Gugulethu resident Funeka Mabuse thought she was making a wise decision when she opted not to withdraw the social grant for her child and grandchild in December.
Ms Mabuse wanted to keep
the money for the children’s school uniform and other essentials in January.
In an interview with Vukani, she said when she received a message towards the end of December informing her that the R820 social grant for January had been deposited in advance, she was glad. The unemployed 55-year-old said she saw a deduction of R150 for funeral cover and was left with R665.
However, she was shocked when she visited the bank to withdrew the balance in the first week of January and was instead informed that she had insufficient funds.
A confused Ms Mabuse went to the nearest EasyPay offices in Philippi to seek answers but was told they would investigate the matter and respond to her after a day or so.
But she said she never received any communication from them as promised and after a day she again visited their offices to seek clarity.
She said she has been sent from pillar to post without being told what happened to her money. Ms Mabuse said she informed the South Africa Social Security Agency (SASSA) about her battles and was informed that SASSA had deposited her social grant into her account and there was nothing they could do.
She said SASSA advised her to get another EasyPay card, which she did but was still unable to withdrew the money.
Vukani accompanied Ms Mabuse to the EasyPay office last Thursday, January 10, with the hope of talking to the manager, but our efforts were unsuccessful.
The manager told Vukani that they were not willing to talk to us.
“I have no idea how I will buy stationery for my children. I kept that money there because I wanted to buy stationery for my children,” said a distraught Ms Mabuse.
“The balance now in my account says R3.71. Where is my money? This is my children’s money. They must pay my money. My other child went to school with takkies because he has
no school shoes. How can my money just disappear without a trace.”
EasyPay representative Karen Joost told Vukani that she would follow up the matter and took
Ms Mabuse’s details. She said
she had no idea what had happened but would look into the matter.
Vukani sent a media query to SASSA but they did not respond.