The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) in KwaZulu-Natal has launched an investigation into an incident at the Dundee office caught on camera where an official is seen being rude to social grants clients and threatens to throw a stamp at the man taking the video.
In the video circulating on social media platforms, the official is seen seated behind her desk engaged in an argument in Zulu with a man and a woman over what they deemed to be rude behaviour directed at them by the employee.
The official then asks them how she has been rude and refuses to help the clients. She then picks up a piece of office equipment which is believed to be a stamp and raises her arm and threatens to throw it at the man.
The clients further explain in the video that the official had been rude to them since they had arrived. As the altercation continues, the official gets up and walks away. The clients then advise her that they will report her behaviour to which she responds, “Report me, I do not care.”
Sassa provincial spokesperson, Sandy Godlwana, said Sassa had noted with concern a video that is circulating online of an incident that occurred on Thursday at the Dundee Sassa Local Office where an official is seen disrespecting and shouting at social grants clients.
“The Sassa KZN Regional Executive Manager, Ms Thamo Mzobe, has instructed the Sassa Midlands district manager to urgently investigate the alleged behaviour and will use the relevant internal channels and processes to engage the staff member,” she said.
Godlwana said that Sassa takes seriously and thoroughly investigates any alleged behaviour that violates the Code of Conduct.
“We regret this incident and extend our apologies for what the clients experienced. Sassa strives to instil a caring culture that is in line with its Code of Conduct, Batho Pele Principles, and Sassa values that ensures the provision of services in a dignified, compassionate, and respectful way to our clients,” she said.
She stated that disciplinary actions will be taken against any employee who is found to have contravened the Sassa Code of Conduct.
“A senior management team from the regional office will be deployed to visit the Dundee local office to monitor service delivery and make proper interventions. This will ensure that we strive for continuous enhancement of service delivery to meet our clients’ expectations,” said Godlwana.
On Tuesday, a Democratic Alliance (DA) delegation conducted oversight visits to Sassa and Home Affairs offices in eThekwini to support ongoing efforts to improve service delivery after receiving complaints.
This comes after concerns were raised about service challenges, including reports of early office closures, inadequate assistance to the public, particularly the elderly, and network disruptions, said the DA.
Member of the Provincial Legislature and KZN spokesperson for Social Development, Shontel De Boer, who was part of the delegation, focused on Sassa.
De Boer said they found that the system is failing, which is a major issue.
“The department’s current system is ineffective. It keeps going down, and it keeps slowing down a lot, particularly during the busy period, which is normally the first two weeks of the month,” she said, adding that manual applications would then be conducted.
As a result, De Boer said waiting periods are much longer, leading to frustration among the recipients who come through to the department to apply or make inquiries.
Another issue, according to De Boer, which she witnessed during the visits, was that there was not enough staff, and clients joined queues for hours without an official checking if they had the correct documentation required for them to receive assistance.
“People sit there for three, four hours before they get attended to, only to get to the front and be turned away because they don’t have sufficient documents. They lack the necessary documents for their applications,” she said.
De Boer said she suggested that the offices put a checklist of the requirements and publish it on their notice boards or at the entry.
Clients would then have the opportunity to go and get the correct documents in the time that they would have waited in the queue, “instead of sitting for hours and hours, wasting time for nothing. Then they get frustrated and they take it out on the first official that attends to them,” she said.
karen.singh@inl.co.za