Cape Town – Doctors have been contracted in the Southern Cape to urgently deal with a backlog in temporary disability grant assessments as matters reach a boiling point in the region.
Scores of beneficiaries in Mossel Bay have said they’ve not received their social grants since the start of the year, and they had planned to embark on protest action soon.
Sassa regional spokesperson Shivani Wahab said an urgent meeting was held with residents on Monday, following a social media message highlighting the planned protest action due to the unavailability of doctors.
Temporary disability grant beneficiary Elsabe Moolman told the Cape Times on Monday that she has not received her grant this year.
“I went to the bank, as normal, in January and there was no payment. Then I went to Sassa and asked them what was going on. Then in January, I got a letter from Sassa that I must see the doctor again.
’’So I took the letter to Sassa and they put it on the system and they told me they will contact me because they are still looking for a doctor. So it's now three months that I did not get money.
’’I phone them and they tell me they are waiting for a doctor who is coming from Cape Town,” she said.
Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (Icosa) leader in the province Dawid Kamfer said upon investigating, he discovered that for more than a year there was no state doctor available to examine people.
“It’s unknown how many people need to be examined, but through my enquiry, it would seem that there are a lot of people.
’’A nurse who also came to assist me said she was at a loss for words and did not know what to say to the people who came every day in their numbers looking for answers,” he said.
Wahab said based on a high demand for services, three of the doctors will be assigned to Mossel Bay.
“Sassa was previously supported by the Department of Health with contracting of doctors to render medical assessment services in the area. Due to the overwhelming workload placed on doctors in the Southern Cape, the Department of Health was unable to render any further assistance to Sassa.
“The doctor who was directly contracted by Sassa in the Southern Cape, unfortunately, passed on in February 2020.
’’Coupled with the scarcity of doctors in this area and due to the demand for doctors to assist with the Covid-19 pandemic, the backlog of assessment requests built up and further increased exponentially in December 2020 when a large number of temporary disability grants lapsed.
“In addition to the appointment of doctors, staff at the Mossel Bay office will work overtime to expedite screening and finalisation of applications. Consensus was reached that the planned protest action will be withdrawn,” she said.
Cape Times