Ms Thandi Nontenja
The United Democratic Movement Women’s Organisation (UDEMWO) is disturbed by the South Africa Social Security Agency (SASSA) debacle that continues to disadvantage beneficiaries, especially elderly pensioners. The so-called glitch in the social grant service is simply not a good enough reason, if there are any, to blame for the continued inept management of the system.
Since the past weekend, pensioners all over were left in the dark after not being able to access their monies. Many braved the cold, standing in queues, in the hope that this issue will be resolved. It is even worse when one considers that there was no communication with beneficiaries informing them of the problem.
UDEMWO condemns the way SASSA’s management goes about their work. This mess clearly shows they are incompetent. We are of the view that there was internal sabotage from those who were reluctant to hand over to the post office. Any normal department would know that one cannot just go live without testing a new system and then expect miracles. They should have run a parallel demo before complete switch over.
This mess must be sorted as a matter of urgency as the beneficiaries are suffering.
We call on the Department of Social Development to pull up its socks. Swift interventions must be in place to ensure that, in the following months, everything runs smoothly.
Issued by:
Ms Thandi Nontenja
UDEMWO secretary General
