Almost 40 000 Sassa disability grant applications yet to be assessed in WC, says dept

The Western Cape Department of Social Development on Tuesday said almost 40,000 applicants for temporary disability Sassa grants were waiting to be assessed.

The department met with Sassa officials on Monday.

Since the start of the year, only around 8,000 of these applications have been processed.

The temporary grants for beneficiaries expired at the end of 2020, and applicants had to reapply for their grants.

People often have to queue for up to 12 hours at their local Sassa offices.

Western Cape Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez said despite adding another 12 venues to assist applicants, it didn’t look like Sassa would reach the deadline to process all applications before the end of March.

A spokesperson for Social Development MEC Joshua Chigome said: “Without a sufficient number of doctors to complete assessments, we fear that Sassa will not be able to meet the deadline of 31 March 2021. We are well aware that these grants are of crucial importance in uplifting the dignity of thousands of families in the province.”

The department said so far, 880 care dependency grants had been assessed and 119 beneficiaries were yet to be processed.

-EWN

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Love truly lives here. Valentine’s Day came and went, but we are still gushing over what our favorite celebs got on this special day.

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