Editorial: Sassa's misstep exceeds excuses | Opinion | Editorials

Having to rely on others can be a humiliating experience, even necessary for many. From a simple "hold the door please" to having your neighbor take care of your children, we have all been there.
Reaching out to others in this time of need is part of what makes us human beings and often informs our sense of belonging to a wider community, beyond those we have carefully constructed. for ourselves. That someone is looking to show that this hand shows a company that cares about it. And South Africa, like many other developing countries, is a country that needs an abundance of care, a trickle to make sure that the most vulnerable people in the world do not have to worry about it. between us do not fall too far in the face of adversity.

Social grants are part of this net. Grants help those who are unable to seek paid employment, those who struggle to feed their children, those who have spent their best years on their knees in homes that are not theirs, or who sink into the bowels of their homes. Earth.

These people – often with their children and grandchildren who are unemployed or in training – are the ones who rely on social grants to get out of them.

The R1 700 Old Age Scholarship or the R410 Scholarship for Children are carefully allocated by the beneficiaries, those who know about poverty, knowing that missteps mean empty stomachs or worse.

This week the misstep came – from the South African Social Security Agency (Sbada). More than 700,000 people were left without resources for three days.

Sbada is excused for the "technical glitch" but does that make up for the setback suffered by the countless number of people whose lives have been affected? How far can you fall within the three days you have queued, having been forced to borrow money to pay for taxi fares to get to a collection point?

In addition, this technical problem coincided with some of the coldest days we have experienced this year. The most vulnerable people in South Africa remained cold, hungry and unanswered.

It is important to emphasize that this can not be attributed to a simple shift from one payment system to another. The most vulnerable have suffered this week because our elected officials continue to shirk their responsibilities. This is inadmissible.