Open community halls to assist vulnerable SASSA grant recipients

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to Social Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu, calling for the reopening of community halls within municipalities across South Africa.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, community halls played a vital logistical role in bringing SASSA services closer for over 18 million vulnerable pensioners, parents, persons with disabilities and many other grant recipients.

Community halls are geographically located in the heart of communities whereas SASSA offices are more typically found in central business districts.

The last few weeks saw SASSA offices close as staff test positive for Covid-19. There is no communication from SASSA informing clients of the closure nor when offices are due to reopen. The increased backlog of cases as a result of office closures, places more strain on an inapt SASSA system.

The infection rate will increase as South Africa prepares for the peak of the pandemic between August and September 2020. This will most certainly see a spike in the infection rate of our frontline staff including SASSA officials which will likely see many more SASSA offices close more frequently.

The reopening of community halls to render SASSA services will achieve the following:

1. More logistically and geographically feasible SASSA service points;
2. Shorter distances for clients to travel resulting in lower transportation costs;
3. Clients without access to telephone or email access can physically visit service points and be attended to;
4. Where SASSA offices are suddenly closed due to positive Covid-19 cases, clients in queues can be redirected to community halls;
5. It will counter the impending backlog of SASSA enquires and applications as a result of office closures;
6. Higher turnover of SASSA clients given that SASSA offices are reported to only be allowing between 30 and 70 appointments per day per office;
7. Clients can complete forms on the same day, instead of being sent home to complete the form only to return the follow day or week to stand in another queue;
8. It would allow for all SASSA staff to report to duty while still adhering to social distancing regulations within the workspace;
9. Less congestion outside SASSA offices which will allow for better social distancing amongst clients;
10. Shorter quicker queues for clients in the face of the harsh winter elements; and
11. Access to ablution facilities for clients.

Most importantly, with increased physical access to SASSA services there is potential to eliminate clients sleeping outside SASSA offices giving back our people their dignity and allowing them to exercise their constitutional right to access basic services.

It is in the interest of millions of vulnerable South Africans that community halls open to assist SASSA in providing critical services to those under its care, under the current alert level 3 of the lockdown.