South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) on Wednesday said it was in the process of adding a fifth platform because it was dealing with heavy traffic on its website as thousands of people had been applying for the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant.
On Tuesday night, the agency said it had over 5,000 people per minute on its website. As a result, the system slowed down.
Last week, when applications opened there were 2,000 people applying per minute.
Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said people could access WhatsApp, the Govchat app, Chatbot and Facebook Messenger.
“Govchat came and opened another platform and people managed to use all other available platforms.”
He said 800,000 people last year applied when the system opened. This time round they received 3.5 million applications within days.”
Letsatsi said people could apply any day in August and would still get the August payment if they qualified.
“We will definitely introduce another platform, but when another platform is ready, we will announce so that people can use it as well because as an organization, we are aware that some people may not have access to smartphones.”
-EWN
In other news – Killer Kau’s sister breaks her silence
Mzansi’s entertainment industry has suffered yet another blow. This after 3 Amapiano artists – Killer Kau, Mpura, and Khanya Hadebe – died in a car accident at the weekend.
They were travelling to a gig in Rustenburg, North West with two friends. Killer Kau’s sister, Xoli Hlatshwayo, told the publication that officers from Marikana cop shop confirmed his death. Learn More
