SASSA Umlazi office
Xolani Dlamini|Published
SASSA has closed its Umlazi W-Section office after a labour department prohibition notice citing safety concerns.
Grant applicants are being directed to nearby offices while alternative accommodation is prepared.
Mbizeni Mdlalose, SASSA KZN spokesperson, confirmed that the agency’s office in W-Section, Umlazi, closed on Wednesday, October 21.
Mdlalose said the closure of the office at Emaweleni, follows a prohibition notice issued by the department of labour, who raised safety issues about the office.
It then issued a notice to close the facility.
Last week, the sundaytribune.co.za visited the office and reported on the poor state of the facility and services.
Residents had complained about enduring long queues, with some waking up as early as 4am only to be turned away by officials at noon due to the poor condition of the facility’s ablution facilities. Officials reportedly cited water shortages and unsafe toilets as the reasons for turning residents away.
For residents from Umlazi, Isipingo, Ngonyameni, Bluff, Chatsworth and Wentworth, this had been their only local office which handled grant applications.
Toilets for both men and women were locked due to its poor state.
According to the applicants, the toilets had been closed for three months due to water shortages in the area.
Mdlalose said the offices were currently under renovations.
"We are working around the clock to address the issues that were elevated by the labour department. We are also at the advanced stage in securing the alternative office accommodation," he said.
In the previous story, Mdlalose said they had decided to look for alternative offices, which were currently being prepared.
He said that they were envisaging to move into new offices in December.
Mdlalose said the Umlazi offices were facing the biggest challenge of scrap metal thieves who were stealing the copper pipes which resulted in the water outages.
"If we are able to address issues that have been raised by the department of labour before the timeline of moving to other offices, we will definitely go back to Umlazi office."
He urged the public to utilise the nearest offices to access Sassa services.
Mdlalose assured the grant applicants will continue to receive services from the following local offices: Durban local office at PRASA Durban Station, Chatsworth local office, Lamontville local office at Sizakala Centre, Nsimbini local office at Folweni area, Mnini local office at Thusong Centre, Umbumbululu local office, and Wentworth local office at Wow Centre.