Cape Town – The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has announced the suspension of cash payouts due to unrest in the country.
Violent protests have been reported across the KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces.
Videos of stores being burned and looted have gone viral across all social media platforms.
Violence has ensued as protesters call for the release of former South African president Jacob Zuma, who has been sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment by the Constitutional Court for contempt of court after he refused to appear before the State Capture commission.
Sassa said in a statement that due to the unrest in the country, the cash-in-transit industry has notified Sassa that it will not be providing any cash delivery services to Sassa pay points until further notice.
It said the decision was made to protect not only its staff members, but grant beneficiaries as well.
Sassa has urged beneficiaries to remain calm and to look out for any information as to when pay points will resume with payouts.
Sassa has reminded beneficiaries that their Sassa cards can be used to make purchases and to withdraw cash from ATMs.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has commenced with pre-deployment processes to assist in addressing the unrest and assist law-enforcement agencies in quelling the violence.
The SANDF said In a statement that deployment will commence as soon as all deployment processes are in place.
“The duration and number of deploying soldiers will be determined based on the assessment of the situation on the ground by the relevant law-enforcement agencies.
“It must be emphasised that the SANDF’s deployment objective is to provide safety and a safe working environment for members of the SAPS and other law-enforcement agencies whilst they carry out their constitutionally mandated law and order duties,” the SANDF said.
African News Agency (ANA)