Casual workers with Extended Public Works Programme are protesting after SASSA had stopped paying their child support grants.
The reason SASSA has stopped grant payments to the protesting workers is because the Department of Public Works declared that they are earning around R7000 a month.
The workers reject these claims saying that they earn much less than what is claimed and have accused the department of public works of inflating their salaries to SASSA. They are also calling on the Hawks to investigate why it is being claimed that they are earning R7000, when infact they are earning closer to R1000 a month.
One protestor, a mother of three said, “our childrens support grants were cut, we were told by SASSA we were getting a cetain amount of money that we are not getting, so if the hawks can help us to dig this issue, because we don't know what is happening and we all know that at this time this is the difficult time which children need that money”.
Department of Social Development Acting Director-General, Linton Mchunu speaking at the “Rights and Choices, Youth Demographic Dividend” spoke about the impact Covid-19 has had on the poor.
He explained that the role of women as caretakers had seen more women apply for the special covid-19 soical relief of distress grant when applications reopened for the second time. He said, “And because women play a critical role as caregivers in this country, we have been able as a department to provide that level of support, particularly because of the jobs that have been lost for that age bracket of young people.”
“As human and financial resources were diverted to the COVID-19 response, sexual, gender-based violence and femicide, which was rife pre-COVID-19 escalated to an extent our President has termed it as the second pandemic.” concluded Mchunu.
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