Latest news with #ThembaMatlou
IOL News
6 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Meet the new faces of South Africa's Social Development: Netshipale and Matlou
Incoming CEO of Sassa Themba Matlou, left, and recently appointed Director-General of the Department of Social Development Peter Netshipale. Image: Compiled with supplied images Minister of Social Development Sisisi Tolashe extended a warm welcome on Friday to newly appointed Director-General Peter Netshipale and Themba Matlou, the incoming CEO of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa). Tolashe extended best wishes to the new appointees in their roles and expressed deep gratitude to them and their families for their commitment to serving the South African people. Recently appointed Director-General of the Department of Social Development, Peter Netshipale. Image: Supplied Taking up his new role two months ago, Netshipale said South Africa is faced with persistent poverty, joblessness, and inequality that remain a challenge. However, he said the department is hard at work to provide social grants to the sum of R19 million each month to more than 2.9 million people. 'The task which is in front of us is massive, and I've got a responsibility to ensure that the department becomes the best department in South Africa,' he said. Netshipale said with extensive footprints in all 52 districts of the country, the department has good policies and programmes that need to be implemented robustly by its highly skilled staff. 'As the new director-general of the department, I will enhance our coordination and our delivery of services. We are going to optimise our resources and ensure that we live within the austerity that we have, build the capacity of the communities, and promote innovation,' he said. He also highlighted the fact that the department has to modernise systems for efficiency. 'We have a mandate as a department to ensure that we optimise what we are doing; our role is to ensure that every person receives grants at the right time in the right places all the time,' he said. Netshipale added that the Department of Social Development will endeavour to reduce the level of poverty and ensure that people are empowered and communities sustained. He said in the last nine months, since the minister was appointed, she has taken the reins and led the department. 'I want South Africans to watch and see what this department will do.' Matlou, who was appointed as Sassa CEO this week, said it is an honour that comes with enormous responsibility and expectations to lead the organisation of this magnitude. 'This is a responsibility that I've accepted with heartfelt humility, mindful of the steep road I have, but equal to the task at hand to steer Sassa in the right direction, to meet its expectations,' he said. Themba Matlou, the incoming CEO of Sassa. Image: Supplied Having worked as a regional executive manager at Sassa in four provinces for 13 years, Matlou said he has gained the necessary knowledge and expectations of clients. He said Sassa is going to invest in systems that will enable migration from minor business processes to more automation, called a self-application channel, for people in different provinces to improve service delivery and manage fraud. He said different alternative payment and service delivery models will be explored. 'We are going to improve our efficiency, which includes modernising our call centre,' said Matlou, adding that the call centre has a lot of challenges. With regard to some officials linked to fraudulent activities, Matlou said Sassa is working hard to roll out its anti-fraud management strategy with different departments and law enforcement. He announced that engagements with staff have been completed regarding the implementation of the much-awaited biometric enrolment verification system that will assist in fraud prevention. 'We have successfully piloted this system in four provinces, and we are now ready to fully implement this.' He said Sassa must be taken back to where it belongs, 'to the people of South Africa'. 'We've also engaged our staff members in many of our provinces in seeking to understand what the challenges they are facing are, and what new ideas we can bring in to build a better organisation,' said Matlou. [email protected]
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.'
The Citizen
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Sassa black card deadline postponed indefinitely
POLOKWANE – The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) announced last week that the deadline for replacement of the Postbank Gold Card by the recently introduced black card, has been indefinitely postponed, giving beneficiaries who had to face queues from early in the morning only to return the next day, a breather. According to the agency, roughly 102 000 people have switched to Postbank Black Cards, while over 44 000 have changed to banks. More than 174 000 people still have gold cards and it became evident that it was impossible to meet the previous deadlines due to limited resources offered at the service points. In the city, only one service point was available at Shoprite Checkers. Just before the announcement of the postponement, Sassa acting CEO Themba Matlou hosted a media briefing at Fusion Boutique Hotel to appease the media on Sassa's motto of 'Paying the right grant, to the right person, at the right time and place'. Matlou said that the stringent financial controls implemented by Sassa are gradually and consistently bearing the required fruit that will enable the agency to efficiently and effectively administer and distribute social grants to millions of its beneficiaries. 'In its 2023/24 Audit Action Plan Progress Report presented to the Portfolio Committee on Social Development in Parliament recently, Sassa portrayed an organisation that is pulling out all the stops to remedy the past. From the 2018/19 financial year, Sassa has unswervingly achieved unqualified audit outcomes, albeit with material findings from the Auditor General South Africa. Through collective efforts and the will to turn the tide, Sassa has deservedly experienced a sizable decline in irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure over the years,' Matlou said. 'We want to take the Sassa brand to greater heights and the road towards that journey starts with how we manage our affairs and the public money that we are entrusted with. We need to be prudent in our financial expenditure and we are steadily moving towards that', he stressed. Matlou emphasised that it is not all doom and gloom at Sassa as some of the issues in the environment are because of external factors that directly affect the agency, but his organisation is intent on facing all the challenges that come through head-on. 'Sassa serves the most vulnerable people in our society, and we will continue to take counsel from the Auditor General, National Treasury and our mother body, the Department of Social Development at all material times in line with government efforts to eradicate hunger and Sustainable Development Goals', stressed Matlou. Matlou also spoke of the amount of effort put in place by officials in turning things around, thus restoring the integrity of the agency. He, however, acknowledged that more still needs to be done and that all hands are needed on deck to turn Sassa into a leading social assistance entity. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Eyewitness News
23-04-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
SASSA lays bare bold plans to improve its systems
CAPE TOWN - The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has detailed its bold plan to improve its systems to reduce social grant administration turnaround times. The agency says it's ready to roll out an automated system to weed out all ineligible beneficiaries through a new biometric system. SASSA and the Department of Social Development (DSD) were briefing the portfolio committee in Parliament on their annual performance plans and budget for the current financial year. ALSO READ | SASSA social grant payments: These increases take effect in April DSD and SASSA appeared before the committee for the first time after receiving its share of the budget, which includes R285 billion specifically for social grants. SASSA's acting CEO, Themba Matlou, told members about the agency's annual performance plan, which includes high-level priorities like reducing turnaround times. "Priority number two, which talks about customer experience. I've already highlighted that if we are going to be detailed, we say we want to reduce the grant administration process from seven days to one day turnaround." Matlou says the annual plan also includes addressing rampant fraud in the system. "With regards to reducing the inclusion of ineligible persons, there are issues of reviews. We want to have automated social grant reviews." SASSA says it's also prepared to increase social grant beneficiaries from 19 million to 21 million in the current financial year.
