Mayor steps up to combat chaos at pension payout points
Stakeholders, led by Mayor Madlala, worked hard to make sure that patrons observed social distancing
Social grant payouts for the elderly and disabled in some parts of Ladysmith resulted in social distancing chaos, as these vulnerable people queued up for hours at major financial institutions yesterday morning (May 4). What made it worse was that some were turned away empty-handed and told to return another day.
This was observed when the uThukela District Command Council (DCC) joined the Alfred Duma Local Command Council (LCC) with the sole purpose of monitoring grant payouts to elderly and disabled people.
The team was led by Alfred Duma Mayor Vincent Madlala, Deputy Mayor Thuli Hadebe, councillors, the Health Department, civil society, as well as various other stakeholders and officials.
The stakeholders, led by Mayor Madlala, worked incredibly hard to make sure that patrons observed social distancing, as required by lockdown regulations. Covid-19 information leaflets were distributed as the officials raised awareness about the pandemic.
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Patrons were screened in order to determine whether their payment was readily available, instead of letting them stand in a long queue only to find there was no payment at the end of it all. Those who were unfortunate were informed of the situation and advised to come back tomorrow. The team say it was heartbreaking to witness the suffering written on some people’s faces when the bad news was conveyed to them.
Large numbers of beneficiaries were also seen queuing outside various supermarket pay points in town. Most were not observing social distancing and the scenes were relatively chaotic. The problem was further compounded by some technical glitches that were experienced.
At some pay points, disappointed senior citizens were seen leaving empty-handed after also being told to come back today and do it all over again.
Covid-19 mass screening of the patrons was conducted by healthcare workers.
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