‘They go through our bank accounts’: Pensioners slam SASSA means-test process
· The South African
An article published by The South African covering the Older Persons Grant has drawn a fresh wave of Facebook comments, with several readers turning their frustration toward SASSA’s means-testing process rather than the grant amount alone.
Commenter Marlini Naicker raised the issue directly, writing: “It’s a shame the grant is less than they want to go through our bank accounts to see how much money we have, and if we get help, there are problems we can’t survive on the grant.” She added a pointed challenge to officials: “Maybe they must switch places and see if ministers can survive on a R2 400 grant.”
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The comment struck a chord with other readers already frustrated by the R2 400 monthly payment, many of whom argue that the scrutiny applied to beneficiaries stands in sharp contrast to the lack of accountability they perceive among those setting grant policy.
A grant amount already under pressure by pensioners
Naicker’s comment adds a new dimension to an ongoing thread of complaints beneath The South African’s coverage, where readers have separately compared pensioner welfare to prison conditions and called the R2 400 amount ‘unliveable’. Nola Van Loggerenberg, commenting elsewhere in the same thread, had already stated that “no one can survive on R2 400 a month, it is just impossible.”
Means-testing remains a flashpoint for beneficiaries
SASSA’s means test requires applicants and recipients to disclose financial information, including bank balances, to determine or maintain eligibility for grants such as the Older Persons Grant and Disability Grant. For many beneficiaries, the process is viewed as invasive, particularly when weighed against a grant amount many say is already insufficient to cover basic costs.
The reaction beneath The South African’s article reflects a broader discomfort among grant recipients: the sense that they are subjected to close financial oversight while receiving support many describe as barely enough to survive on.
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