SASSA is in the process of establishing a permanent office in Tumahole to bring service delivery closer to the community. This was confirmed by Motshewa Maleka, SASSA’s Senior Manager: Communications, in response to an inquiry from the Gazette earlier this week.

According to Maleka, SASSA is currently in discussions with the Ngwathe Local Municipality and the Department of Public Works to identify suitable premises for the office. Maleka said that once all processes have been completed and approval has been obtained, the community will be informed.

In the meantime, SASSA is committed to serving the community three times per week from July.

This is welcome relief for residents of Parys, Tumahole, and Schokenville who expressed their frustration with SASSA service delivery in Parys in a petition by the DA, demanding that the minister of Social Development establish a permanent, full-time SASSA office for Parys, operating Monday to Friday.

“By Monday morning, a total of more than 3 000 people had signed the petition,” says DA Councillor JP de Villiers. De Villiers highlighted the ongoing struggles of residents, especially the elderly, who have to travel long distances to collect their SASSA grants with officials only available on certain days.

The frustration comes in the wake of a visit on Friday May 29, by the acting minister of Social Development, Sindisiwe Chikunga, to Tumahole as part of her government commitment to the service delivery drive. Chikunga will be leading the Integrated Community Registration Outreach Programme at the Master Nakedi Sports Centre.

Various government departments will offer their services to the community throughout the day, including the services of SASSA, Home Affairs, and the Department of Health. It is also an opportunity to engage directly with the minister and other senior officials.
SASSA officials were also at the Fezile Dabi stadium the past week, where people queued since 05:00 in the winter cold, waiting for their turn. Among them were the elderly and mothers with young babies.

In interviews with the Gazette, most SASSA beneficiaries at the stadium said they had repeatedly tried to sort out problems with registration as beneficiaries and other inquiries, but without success. The number of personnel sent is far too few for the number of people who need to be helped, they claim. Electricity outages and systems being offline don’t help either.

On Monday, SASSA officials arrived at the stadium at 09:40 and had to leave in the early afternoon to travel back to Kroonstad. Beneficiaries say they are unhappy about insufficient service delivery, chaos at service points, and the lack of acceptable facilities for those waiting for hours to be served in wind and weather, especially the elderly.

Charmuné du Plessis and Anton Schroeder told Gazette they have been travelling from Vredefort to Parys for the fourth time this week to sort out their disability grants, costing them R140 per trip for taxi fees. Young mothers with children had the same experience. Some of the beneficiaries said they had been trying to get their registrations or queries solved for months now.

Christel Smith and Bets Reddan have been trying since November 2025 to sort out address issues, leaving them without grant payments for months now. Every time more affidavits are asked and more forms to be filled in.

Since the renovations at the Parys Town Hall, no service is available in Parys, resulting in grant beneficiaries struggling to get transport to the Stadium.

Both Smith and Reddan tried to get assistance from the Sasolburg office, but were sent back to Parys with no answer.