WATCH: Water outage, locked toilets disrupt services at Umlazi SASSA office

Every weekday, a crowd of grant seekers lines the streets outside the Umlazi SASSA office, waiting for assistance. However, officials repeatedly turn them away due to water shortages and unhygienic toilets. As the Sunday Tribune arrived at the facility on Wednesday, officials claimed there was a water outage, and the locked toilets were found to have burst pipes spraying water.

Some applicants had been waiting for three months for the toilets to be fixed. Faith Ngcobo, a child support grant applicant, said she had queued four times without success and criticized the office's policy of closing the toilets after lunchtime. Candice Chetty, another applicant, had already reached the 65th place in the queue by 1pm but still hadn't received help.

Disability grant applicant Siboniso Mhlongo claimed the officials were too lazy to work, and the issue was that there were too few staff members to assist the large number of applicants. Mbizeni Mdlalosa, a SASSA spokesperson, confirmed that all offices operated from 7:30am to 4pm during weekdays, but the water issue was a significant challenge in the area.

The government plans to move into new offices in December, and applicants can visit alternative SASSA offices in Lamontville, Wentworth, Mnini Thusong, Durban Station, and Nsimbini if they face difficulties at the Umlazi office.