The SA Social Security Agency’s (Sassa) provincial offices are expected to reopen on Monday after the agency took a decision not to open on Monday this week pending the delivery of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez said the Sassa offices were initially closed by the direction of Minister Lindiwe Zulu on March 30.
“While we understood that this was done to support the lockdown for weeks on end, we urged Sassa and the National Department of Social Development to revisit this decision.
“PPE has been ordered for Sassa staff to now enable the reopening of the office.
“The urgency regarding the reopening of all Sassa offices is a growing concern that has been exacerbated by the announcement to slowly migrate from food parcels to an e-vouchers system and the Social Relief of Distress Grant that will be functional in May and administered by Sassa,” said Fernandez.
She said the reopening of all offices would go a long way towards assisting the national entity to respond to the social and economic relief measures announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week.
“With many people not having access to modern technology, a local office serves as the only method for our most vulnerable people to access these essential services.”
Western Cape Sassa spokesperson Shivani Wahab said as part of the state of readiness to serve clients within the constraints of the current global crisis, PPE would be distributed to all staff.
Wahab said the Sassa offices across the province have been deep cleaned and sanitized as per stipulated hygiene protocols.
“A phased-in approach has been adopted to ensure a balance between resuming operations while containing the spread of the virus, taking into consideration the well-being of both Sassa beneficiaries and staff. The staff will be working on a rotational basis,” she said.
Wahab said as a strategic measure, grant-specific days would be introduced at all Sassa offices to avoid a high influx of beneficiaries and long queues.
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Source: Cape Argus
