Over a Hundred Disabled and Elderly People Queue Outside Sassa in Khayelitsha

Over a hundred people stood in a long queue on Monday outside the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) office in Khayelitsha on the first day for medical bookings and appointments.

• People with disabilities, some on crutches or in wheelchairs, many elderly, waited in a long line outside SASSA’s office in Khayelitsha on Monday.
• It was the first day of the year that disability grant applicants could make medical bookings.
• People near the front said they had either slept there or arrived as early as 3am.
• Activists from Freedom to the Forgotten, an organisation that promotes the rights of people with disabilities, are calling on SASSA to open another office in the area.

Over a hundred people with disabilities, many elderly, waited in a long line on Monday outside the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) in Khayelitsha. Some had spent the night there to be first in line for help. It was the first day for beneficiariesto make medical bookings for a Disability Grant.

People in the front, said they had either slept there or arrived as early as 3am. Most people in line said they arrived around from 6am onwards.

By 8am, the snaking queue went down the road to the Kuyasa train station, more than a kilometre away. Some people were still sleeping on the pavement or in their cars; others were packing up their blankets.

The people in line were current disability grant recipients and first time applicants.

Liliswa Jebese, from Level Two informal settlement in Khayelitsha, arrived at about 7am. Jebese says she has severe asthma and a knee injury from a car accident a few years ago. She was granted a six-month disability grant last year which ended in December.

“I was here in December but while standing in the queue which was as long as this, I collapsed. I also started suffering from chest pains and I did not have my asthma pump.”

“I am here again, and I don’t know if I will be helped because I am far back in the queue,” said Jebese, holding on tightly to a plastic bag with her medical documents.

Informal vendors sold chicken feet, apples, sweets and cookies to people in line, some of whom said they had not eaten breakfast despite being on chronic medication.

“As much as it is the first day for medical bookings and appointments, the queue at this branch is always like this. It is always long, people are always sleeping over,” said activist Sibongiseni Faku, from Freedom to the Forgotten, an organisation that promotes the rights of people with disabilities.

“When is government going to do something about this situation? We are constantly fighting for this, reaching out to the ministers, to the relevant parties, but our cries fall on deaf ears,” said Faku.

“Why can’t another branch be opened in Khayelitsha to meet the demand? Maybe mobile offices that can help? Why can’t the government come up with a plan to at least feed the people in these queues because many people leave home without having eaten anything,” Faku said.

One woman, who did not want to be named, approached this reporter visibly upset. “I slept here last night, as dangerous as it is,” she said.

“I have epilepsy. I almost got attacked last night after I argued with some of the people who wanted to remove me from my spot in the line.” T

She said some people pay up to R100 to secure spots in the queue.

In February last year, GroundUp reported on the same issues at this branch, where people complained about long queues.

SASSA’s response will be included once received.

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