Question NW1640 to the Minister of Social Development
03 September 2020 - NW1640
Sonti, Ms NP to ask the Minister of Social Development
Whether her department considered a different payment method to beneficiaries of social grants, rather than having persons standing in long queues risking Covid-19 infections?
Reply:
All social grant beneficiaries receive their social grants in a bank account, whether this is their own personal account, or the SASSA card account. Once the money is available in the account, the beneficiary can withdraw the money at any time, everywhere in the country. There is no requirement for the beneficiaries to withdraw the money on the same day, or to withdraw all the cash at once.
Much of the communication SASSA has been doing is to have beneficiaries of social grants understand that there is no need for them to queue to withdraw cash, but that they can use their cards to pay for goods (the SASSA card is a fully functional debit card); that they can withdraw smaller amounts as and when they need this, or that they can go later in the month, when the queues are not as long.
The support of Honourable members in reinforcing this message will assist in changing beneficiary behaviours.