Eastern Cape MEC urged to fix IT mess for Social Grant recipients

Eastern Cape residents may soon see improvements in the delivery of social grants as the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, amends regulations to allow departments to procure IT services outside of SITA.

This change could bring faster turnaround times and lower costs to government services in the province, where connectivity failures have plagued social grant access for years.

DA Shadow MEC for Social Development, Marlene Ewers, praised the reform as a potential turning point for residents who have struggled to access their social grants due to IT system failures.

Ewers highlighted the ongoing challenges faced by Social Development offices across the Eastern Cape, where poor network connectivity has left officials unable to carry out their duties for extended periods.

With one of the highest numbers of social grant recipients in the country, the Eastern Cape has been hit hard by these failures, impacting access to critical grants like the Child Support Grant and the Older Persons Grant.

Ewers is calling on the MEC for Social Development, Bukiwe Fanta, to request the appointment of a reliable alternative IT service provider to address these issues.

Failure to act could lead to a motion being tabled in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature to compel action in the interests of the province’s residents who rely on timely access to social grants.

Ewers emphasized that the current system has failed residents for too long and that urgent improvements are needed.