Child grant reviews leave mothers stranded as payments dry up for months

Some mothers say they have been struggling to put food on the table and cover their children’s basic needs after their child support grants were suspended during Sassa’s nationwide review process.

This comes after the South African Social Security Agency started a review process to ensure only qualifying beneficiaries receive grants and to pick up any possible fraud.

The process has, however, resulted in some recipients going weeks or months without the grant payments while they wait for their cases to be assessed.

Speaking to Sunday Times at the Thembisa local offices of Sassa on Thursday, a Kempton Park mother said she is feeling the pressure of the review, which is threatening her survival.

Zinzi Mgqoboka lives in Kempton Park with her two daughters and works as an intern in Bryanston, earning a monthly stipend of R3,500. She said she uses the stipend to support her daughters after their child support grants were stopped.

Mgqoboka has not received child support grants for her daughters, aged 15 and seven, since June.

“I only found out something was wrong when the money didn’t come in,” she said.

Mgqoboka said she received no SMS or notification from Sassa explaining why the payments had stopped. When she visited a Sassa office in July, officials told her to submit documents because she was employed.

“They asked for my payslip, bank statements and other documents. I’m still an intern and I only earn R3,500,” she said.

She said officials told her beneficiaries earning above the income threshold of R5,500 could have their grants reviewed and, in some cases, be required to repay grants received while they were no longer eligible.

Mgqoboka said the suspension has placed her family under severe financial strain as she looks for part-time jobs to get extra income.

I’ve had to make ends meet with very little. I spend R85 daily on transport to work, my mother helps with the rent, but everything else comes from me. Without the grants it’s been very difficult.

—  Zinzi Mgqoboka

“I hustle where I have to hustle. I even do online surveys to make extra money. As well as an IEC voter registration job at voting stations,” she said.

She said her internship income covers transport to work in Bryanston, while her eldest daughter’s school transport and other daily expenses depend on the child support grants.

“I’ve had to make ends meet with very little. I spend R85 daily on transport to work, my mother helps with the rent, but everything else comes from me. Without the grants it’s been very difficult,” she said.

Mgqoboka is now considering moving to cheaper accommodation as living costs rise.

Another beneficiary, Nozipho Hlophe from Phomolong in Thembisa, said three of her four children have gone four months without receiving their child support grants.

Hlophe earns R5,200 a month and said the loss of the grants has made it almost impossible to support her family.

“I have to make ends meet for all of us with the R5,200 I earn, including travelling to work, buying groceries and the basic needs of my children. I can’t afford to maintain all of them with the money I earn,” she said.

She became concerned when the grant money no longer reflected in her account on the official payment day.

“They told me that if the money only comes in on the second or third day after the payment date, you must go to Sassa because there might be something wrong with your account or you need to update your details.”

Hlophe still does not know why her account was flagged for review. She came to check for an update on Thursday after she submitted the documents required.

“I just hope to find out today and be assisted so that my grants can be reinstated,” she said.

Another beneficiary, who asked not to be named, said she was shocked when Sassa informed her that she allegedly owed the agency R31,000.

She said she had recently visited a Sassa office to apply for a grant for her son after becoming unemployed.

“That is when they told me the system shows I was working and that I owe them R31,000,” she said.

The woman said more than five years ago she earned R4,800 a month and also received about R2,000 in maintenance from her ex-husband for their daughter.

“I think that’s why the system shows I was getting more than R5,000,” she said.

She has since submitted the documents requested by Sassa and hopes the matter will be resolved.

“I really need financial assistance now. I’m unemployed and it is hard to survive by having to ask for assistance from my siblings,” she said.

The turmoil comes as thousands of grant recipients have had to undergo Sassa’s latest review process.

Beneficiaries whose financial circumstances appear to have changed, or whose bank accounts reflect income above the qualifying threshold, may be flagged for review.

Payments can be temporarily withheld while beneficiaries submit documents to verify their eligibility.

Sassa has urged affected beneficiaries to visit their nearest offices with the required documentation so their cases can be assessed and, where they still qualify, their grants can be reinstated.