SASSA’s online portal is once again under fire, with commenters describing it as nearly impossible to use, particularly for the pensioners it’s meant to serve. Daniel Lourens didn’t hold back: “Their website is a shambles; they desperately need competent IT personnel. It’s literally impossible to navigate and not very user-friendly. I feel sorry for the pensioners trying to use it. Let alone a visit to a SASSA office….”
His comment struck a chord, with dozens of South Africans echoing similar complaints about a system that seems to work against the very people who rely on it most.
Notifications That Never Arrive
Pieter Viljoen was blunt about what needs to happen: “Then sassa must wake up. Web site don’t work. Give the correct information to your people.”
Johan Willemse described a more specific frustration: trying to establish his own review status without success. “I have tried many times to access their portal to see if I am under review, but to no avail, fed up with SASSA and never received a SMS that I am under review,” he wrote, highlighting a communication breakdown that leaves beneficiaries in the dark about their own grant status.
Left Behind by Design?
Perhaps the most pointed observation came from Lu Nkosi, who questioned whether the system had been built with real recipients in mind at all: “How do people with mental disfunction and stroke review all this???”
Additionally, it’s a question that cuts to the heart of the growing frustration. SASSA’s digital systems are increasingly the only gateway to grants. Yet, many of the pensioners and vulnerable South Africans who depend on them are the least equipped to navigate a broken, unresponsive portal.
For a system designed to prevent fraud and streamline reviews, commenters say it’s instead creating a new barrier between beneficiaries and the money they’re entitled to.
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