Incapacity grants: Sassa guarantees to clear Western Cape backlog by finish of March

Candidates for renewal of incapacity grants queue exterior the Bellville workplaces of the South African Social Safety Company final week. Photograph: Mary-Anne Gontsana

• Sassa will clear the Western Cape’s momentary incapacity grant backlog by the top of March, regional government supervisor Bandile Maqetuka has promised.
• Addressing the Western Cape legislature, he stated additional medical doctors had been introduced in to assist assess the functions.
• Some 52 000 grants expired on 31 December within the Western Cape, prompting a rush by beneficiaries to Sassa workplaces, some sleeping exterior the workplaces within the hope of being helped.

The South African Social Safety Company (Sassa) has assured the Western Cape legislature that functions from the greater than 52 000 folks whose momentary incapacity grants lapsed final 12 months will all be processed by the top of March.

In keeping with GroundUp, Sassa’s regional government supervisor Bandile Maqetuka was addressing the legislature’s Standing Committee on Social Growth on Thursday in regards to the backlog and processing of the momentary incapacity grants within the province.

Momentary incapacity and care dependency grants had been as a result of lapse in February final 12 months however, because of the Covid-19 lockdown, had been prolonged to 31 December by Social Growth Minister Lindiwe Zulu. Sassa has stated it can’t afford to increase all grants additional, urging beneficiaries to report back to their nearest Sassa workplace with an in depth referral report from their treating physician confirming their situation. Sassa native workplaces across the Western Cape have been inundated with candidates, with lengthy queues of individuals eager to renew their grants, some even sleeping exterior the workplaces.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and Social Growth MEC Sharna Fernandez have known as on President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene within the disaster.

Requested why Sassa had not been ready for the sudden inflow of candidates, Maqetuka informed the committee that grants had not all lapsed without delay. “Grants lapsed in February, March, April, and Could, however we managed to proceed to pay till December,” he stated.

“The issue is, so long as a grant reveals as lively on the system, you can not begin a brand new means of software.”

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Extension price R1.8bn

In keeping with Maqetuka, the extension of the lapsed momentary incapacity and care dependency grants from February to December final 12 months price roughly R1.8 billion. “The sources at our disposal aren’t adequate to proceed to cowl everybody. We’re due to this fact required when it comes to the regulation to conduct new assessments to be able to be certain that solely qualifying beneficiaries are thought of and paid,” he stated.

For the rest of the monetary 12 months which ends in March, the extension of the momentary incapacity grant will price roughly R1.2 billion. However Sassa solely had R411 million accessible for the remainder of the monetary 12 months.

“This present price range is being thought of for utilisation to help the place crucial. That is based mostly on an assumption of an 80% return of lapsed momentary incapacity grants after an evaluation course of. Ought to the speed of return for the lapsed grants be 50%, the attainable funds accessible for utilisation would enhance to R817 million,” stated Maqetuka.

He added that the provincial Division of Well being would assist with the medical assessments.

“Forty medical doctors have up to now been contracted and shall be beginning coaching right now. Sassa shall be paying R187 per evaluation.”

“We get billed by the Division of Well being who then pay the medical doctors, who’re given sure hours to help us. We hope that this technique shall be adopted nationwide sooner or later,” stated Maqetuka.

Maqetuka stated Sassa would be sure that all candidates had been seen by 31 March.

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