Fears for elderly in congested Eastern Cape towns

The sight of elderly and disabled people waiting hours for social grant payments in long, snaking queues with no access to ablution facilities and water has angered traditional leaders.

They say the government had repeatedly stated elderly people and those with chronic ailments were most at risk of contracting  Covid-19, but that the Sassa queues suggest no one cares about them.

According to Stats SA’s General Household Survey of 2018, released in May 2019, the Eastern Cape has the highest dependence on social grants in the country, at 35%.

The government pays about R3bn a month to Eastern Cape beneficiaries alone.

Sassa has made provision for more than 3.6 million elderly social grant recipients and more than one million people with disabilities to be paid earlier than other recipients.

Traditional leaders are now calling for  the pension paypoint system in rural areas to be revived so congestion at retailers and banks can be eased, and the chance of the elderly and disabled contracting the virus reduced.

On Wednesday,  DispatchLIVE visited Mqanduli, Elliotdale and Libode  and found pandemonium in the Sassa queues. There was no attempt at physical distancing as people jostled for position in the chaotic lines.   

AmaMpondo King Zanozuko Sigcau expressed disgust at the situation playing out in places like Ntankubankulu and Mbizana, and feared Covid-19 infection numbers would soon skyrocket in the rural areas.

''There would be a slim chance of people surviving the pandemic. To solve this the pay points in our rural areas must be revived,'' Sigcau said.

Contralesa provincial secretary Nkosi Mkhanyiseli Dudumayo said: “We fear that Covid at pay points in rural areas will soon balloon and it will become catastrophic. That is why we are urging the government not to expose our pensioners to the coronavirus.

“The scenes of people flocking to towns to access their grants are so scary. Revival of the pay stations in rural areas would allow beneficiaries to access their money in a safe environment and in line with the regulations of the nationwide lockdown.''

The provincial health department has acknowledged the long Sassa queues are of concern.

Amathole House of Traditional Leaders deputy chair Nkosi Phathuxolo Tyali said there was no regard for the Covid-19 threat on grant collection days.

''The regulations are only observed when people are inside buildings. [Those queuing] have no shelter, no ablution facilities, no water.

''Beneficiaries only have their hands sprayed with sanitiser when they are about to enter the pay points,” Tyali said.

“If the government says it is treating senior citizens with dignity, love and care, it would not make them vulnerable to pay-point virus transmission.

''Why does the government not provide means to have the beneficiaries access their grants in  their respective areas? Why must they [come to town] to access such a service?''

Addressing mourners at a mass funeral for the 26 Centane bus crash victims in Cebe village on March 13, premier Oscar Mabuyane had said he was formulating a plan to ensure social grants were more easily accessed.

''It is wrong that old people should travel long distances going to town to get their social grants.

''Why doesn’t the government bring services closer to people and pay for social grants in their areas? This should happen,'' Mabuyane said at the time.

Transport minister Fikile Mbalula added that beneficiaries should not have to travel more than 10km to access their grants.

But Sassa provincial spokesperson Luzuko Qina said cash pay points, though reduced in numbers, were operating in remote areas of the province.

“In areas where there is dire need for cash pay points, engagements can be made to the effect,'' Qina said.

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