Chairperson, it should be noted that Sassa and the Department of Social Development do not support the notion of people sleeping at offices overnight whilst waiting for services. Indeed, everything in our power will be done to eradicate and discourage this. In order to assist in managing this situation, our community members and leaders are earnestly requested to support the actions that are taken by Sassa and to also ensure that accurate information is disseminated to the public.
All our regions are currently experiencing challenges. This may have come to the attention of this august House, particularly our select committee. The challenges are related to trying to manage the number of people reporting to Sassa offices for assistance. This is indeed as a result of pressure both from people wanting to make applications for grants and from those responding to requests to review their grants. I did indicate earlier on that we are currently at a stage where we are reviewing beneficiaries.
The number of people who want to apply for grants has indeed increased exponentially as a result of the changes in policy, which also allow all children born after 31 December 1993 to apply for child support grants. The one policy area that has also necessitated these changes is men over the age of 60 years being allowed to apply for grants for the aged, as well as the increases in the means test limits.
In order to manage this influx, a number of initiatives have been put in place, and they are as follows. The number of reviews to be done per month has been staggered, requiring affected beneficiaries to respond only when they receive letters informing them to come for a review. Community leaders and councillors, especially where we have a large influx, have been asked to assist in this process to ensure that beneficiaries have indeed received their letters that request them to come for a review before they stand up and go to the Sassa office. This kind of influx increases queues. The queues are also inflated by people who call Sassa offices for a review when they have not actually received letters, but because they heard about the need for a review from a neighbour or a friend.
The staff at Sassa has been trained on the need to queue-walk often during the day when there are queues to ensure that everyone waiting in the queue should in fact be there at the right time and that they have all the necessary documents. Those who still require additional documents are provided with a checklist of documents to bring along the next time they come. They are also advised on the return date, which is a different day from that day. Where practical, different days are identified for different grant types, thus ensuring that the aged are given priority and that they do not compete for places with younger beneficiaries in the queue.
Many offices have introduced an appointment system whereby an assessment of a number of people who can be served by the available staff is also done. The remaining beneficiaries are given specific dates and times on which to return, when they will be prioritised over new arrivals. The critical thing to note here is that our people believe or think that if they are not present on that particular day, they will lose out on their grant. That is not the case.
A communication strategy has been developed and is being implemented in order to ensure that beneficiaries and applicants receive accurate messages regarding who may qualify for a grant, what criteria are in place and the need to review regularly when informed to do so.
With regard to the question of sufficiency of staff, it must be noted that Sassa is currently experiencing some serious financial constraints just like all other government departments, which has been necessitated by the financial crisis. This challenge is being addressed through the implementation of austerity measures. One of the measures implemented is the moratorium on staff appointment. So, while the number of staff in specific offices may be insufficient to deal with the current influx, the answer is not to look at appointing additional staff but rather to utilise the staff within Sassa more effectively and efficiently. It will also not be prudent to appoint additional staff to deal with an abnormal situation as this may result in excess staff once the situation has stabilised. We believe that indeed this situation will stabilise.
In addition, Sassa is reviewing its current business process. A project, which we call "business process review", will determine the number of staff required at each local service office. I thank you, hon Chair.