Hundreds of South Africans have turned to Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane after being denied the R350/month special social relief of distress grant announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa to cushion the poorest citizens from the Covid-19 economic meltdown.
The office of the public protector said it had seen “a rapid surge” in the number of complaints of conduct and service failure relating to the Covid-19 pandemic over the past four months.
Public Protector Spokesperson Oupa Segalwe: “Service failure allegations account for the lion’s share of the grievances, with as many as 450 people having approached the office to complain about what they deem unreasonable grounds for declining their applications for the R350/month special social relief of distress grant.”
He said the public protector planned to meet Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu to bring to her attention the special social relief of distress grant grievances in a bid to find a speedy resolution.
The special grant was announced in April as an aid to the unemployed who were not receiving any other social grant or the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) benefits.
“In most cases, the complainants either allege that they were not provided with reasons as to why their applications were unsuccessful or that the applications were declined on the basis that the applicants were found to be recipients of some form of income or that they qualified for UIF, which they disputed,” said Oupa.
African News Agency/(ANA)