Surviving on a Sassa Pension Grant in South Africa

“I say as long as we have a piece of bread in the house; we can live.” These are the words of 77 year old Silvertown resident, Ursula Naidoo. Naidoo is dependent on a South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) old age grant of R2000 per month. She and her 51 year old son, Leon Naidoo, share the expenses of their humble Silvertown home. Leon has a mental disability and receives a disability grant of R1980 per month, of which he gives her R850 towards the household expenses. With their combined income, the mother and son can only afford to have a cooked meal containing chicken once a week. “My neighbour now the other day gave me stuff (groceries) to make soup.” the pensioner said as her voice broke. For the rest of the week the couple eat sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and supper. Ursula purchased her house from her mother, which is now paid up. She is relieved she doesn't have to pay for municipal rates but says she struggles to keep the lights burning. The pensioner, who did clerical work in the clothing industry before she retired, has lived in the same house since she moved there with her parents at the age of 5. She went on to marry in 1967, had three sons but later got divorced in1982. Her ex-husband remarried and later died in 1995. Leon supplements his income by selling sweets to the neighbours. Wearing a complicated patterned jersey his mother knitted, the well groomed man prepares for the day ahead. With purposeful gestures and a look of concentration, he packs his stock into a bag, before heading out to his customers. Ursula says life is a struggle and she stays home most of the time. At times she will stand at the front gate. She also has a friend who is a neighbour and sometimes visits her during the day. On August 2, Ursula was due to collect her government pension. That morning, Leon got up extra early to join the queue outside Shoprite in Gatesville, where other elderly people all converged for a common purpose. After sunrise, Ursula headed out to meet Leon where he was holding her place in the queue. She entered the shop to collect her pension at around 730am. With pay-packet in hand, the two walked down every aisle of the store, carefully surveying all the items they needed and the ones they desired. Leon carried the small bag of items they purchased as they left the shop. The following day he repeated the ritual when he was due to collect his social grant. Ursula said she left the house to Leon in her will, but is concerned for his wellbeing in the event of her death. Twenty kilometres away, Dane Herrington, 62 is a pensioner who lives in his 1984 Ford Sierra Station Wagon which has had for 33 years, the seats of which have been collapsed to create one compartment at the back of the hatchback. As he sits in the driver’s seat, he is surrounded by items one would normally find in the kitchen or bedroom of a typical home. On the passenger seat is a pot and clothing items in a crate, on the floor, a plate and a loaf of bread placed on a bucket. The upholstery of the seats are in tatters. In the cubiole, a glass, and on the dashboard, a plastic lunchbox. Looking over at the back seat, the windows have been partly covered with makeshift fabric curtains. Bags, a small square suitcase, clothing and blankets neatly folded in a plastic bag occupy the back of the car. Underneath that, a grey blanket which looks like the homeless man’s sleeping area. Inside the Table View Library, Herrington hammered away at the keyboard of a computer. “This is where it all happens. This is my office. This is the work that I’m busy with.” he said. Dane spends his days on the computer at the Library where he works on a book about his life story, checks his emails and social media accounts. Dane station’s his vehicle in a parking area close-by where he sleeps at night and takes a shower at a petrol station in the same vicinity. “I have to be up at 4am so I can go to the toilet.” he said. Dane is dependent on a Sassa old age grant. “The Sassa grant is not enough. Whether you are in a home or a flat, it’s a battle to get through (the month) and in my case I use the car every day, so it’s petrol expenses which has sky-rocketed lately. I don’t think very many people can get by with it.” he said. “The grant only stretches up until about the middle of the month. Besides that, are the extras that I get from people that have been good and that have come forward to help where they can.” Herrington said. He spends up to R90 on food alone and needs a total of at least R120 per day to survive. He buys ready-made food from Checkers, Pick n Pay and Spar stores and complained that food is expensive and that prices have escalated substantially of late. He said he has to purchase ready-to-eat food because he is not allowed to use a gas fired stove to cook food in a public area. Summing up, Herrington said, “I am pleased that I have the grant. It has made a difference to my situation.” “The one problem I have with Sassa is (that) the whole procedure as to how a person gets sorted out can be a bit problematic. I had to go back many times before I could get the grant paid out and it was very frustrating.” Herrington said. He added, “I am thankful for it, but it just isn’t enough to cover a person for a month.” In the southern suburbs of Cape Town, is Vrygrond, a township Leane Klaasen, 85 calls home. The frail, soft spoken woman’s pension has to support herself and her unemployed son, Marlon Klaasen, 38 on her Sassa old age grant. Also residing in the tiny one bedroom house is her older son with his wife and toddler. The older son recently started working with a neighbour on a taxi and earns a small salary from which he also contributes to the household expenses. The family has set up shacks for three backyard dwellers on their property. The income of R700 per unit subsidies their monthly income. Leane and her family’s expenses include electricity, which comes to R600 per month, maintenance and repairs of the house and shacks on the premises, clothing, groceries and Leane’s medication for her asthma condition. Marlon says the income doesn’t last for the whole month and once it is finished, they have to look to neighbours and feeding schemes to get by. He says the typical grocery list consists of maize meal, rice, porridge and bread. Marlon says, as his mom shakes her head in agreement, “The grant is not enough. Even if my mom was the only one she was supporting, the Sassa old age grant would not be enough to support her for a month.” “Sometimes I am worried. Sometimes there is nothing, like today there isn't even a piece of bread to eat or sugar or anything. Then I have to go out into the street and ask neighbours for a bit of this and a bit of that. I am hungry... I am hungry.” said Leane.