“Totally Agree”: Mzansi Reacts as Frustrated Pensioner Vents About SASSA
- A KwaZulu-Natal pensioner had her Old-Age Grant withheld without warning after SASSA’s biometric system failed to capture her fingerprints twice
- Sonel waited seven hours at a clinic for verification, only to be sent to Home Affairs in Port Shepstone, where the earliest appointment was in September 2026
- South Africans online shared strong views on whether privatising SASSA would actually fix the problem
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Source: Facebook
A KwaZulu-Natal pensioner known only as Sonel has spoken out about her ordeal with the South African Social Security Agency, calling for it to be privatised after weeks without her grant and a bureaucratic nightmare that left her with no income.
Sonel had been receiving her Old-Age Grant for three years when SASSA suddenly suspended it without any notice. She spent the entire month of August 2026 trying to sort it out. When officials could not capture her fingerprints using their biometric system on the first attempt, they directed her to Shelly Clinic in KwaZulu-Natal to try again. After a seven-hour wait, the system failed a second time.
Frustrating ups and downs
Rather than resolving the matter internally, SASSA allegedly sent her to the Home Affairs office in Port Shepstone to obtain a HANIS verification report, an official identity confirmation generated by matching a person’s biometric data against the Home Affairs National Identification System database. When Sonel contacted Home Affairs, the earliest available appointment was in September 2026, meaning she faced at least two months without any grant income.
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Source: Instagram
In a report by The South African, she said, “Their biometric system failed me, yet I must bear the financial and practical consequences.”
“This is why SASSA should be privatised, because pensioners deserve dignity and respect.”
Read the original post that sparked the debate on Facebook here:
Mzansi weighs in on SASSA
South Africans had plenty to say on The South African’s Facebook post:
@Barry Nell said:
“Easy way to save old people from struggling up and down for SASSA is that all senior citizens over a certain age should just get it automatically.”
@Deon Jj wrote:
“This is total abuse of the elderly. Why should they struggle so much for what is due to them? Every municipality should have a SASSA office, a hospital, and a police station.”
@Cheryl Ellis suggested:
“Run like Capitec on that card, no lines to join etc. Simple.”
@Annie Sieber concluded:
“It’s a pity SARS doesn’t run SASSA, the ONLY government department that has not been broken.”
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Source: Briefly News
