By: Natasha Archary

SASSA has failed to pay more than 70 000 beneficiaries grants in January, blaming another technical glitch for the delay.
The DA who called President Cyril Ramaphosa’s bluff over SASSA grants, says there is fear that beneficiaries may need to reapply and be without funds for months.
SASSA cites a problem verifying the banking details of beneficiaries as the reason for the latest delay in payments.
Point of View Phemelo Motene spoke to the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi for more details.
Listen to the full conversation here:
In September 2023, thousands of beneficiaries were left in the dark about their grants due to a technical glitch which delayed payments by weeks.
Now, recipients of the Child Support Grant are worried that they will only receive their grants in February, if at all.
“For many mothers, the Child Support Grant is their only income and SASSA’s payment failure places additional strain on them at the start of the school year when they have to purchase school uniforms, shoes and other supplies, never mind ensuring that their children do not become part of South Africa’s horrendous malnutrition statistics.
The DA has been inundated with concerns from beneficiaries that they might have to reapply and be without their funds for months.
Their fears are further flamed and preyed upon by unfounded remarks that social grants will “likely disappear” should the ANC be voted out later this year.
The DA has a comprehensive social development policy that not only recommends raising the child support grant to the food poverty line, extending the child grant to include learners who are still attending school over the age of 18 until they complete their National Senior Certificate, and extending the child grant to cover pregnant mothers to support child nutrition goals.
Our policy also focuses on economic growth and job creation to ensure that less people would require such assistance.”
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