Two Elderly People in South Africa Pass Away in Queues on First Day of Grant Payments

Two elderly people tragically passed away on Monday in South Africa  while queuing for what was the first day of grant payments to the elderly and to people with disabilities.

“I express my deepest and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the deceased. Both of them were confirmed to be social grant beneficiaries at the time of their passing and I have instructed SASSA to process their payments without any delays,” said Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu on Monday.

The Minister directed social workers to provide psycho-social support services to the families of the deceased.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 21-day lockdown, SASSA brought the social grants payment date forward and set aside 30 and 31 March 2020 as special days for older persons and persons with disabilities.

As at 16h00 on day 4 of the nationwide lockdown, two million transactions to the tune of R3.7 billion were processed through the SASSA/SAPO card. In addition, 3.1 million beneficiaries were paid through various commercial banks.

The 21-day lockdown was implemented to contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa.

“The payment of social grants highlights the importance of providing the safety nets for the poor and vulnerable, particularly amid what has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“Without social grants, over 12 million vulnerable people who are currently on the social assistance programme will have no safety net to mitigate the negative socio-economic impact of COVID-19,” said Zulu.

The transactions took place despite minor glitches reported in some areas. These glitches included long queues, overcrowding as well as failure to comply with social distancing and hygiene guidelines at some pay outlets.

There were also reported cases of depletion of cash at some Post Office outlets due to higher than normal numbers of people. – SAnews.gov.za