SASSA GRANT: Post Office blocked disabled man’s card

A disabled man went without his South African Social Services Agency (SASSA) grant after the South African Post Office blocked his card.

THE POST OFFICE BLOCKED MAN’S SASSA CARD

Martin Nethule, a disabled man from Sabie, Mpumalanga, cannot receive his monthly social grant after the local Post Office decided to block his SASSA card unfairly.

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This is the second blow for Nethule. In January 2022, the SASSA system in January 2022, stopped his grant for 12 months. This was after the Department of Home Affairs issued a death certificate in his name.

THE MAN WAS DECLARED DEAD, BUT HE IS ALIVE

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The matter was eventually resolved after the Grassroots Activism Forum of South Africa (GRAF-SA) intervened. He was duly reinstated on the SASSA system for the social grant, with a twelve-month back pay.

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DISABLED MAN RECEIVED A CLEARANCE LETTER FROM SASSA

Nethule received a clearance letter from SASSA declaring that he could go to the local Post Office in Sabie to receive the back payment and the subsequent monthly payments as usual.

GRAFT-SA says the Post Office told him that the institution could not pay him the entire R27 000 at once. They could only give him a daily payout of R5 000.

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Nethule only managed to withdraw R15 000 in small amounts from local retail shops when the Post Office suddenly blocked his SASSA card.

THE POST OFFICE IS ALWAYS OFFLINE FOR SASSA GRANTS

His sister, Thulisile Mona, expressed anger and dissatisfaction towards the Post Office. She shat the Post Office staff had shown a lack of concern for her brother’s ordeal.

“We are appealing for help because the Post Office staff is very rude and not interested in helping him. He’s not only unable to get the remaining R12 000 from his R27 000 back payment, but he is also unable to receive his monthly disability grant because the card is blocked. I’ve kept all the slips for every withdrawal just in case we are told otherwise. My brother has suffered enough. He only relies on the disability grant for survival because he’s not in a condition to work for himself.”

Thulisile Mona

Mona says the Post Office manager always says their computer system is offline.

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“GRAF-SA would therefore like to express our disgust in relation to the manner in which Martin Nethule is treated by the Post Office manager and the clerk. Our role is to ensure that vulnerable members of society, particularly at the grassroots level, are catered for and protected against the incompetence of government officials who at times forget that they are servants of the people.”

GRAF-SA

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