‘Sassa blocked my sick wife’s social grant money’
Mamelodi Sassa told a 67-year-old resident that his wife shares the same ID number with another person in KZN and her grant was cancelled without informing her.
A 67-year-old man from Mamelodi is battling to receive his wife’s social grant money, who is currently hospitalised due to stroke and epilepsy.
This was after Mamelodi Sassa told him that his wife shares the same ID number with another person in KZN and it was cancelled without informing her.
Barnabas Kgosana, from Mamelodi East section 12, said his wife Joyce Kgosana (66), who has to use a wheelchair, was recently admitted to the hospital.
He said they were depending on the money to pay for hospital bills, food as well as electricity and water.
“My wife is in the hospital and I was supposed to collect her social grant money to pay for her hospital bills, but the money was not paid into her Gold Sassa card,” said Barnabas.
He said this is not the first time his wife’s grant money was not paid into her account because she shared an ID number with someone else.
“In August last year, money wasn’t paid and Sassa gave her a Quad-7 identity number. This enabled her to get paid and we were assured the matter was permanently resolved – but it was only the beginning of the nightmare,” said Kgosana.
His wife was supposed to get her Sassa grant money on April 4.
When Kgosana queried the matter, he said Mamelodi Sassa told him to go to the Mamelodi post office.
“In turn, the post office told me to wait 24 hours during which the money was not paid.”
Kgosana said he went back to the Mamelodi Sassa offices where an official “was rude to me”.
“The official told me that my wife needed to re-apply.
“I tried to explain to him that she was unable to come because she was hospitalised and didn’t know when the hospital would discharge her. The official, however, insisted that she had no choice but to personally come for fingerprints and re-apply,” he said.
Kgosana pleaded with the official that “Sassa use the gadgets they have to assist people when they go out to render their services to needy people or people staying far from Sassa offices”, but the official still refused.
“The official was not ready to listen to me and understand my wife’s situation.”
The official also allegedly failed to explain why the problem was not permanently resolved as Kgosana was told previously.
Instead, the official insisted that she re-apply by first going to the nearest police station for an affidavit before coming back to the Sassa offices for fingerprinting and a new Quad-7 identity number.
“I don’t understand why the matter was not resolved. Why would they refuse to do home visits as they do for people who are unable to go to the Sassa offices?”
He pleaded with the government to hire proactive people who perform their duties when needed.
“Or do we have to know people in high places to help my wife? How will she pay for her hospital bills? And the doctors placed her on a special diet,” he asked.
“How are we going to afford all of that while her monthly social grant was cancelled without informing her?”
Record was still awaiting comment from Sassa at the time of going to press.
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