Post office queue woes as the desperate wait for R350 relief grant

It is 3am on a Monday morning and desperate residents from neighbouring communities have already started queuing outside the Umhlali post office to collect the special R350 Covid-19 relief grant.

Doors open at 8.30am. In Tongaat, residents are also joining the line before dawn.

But at both post offices many people had been queueing for days without being helped.

Several had even slept in the street to secure their place in the line.

Some, desperate for money pay “agents” who charge R50 to reserve them places in the queues.

Groutville resident, Sandile (25) said she arrived at the Umhlali post office at 5am and has been waiting in the queue for more than 6 hours.

“We have no food at home since I lost my job, so this grant helps,” she said. 

Last month – even though she arrived early – it took 3 days to collect her grant. 

Most post offices lack the infrastructure and capacity to deal adequately with large crowds.

There are no chairs, toilet facilities or water for those who have been waiting in the queue for hours in scorching temperatures.

The lines at the postal pay points at Tongaat, Umhlali, KwaDukuza and Shakaskraal are lengthy with scores of people standing shoulder to shoulder.

At Shakaskraal post office the line appeared to be well controlled.

Queue marshall, Thoko Mvubu said they were using a ticket system to manage the queues and were processing 100 to 150 grants a day. 

“This assists the post office to control the crowd and exercise social distancing. By 3pm we have assisted everyone here,” she said.

Post offices have become the default points for cash payments of social grants, including the Covid-19 relief grant for applicants without bank accounts and no other means of collecting their money. 

Provincial spokesperson for the South African post office, Nobuhle Njapha said South Africans who applied for the grant received 2 text messages from Sassa: the first when their grant was approved, and the second when their money was ready for collection.

“We have found that large numbers of beneficiaries go to post offices to find out the status of their grant. They are encouraged to visit the post office only once they have received a text message confirming payment,” he said.