Beneficiaries of the R350 Covid-19 social relief of distress grant say they have been left frustrated by the new process of reapplying on the online platforms that they describe as slow and gobbling up their data in the process.
This is despite the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) insisting that by on Wednesday its systems had stabilised.
Sowetan spoke to several people, most of whom said they struggled to do their application, while others completed the process in a short space of time.
Sassa reopened applications for special so-called Covid-19 grant on Friday with a direct chat service and Sassa's Facebook messenger channel after it was extended to beneficiaries until March next year. But the process has been marred by system glitches due to excessive traffic on the agency's website.
A USSD channel that went live on Tuesday meant to ease the pressure on the Sassa website also experienced glitches, with applicants saying they were receiving error messages.
Frank Ntsieni of Makause informal settlement in Germiston on the East Rand, said he tried to apply for the grant over the weekend using the WhatsApp platform but failed.
“A friend gave me R30 for cold a drink. I decided to use it to buy cellphone data so that I could apply. But the system was so slow that I ran out of data before I could conclude the application. I have since quit,” Ntsieni said.
The 51-year-old father of three said he needed the money to buy food for his family.
His neighbour, Cecilia Mahase, said she also struggled with her application but had not given up hope.
“I will try again. I desperately need the money. I’m not working and I have no food. Some people can say the money is too small but to me it will make a difference. I can get something to eat and washing powder,” Mahase said.
She last had a job in 2015 where she worked ironing fabrics at a company in Free State. Mahase applied for the grant last year and got it. But she has to reapply as per government requirement.
Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said on Wednesday the technical problems had been solved but the delays were caused by the huge number of people who were applying per minute.
“As of on Wednesday in the evening we had around 5,000 people who were applying per minute. But we can simply say the system is stable as of now,” Letsatsi said.
About 3.5 million people have already applied for the grant which aimed to help unemployed people survive the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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