Latest news with #R266bn
TimesLIVE
27-05-2025
- General
- TimesLIVE
From grant recipient to employee: Omphemetse Mohele's journey with Sassa
Omphemetse Mohele, a SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) employee from Moletsamongwe in Mafikeng who is living with a disability, has shared how the Sassa grants have helped her since childhood. Mohele's journey with Sassa began when she received the child support social grant. After her mother's passing in 2003, she transitioned to a foster grant, which supported her until she completed matric. Later, she received a disability grant. Mohele said the grants helped her live like other children despite her disability. 'Sassa has helped me a lot,' she said. 'I was able to live a normal life like other schoolchildren. I was able to travel from my village to my school, and I was able to go to the clinic to get treatment for my hip when it gave me issues and go for X-rays and physiotherapy when I needed it.' Her family and colleagues described her as loving, friendly and resilient. Despite her hip disability, she plays netball and runs, and doesn't let anything limit her. 'As someone living with disability, there are a lot of things people criticise you for, but it doesn't matter how people view me. I'm living a normal life,' she said. Sassa spends about R266bn annually supporting more than 19-million families who rely on social grants. Mohele praised the agency for its life-changing impact. 'Sassa is playing a huge role in our country. It helps to eliminate the worst of poverty. You don't struggle when you have a Sassa grant and I'm talking from experience. The good work they do, even if you're struggling, they'll make sure you don't spend a night without food to eat.' Sassa said it stood by Mohele from childhood to adulthood, 'supporting her through loss and disability and into independence'.
TimesLIVE
18-05-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Sassa spends R266bn annually supporting 19-million families: Acting CEO Themba Matlou
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has revealed it spends about R266bn annually supporting more than 19-million families who rely on social grants. Sassa acting CEO Themba Matlou said this during the department of social development's commemoration of International Day of Families in Cape Town on Thursday. Matlou emphasised the importance of collaboration with other departments. 'Our work is strengthened by collaboration with various departments — most notably the department of health, especially in administering income support through the disability grant,' he said. 'Our colleagues at the department of home affairs have emphasised the importance of child support. Sassa remains committed to being present at the doorstep, ensuring that all eligible children are registered and included within the social security net.' During the March budget presentation, the government increased its spending on social grants by R8.2bn over the next three years. Social development minister Sisisi Tolashe highlighted the significance of families as fundamental units of humanity. 'As a democratic government we have delivered on policies that are family orientated for the past 31 years. We have built houses that accommodate families, not single sex hostels, to allow people to move in as families when they move to the cities for employment opportunities. 'We have provided free basic services like primary health care, water and sanitation. Even the social grants we provide are meant to augment the household income.' Tolashe noted that family structures have changed over the past 20 years, citing statistics from the General Household Survey of 2023. The survey found that 19% of children lived with neither of their biological parents, 31.5% lived with both parents, 45.4% with their mothers, 12.3% of children were orphaned, having lost one or both parents, 39.2% of households were two-generation households, while 13.9% contained at least three generations. 'The families as we knew them 20 years ago have changed drastically. In strengthening our policies, we need to engage with this reality.'
