Pule apologises over long SASSA queues, vows to improve waiting times

Ask AI 4minSocial Development Minister Dina Pule says SASSA is working to reduce queues, address staffing shortages and improve services, while acknowledging that more work is needed at service points nationwide.

Social Development Minister Dina Pule has apologised to SASSA beneficiaries who have experienced long queues, saying older people and other vulnerable beneficiaries should not be left waiting for extended periods to access services.

Pule was responding to concerns raised by MPs during the Social Development Portfolio Committee’s consideration of the department and its entities’ annual reports on Wednesday.

Her comments came after SASSA CEO Themba Matlou told the committee that applicants were, on average, waiting no more than 15 minutes to be assisted.

Pule acknowledged that long queues remained a concern and said she had personally visited SASSA offices and interacted with beneficiaries to understand the problems they faced.

“I want to assure you that we will continue working hard to reduce the queues, improve waiting times and ensure that beneficiaries are treated with dignity and respect,” she said.

Pule said she had received numerous emails, SMSes, WhatsApp messages and calls from beneficiaries, prompting her to visit several SASSA offices.

She said she had visited offices in the Western Cape, as well as service points in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Soweto.

The visits, she said, had given her a clearer understanding of the challenges beneficiaries experienced when accessing services.

Pule said some offices had shown a noticeable improvement, but acknowledged that there was still “a lot of work to be done”.

“We service vulnerable people and we have to service them with dignity and respect at all times,” she said.

She apologised for instances where beneficiaries had encountered rude staff and said SASSA needed to continue training employees working at service points.

Pule said staff needed to understand their responsibility to beneficiaries and apply “Ubuntu” when assisting people.

Pule said older people, people who were unwell and other vulnerable beneficiaries should be assisted first at service centres.

“For me, especially when you talk to the issues around older persons, I really must emphasise,  that every time I go to the service centres, I emphasise that they should make sure that they assist older persons on time, people that are not well on time, and then attend to the others because that’s procedure,” she said.

“We can’t have older people standing in queues for longer.”

She said the demand for SASSA services remained high and that the department needed to ensure service points had enough staff to assist beneficiaries.

Pule said when she arrived at the department about three months ago, one of the first issues she identified was the number of staff needed at service centres.

She said she found some kiosks without personnel to assist beneficiaries and committed to appointing about 1,000 contract workers.

“We’ve gone beyond that because of the need,” she said.

The department was also working to permanently fill vacant posts and replace staff who had left the institution, she said.

Pule cited the Bellville service point as an example of an intervention that had helped reduce queues.

She said the first time she visited the office it was “chock-a-block”.

After another nearby office was used to assist beneficiaries, the situation improved.

“The last time when we went there, by 12 o’clock there was no one there who was waiting,” she said.

Pule said the department would continue working to reduce queues and waiting times.

Pule also addressed concerns about SASSA’s biometric enrolment and verification system.

She said the system had strengthened the integrity of the social grant system, reduced potential fraud and duplication and helped government save resources.

However, she acknowledged that the accuracy and quality of data captured during verification still needed to improve.

“We recognise that we must continue improving our accuracy or the accuracy and quality of data captured during the verification process,” she said.

Pule said direct engagements with elderly beneficiaries had provided insight into both the strengths of the system and areas requiring improvement.

She also said additional ICT measures were being implemented to improve system availability and reduce interruptions to social services.

The expansion of SASSA’s WhatsApp channel was another step towards making information and services more accessible to beneficiaries through digital platforms, she said.

Pule also acknowledged concerns about beneficiaries being given different instructions when they visited SASSA offices.

She said she had raised the matter with Matlou, saying it pointed to problems with staff training and communication.

“I agree with you, it’s not acceptable that beneficiaries are going to be shuttled up and down when they don’t have enough money to do so,” she said.

Pule said SASSA was under pressure because demand for its services remained high, but the department was working to improve staffing, reduce queues and ensure beneficiaries were treated with dignity and respect.