‘Pensioners go to loans’: SASSA grant recipients claim borrowing just to survive
· The South African
The South African’s recent report on disrupted SASSA payment dates drew a wave of reader reaction, including one comment pointing to a troubling coping mechanism among pensioners.
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Commenter Zukido Gvolozela wrote: “Pensionèrs go to loans. after paying bills and all.necesaries” – a comment, despite its typos, that suggests pensioners are resorting to loans and after-pay arrangements just to keep up with bills and other necessities. If accurate, this points to a cycle where grant recipients take on debt simply to bridge the gap between a fixed R2 400 payment and rising living costs.
Fixed grant, rising costs for pensioners
This concern echoes the broader theme running through reader responses to the original article: a monthly grant that was never designed to stretch this far. Pensioners have already reported losing their insurance policies and electricity coupons due to payment-date disruptions and now face the added risk of debt traps if they turn to loans to cover shortfalls.
For pensioners on fixed incomes, taking on any form of credit carries long-term risk, particularly if repayment terms are unfavourable or poorly understood.
Other recipients report separate payment issues
Adding to the picture, commenter Alvenita Calvert said they had not yet received their child support grant, a separate issue from the pension payment delays, but one that suggests disruptions may be affecting more than one grant type at a time.
Together, these reader accounts suggest that SASSA’s payment schedule issues are pushing some recipients toward financial coping strategies that could deepen, rather than ease, their hardship. The comments underscore a growing call from grant recipients: predictable payments and higher grant amounts are needed to protect South Africa’s most vulnerable from falling further behind.
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