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SASS Offices in Gauteng and 2 Other Provinces on Strike

Dear Editor

Not only do SASSA beneficiaries have the constant worry of being paid on time – a rare occurrence – and often have to endure quite inhumane circumstances when visiting SASSA offices for assistance, three SASSA offices in Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the Northern Cape have now gone on strike due to unaddressed systemic issues, further hampering service delivery to vulnerable South Africans.

From information the DA received, it seems that staff at the regional SASSA office in Mbombela, Mpumalanga are at their wits end with a senior manager in the Human Capital Management department and have been on strike for nearly a month. It is alleged that complaints to the CEO regarding this manager go uninvestigated. There are also allegations of this senior manager possibly endangering the lives of personnel and SASSA beneficiaries by bringing a gun onto the premises.

The SASSA offices in the Northern Cape seem to be under siege from disgruntled officials that have vandalised the premises with feaces and garbage.

And now the SASSA Soshanguve office is striking as well.

It is high time the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, took charge of her Department and SASSA and once and for all sorted out its systemic chaos. Otherwise she might not survive the next Cabinet shuffle.

It is truly despairing that a Department that should have been characterised by compassion is consistently noted for its callousness.

Regards

Bridget Masango MP
DA Shadow Minister of Social Development

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Ponte City: Transformation

As the “white flight” of the 1980s and 90s drained the inner city of capital, Ponte City underwent a dramatic and terrifying transformation. By the late 1990s, the building had become a “vertical slum” and a symbol of urban decay. It was famously “hijacked” by gangs; the retail levels were stripped, and the building became a fortress for drug dealing and human trafficking. The most haunting image from this era was the central core. Originally designed to be a light-filled courtyard, it became a literal trash heap. Residents on the upper floors would throw their refuse into the center of the building rather than taking it down. At its worst point, the trash in the core reached five stories high—a mountain of rotting debris, discarded furniture, and even, legend has it, the remains of those who had fallen or jumped.

During this period, the reputation of Ponte was so toxic that there was a serious proposal in 1998 to turn the entire skyscraper into a vertical prison. The plan was eventually scrapped, but the building remained a “no-go zone” for nearly a decade. The turnaround began in the mid-2000s when developers New Metro Property Group and later Dlala Nje began a massive, painstaking refurbishment. They cleared out the tons of trash from the core, restored the lifts (which had often been out of order, forcing residents to climb 50 flights of stairs), and implemented strict security protocols.