The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) in KwaZulu-Natal has called citizens who need food during the national lockdown. “There is a lot of fake news circulating about who qualifies and how to get help. Unfortunately, these fake messages have incorrect details for the Sassa call centres. An appeal is made to everyone who might know of someone in dire need of help to not hesitate but approach Sassa,” said Sandy Godlwana, KZN Sassa spokesperson.
Godlwana stipulated the following criteria for eligible households:
• if a breadwinner in the family has died and an application is made within 12 months of the date of death;
• if everyone in a household is unemployed and needs government help in the form of food parcels;
• if you cannot work for medical reasons for a period of six months;
• citizens who have had disasters in their communities, such as floods and fires
• citizens who are receiving temporary disability grants that lapsed in March 2020
Those who are eligible for food parcels will have to provide their name, identity number, physical address, contact number and a short reason for their request.
The agency has dedicated two contact numbers for those seeking social relief:033 846 3400 (for calls) and 071 607 1514 (for WhatsApp).
