Dying diggers of Namaqualand need saving
| by Delmaine Christians, MP – DA Northern Cape NCOP member |
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| Date: 07 May 2020 |
| Release: Immediate |
| Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbites in English & Afrikaans from Delmaine Christians, MP.The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is calling on the Department of Social Development (DSD) to ensure that all grants are prioritized amidst the roll-out of Covid-19 relief.This comes as a number of disability grant beneficiaries, who stopped receiving their grants almost six months ago due to the ongoing non-availability of a doctor to assist with their grant renewals, continue to be left in the lurch.In this regard, the DA has been approached by at least five people living in Delportshoop, whose grants were suspended late last year, pending a visitation by a doctor to do an evaluation and complete and renew their grant applications. The DA reported the matter in November last year, and again reiterated our call for an intervention in February 2020. To date, however, there has been no progress in terms of getting help for the affected beneficiaries.Given the added burden of the Covid-19 lockdown, which has ushered in greater loss of income for families, the situation is now dire. The affected beneficiaries cannot take care of themselves, let alone of their families who depend on them to put food on the table. They are starving and some of them are barely mobile.Subsequent appeals for food parcel assistance have also not amounted to anything.In this regard, the DA notes the low number of Social Relief of Distress (SRD) applications issued by SASSA in the Northern Cape, as reported during a parliamentary briefing on Thursday last week. SASSA reported that as at 15 April 2020, only 797 applications for SRD in the province were received and approved, with only 145 of those having been issued.This number is way too low.Last year’s statistics indicated that over 57% of households in the Northern Cape were already, to some degree, dependent on social grants before the Corronavirus pandemic. Obviously, that number has now increased substantially.The DA is therefore calling on the NCDSD to simultaneously prioritise the renewal of expired grants that could not be processed due to administrative hold-ups, like in the case of Delporthshoop, that are out of the control of the beneficiaries. At the same time, we plead with government to speed up the social relief programme in the province. A lot more also needs to be done to create more awareness of the actual application process and to make it more accessible to families, especially those living in rural areas and those who do not have any means of connectivity.Never before has it been as necessary for the DSD to ensure that all grant and additional relief packages are distributed as efficiently and effectively as possible. More lives than ever before are counting on this. |
| Media Enquiries |
| Delmaine Christians, MPDA Northern Cape NCOP member084 503 9574 Shelley De WittResearcher082 847 1387 |
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