, nor any political party.
*Member quotes slightly edited for brevity and clarity
