SASSA Battling to Find a Permanent Office in Khayelitsha

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is battling to find a permanent space for a new office in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.

SASSA previously told GroundUp that it has 16 Western Cape offices and that the Khayelitsha office is particularly busy, serving approximately 520 people a day.

SASSA’s previous office in Julius Tsolo Street, opposite the Department of Home Affairs in Khayelitsha, has been closed since July 2022 because the building was being renovated. SASSA signed an agreement with the City of Cape Town to rent two floors in the municipality’s Kuyasa office from 1 September 2022.

Last month we reported on the snaking queues outside the building, partly because the leased office space is not big enough for SASSA’s services. Some people had been sleeping outside the office overnight.

Since 2022, the national Public Works departments has advertised for office accommodation in Khayelitsha five times, but to no avail, says SASSA’s Western Cape spokesperson Shivani Wahab.

Wahab said the agency had planned to open two permanent offices in Khayelitsha. She said a store space at the Ilitha Park Mall was identified as a potential option, but after consulting mall management, the “costs were exorbitant” for SASSA.

In the meantime, SASSA wants to customise the space it currently uses in Kuyasa. The City has agreed to lease the ground floor of the Kuyasa Library building to SASSA for this purpose. “To date SASSA and the City have finalised the floor plans and a letter of intent to lease has been accepted,” said Wahab.

Freedom to the Forgotten, a disability rights organisation based in Khayelitsha, has been one of the vocal groups protesting at the offices, demanding better services from SASSA. Activist Sibongiseni Faku said they have had many meetings with SASSA at which a new office space was discussed. They had hoped a new office would be opening soon.

Visiting the Kuyasa office this week, there were once again long queues outside. Security guards outside helped the elderly and others who had questions.

Inside the building, on the ground floor, the waiting area was packed with people seated on red chairs. On the floor above, we saw more people waiting near the entrance of the library.

Shivani said SASSA is waiting for the City’s contractor to start customising the interior of the new leased space.

SASSA says it will be customising the space inside the Kuyasa building to better accommodate grant beneficiaries.

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