With the government ending the special social relief grant for distress, the future is again looking bleak for thousands of unemployed people who depended on the money for survival during the national lockdown.
The special R350 grant was intended to provide relief to individuals above the age of 18 who are unemployed and in dire need.
The payments of the special relief grants began towards the end of May, following delays in the processing of applications and payments. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the payments would stop this month.
But sadly, it appears some applicants will never receive them even though they were approved, as witnessed by the Sowetan during a visit to the community of Westbury, Johannesburg, where community members complained about the delay in payments and no payments at all.
Many young people in the area seem to find a coping mechanism by hanging around in small groups in every street corner; smoking all sorts of substances, including hubbly bubbly.
Some were spotted sitting on balconies with laundry hanging from their doorsteps at the blocks of flats. They look depressed.
Moegseen Mohamed, 26, who has never worked a day in his life, tells a story of how he applied for the money but never received a cent.
"The status kept on indicating that it was pending but when I checked two weeks with the hope that it would have been approved, surprisingly the status on the system changed and said IRP5 in progress," he says.
The youngster tells Sowetan that he believes that the funds were declined because of corruption in the system.
"I applied online and these people don’t know me because I only put in my basic information. So how do they come to a conclusion that I have an IRP5 registration when I have never worked? I have been battling to find a job since after high school," he says.
Mohamed says he feared that the mishandling of the funds would make more young people fall into the trap of drugs and resorting to crime.
“Most people in my community are unemployed like myself. We are depressed and fighting for survival. We feel like we are in a lost town.”
He said the people of Westbury have lost faith in the government.
“We only get attended to when we fight and vandalise the town but when we are hungry, no one pays attention.”
Mohamed points out that his community has no community outreach programmes that offer support to the youth and the unemployed individuals.
Another resident, Derek Mohamed, who received the grant in May and June says the system was a total failure.
"We are not even crying for the R350 anymore; what we are concerned about is the corruption in government," said Derek. .
The father of two says he had been unemployed for more than three years.
"The president announced that we would get the grant to assist us with basics but we are getting empty and broken promises," he adds.
“We are battling unemployment, high usage of drugs, robberies and all sorts of crime in the area and what pains me is seeing people struggling and asking for food during lockdown," he says.
Derek says his wife earned an income, which made life better.
"We had to share these three-fifties (R350) with our hungry neighbours and their children .All we want to know is where did the money go? It did not come to us. It is pending on the system or showing that an alternative source of income has been identified."
Valeida McKay is another resident whose application was declined. She says she survived with the help of others.
"I was declined although I have been unemployed for over 10 years. So who is this grant really for if people like us did not get it?”
Sowetan also visited the elderly queueing for their social grants in Springs city centre on the East Rand.
Grace Moloko, 70, says she wished that the government could extend the relief fund for pensioners a little longer.
"It’s been tough with the food price increases and this extra R350 made a huge difference. I stay with my six grandchildren because their parents died. They eat what I eat," said Moloko.
Moloko said the government should consider increasing the grant for the elderly and disabled because the money not only went into buying food.
"I am on chronic medication and need extra medication on top of the one I get from the government hospital," she says.
South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said there was a high number of rejected applications due to a mismatch between details provided by beneficiary and information derived from the Unemployed Insurance Fund and the SA Revenue Service.
Letsatsi said they had no power to make a decision to extend the social relief grant.
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