Sassa Stars

I had a Disability Grant which, along with many others, expired in December 2020. I am 59 years old and suffer from severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Hypertension.

Because of Covid 19 and these comorbidities, I have been very reluctant to go out, except to a clinic when I have needed treatment or medication. It does not take much activity to leave me short of breath.

Having seen news footage of people standing in long queues outside Sassa's Offices to start the process of grant renewal, I knew that I could not repeat a process that I had gone through a year before (pre-Covid). My condition had also worsened.

I thus decided to contact Sassa via e-mail explaining my situation to them. The first response received was that I would unfortunately have to re-apply. This entails going to their offices, queueing, receiving an appointment to see one of their doctors, and returning to them on another day for final approval.

Still petrified of having to go through this again, I escalated my problem to more senior Sassa officials, advising that I had the required documentation (bank statements, etc) plus a letter from the clinic doctor confirming my condition.

To cut a long story short, these wonderful people understood my predicament and recently called me to advise that the grant had been extended for the few months until I turn 60. On turning 60, it will automatically revert to an Old Age grant.

This review is to thank Sassa (and the officials involved) for their excellent and humane treatment of a person in need. I know that they are often bad-mouthed and sworn at, but they are also Humans with a mostly unpleasant job that has to be done.