Mthatha residents cry foul over pension grants

Scores of pensioners from in and around Mthatha have accused government of failing them after they found their bank accounts empty when they went to collect their monthly pension grants from the state.

One of those is 72-year-old Zwelakhe Pawula from Old Payne village who told the DispatchLIVE that his plight was made worse by the fact that he has not been able to receive any help from the local South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) office for two days in row.

"I spent the whole day here on Tuesday and today I am still here," he told a Dispatch team that visited the offices in the morning.

"What is worse is that there is only one computer available here but we have not even been told why we have not been able to receive our monies in the first place."

DispatchLIVE was however prohibited from taking pictures inside the building where scores of elderly people were patiently waiting for assistance.

The publication was also unable to speak with staff as security guards said the team was locked in a meeting.

Pawula said many people had been forced to go home on Tuesday shortly before 5pm after staff told them the offices were closing.

"I arrived here around 6am this morning but I found that there are people who arrived around 4am."

By 11am the pensioners were still waiting to be helped by staff at the office. Pawula complained that they had families who relied on them to provide food.