Woman dies in social grant payout queue, another in taxi en route

Two people have died in incidents linked to social grant collections on Monday.

One person died in Hammersdale, KwaZulu-Natal, while waiting in a queue to receive their social grant. The other died in Pimville, Johannesburg, while in a taxi en route to a pay point.

“We know that the one person in Pimville didn’t even sit in any queue because she collapsed as she got out of the taxi, which means there might have been issues before she got there,” social development minister Lindiwe Zulu told eNCA.

She said the person from KZN was sitting close to the queue when she collapsed.

Zulu said they would not release all the information regarding the deaths until they have been informed by doctors of the causes.

Commenting on the chaos at various pay points on Monday, where most social grants beneficiaries did not receive their payouts after money ran out, Zulu said: “It’s a lesson we need to learn for all of us.”

She said the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) and her department were analysing reports they received from all provinces regarding payment glitches.

“We are making an analysis of what happened and fix what went wrong. Our media unit is looking at what the media was saying,” she said.

“We are sorry that the money ran out. We are sure the work Sassa is doing now is to appreciate that this will be a lesson.”