SASSA - Incompetence of the system, compounded by unprofessional staff and a lack of basic compassion or efficiency.

We visited the SASSA branch in Brits in April 2025 with a frail care patient who has been bedridden since December 2024, following heart, lung, kidney, and liver failure. She nearly died. This visit was her first attempt to leave the frail care facility and enter a public space since her health deteriorated. Despite her condition, she had to be physically brought to the branch because her bank—who had visited her at the facility—could not submit her documents to SASSA. The reason? Her address on file was outdated. When we arrived, we were told that the process could not continue because her SASSA profile lists her title as “Mrs.” instead of “Ms.” As a result, staff insisted she provide a copy of her divorce certificate from 1985 before any address change could be made. This requirement is absurd, especially considering that it was SASSA who incorrectly captured her title on the system 12 years ago. Instead of correcting their own administrative error, they now require a 40-year-old document from a severely ill, elderly person. To make matters worse, we were informed that her file had to be retrieved from a storeroom—further delaying the process. This experience highlights the staggering incompetence of the system, compounded by unprofessional staff and a lack of basic compassion or efficiency. Prior to this, we had waited over two months for Postbank to visit her at the frail care facility, after spending more than 7 hours in a queue ourselves. Postbank promised to follow up but never did. When we turned to a commercial bank for help, they informed us they couldn’t proceed without an updated address—which led us back to SASSA. The way elderly and sick individuals are treated in this system is disgraceful. Shifting the blame for systemic failures onto the most vulnerable people is unacceptable. This is more than poor service—it borders on a violation of basic human rights.