Sassa pensioner describes Midrand branch as rotten to the core

Harold Zungu has shared his heartbreaking experience about the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) branch at Halfway House in Midrand, saying the Batho-Pele principles are non-existent at all in that office.

Zungu, who contacted the paper on June 24 to vent his experience, described the branch as: ‘Rotten to the core, and needing a full purging of the uncouth public service officials’.

He said that when one arrives to ask what services are offered at the branch, the private security at the door tells you to join the queue first, with the instruction that one must arrive at 07:00. “This is done irrespective of your health condition or age group. After standing for almost two hours in the queue, when you try to access the office, the security will tell you that you need to produce your own identity document before you can enter the premises. In the meantime, outside the building, the frail, elderly people, as well as the newborn babies, are freezing, whilst there is enough room inside the building to keep warm.”

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He said, on June 23, he and others in the queue had to forcefully push the stroller of a mother carrying an about 8-month-old baby, who was freezing, into the building.

Zungu continued, saying that at the grant verification service counter, there was a bespectacled young official who demanded that people must first join the new applications queue to know if the verification is necessary. “He even emphasised that it takes 20 minutes to serve one person. The new applications queue had more than 40 clients waiting to be served. Only four service counters were operating: 21, 22, 23, and 24. At counters 22 and 23, two ladies intermittently left their workstations for gallivanting, whilst the clients had been waiting for almost 4 hours.”

Zungu added that the only hope to be served on the day were the ladies at counters 21 and 24, who worked tirelessly to save the chaotic situation. “To assert my allegations, a private investigation can be conducted, unannounced, to prove what the public is undergoing at that office.”

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Sassa’s district manager in Johannesburg Funeka Simelane said as an organisation tasked with serving the most vulnerable, they are deeply concerned by reports of beneficiaries, including elderly citizens and young children, being forced to wait in long queues in cold conditions, and of ill treatment by staff or security personnel. “This goes against every value Sassa stands for. We’ve already launched an investigation into the allegation and corrective action will then follow, upon finalisation of the investigation.

“As part of the investigation, monitoring will be conducted to assess adherence to our standard operating procedures on customer care, which, among others, includes queue management and prioritising assistance to our most vulnerable, particularly the sick and elderly. Immediate interventions would include reinforcing our staff code of conduct and exploring the possibility of a sheltered waiting area with the landlord.”

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She said the agency is committed to restoring dignity, fairness, and compassion to every single interaction at our offices and upholding the Batho-Pele principles.

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