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Nehawu NC expects 2000 people in #Sassa national shutdown strike

───   PULANE CHOANE 12:58 Tue, 09 Oct 2018

Nehawu NC expects 2000 people in #Sassa national shutdown strike  | News Article

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) in the Northern Cape is expecting scores of around 2000 people to participate in the Sassa strike tomorrow where Sassa staff and union members will participate.


The union said the strike action comes as a result of Sassa's refusal to resolve challenges brought about by the migration of the social grant payment system from Cash Paymaster Services to the South African Post Office. It further argues that the implementation of the social pensions system was hurried and that the system is still flawed as it cannot detect bogus beneficiaries and also allows for fraudulent transactions. Chairperson of the union in the region, Jacques Cupido, told OFM News that while this number was not a definite one, he anticipates that 2000 people, including Sassa employees, stakeholders and Nehawu members, will partake in the strike at all the different points in the province.

“Since yesterday, we’ve been mobilising members through meetings at workplaces, as we have pickets also, in preparation for our full-blown strike tomorrow where we are planning to shut down all the offices in the province. I can’t give you an exact number of how many people, but we are looking at round about a thousand people, especially members, to join us but with regards to broader society, we are looking at around 2000 people,” Cupido said.

On Monday at a press conference held in Johannesburg, the union’s General Secretary, Zola Saphetha told members of the media that the contention with Sassa is that it at the moment refuses to suspend the biometric system it uses, which is reportedly problematic for millions of Sassa users. Saphetha said among the problems users and staff mentioned, is the fact that a substantial shortage of biometric enrolment equipment in several rural areas in the country where Sassa recipients need the grants desperately. He further argued that the system does not cater to the uneducated, elderly and disabled and said on the basis of these reasons, must be suspended immediately. "Biometric enrolment is not part of the job description of workers, nor is it part of the Sassa grant administration business process. In rural areas, there is a huge shortage of the enrolment equipment‚ leading to delays in the servicing of beneficiaries. The system does not cater for workers living with disabilities‚" Saphetha said. The union also earlier said that it intends to shut down all Sassa offices and render the strike an indefinite one until all its demands are met.


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