--- title: "Mokopane Sassa office staff failing to deliver services due to lack of basic equipment and even sanitation" description: "Agency moved into ‘temporary’ offices more than a year ago, where conditions have steadily worsened." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "GROUNDUP" author: "Bernard Chiguvare for GroundUp" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bernard-chiguvare-for-groundup/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-02-08-mokopane-sassa-office-staff-failing-to-deliver-services-due-to-lack-of-basic-equipment-and-even-sanitation/" published: "2023-02-08T13:30:48" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 423 --- # Mokopane Sassa office staff failing to deliver services due to lack of basic equipment and even sanitation > Agency moved into ‘temporary’ offices more than a year ago, where conditions have steadily worsened. By Bernard Chiguvare for GroundUp · Published 8 February 2023, 15:30 SAST ## Key points - For over a year, social grant beneficiaries in Limpopo have been serviced from a small, dark room with spotty internet and no photocopier. The single toilet outside the Mokopane municipal hall doesn't flush, and there are no chairs in the waiting area. The Public Servants Association has complained about the working conditions of Sassa staff. Themba Dubazana, General Manager Corporate Services at Sassa, acknowledged that the offices are in poor condition and said renovations should start by April this year. Despite these challenges, Sassa officials continue to provide services to clients who often have to travel 5km to find public toilets and photocopy machines. - In November 2021, the South African Social Security Agency moved into a shabby temporary office in the Mokopane municipal hall in Limpopo. - Clients are served from a small dark room with erratic lighting, spotty internet and no photocopier. - The single toilet outside the hall doesn’t flush and there are visible cracks in the walls and grass growing on the roof. - Sassa has been offered a building by the Department of Public Works but renovations have not yet started. ## Content In November 2021 the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) moved into shabby temporary offices in the Mokopane municipal hall in Limpopo. More than a year later, social grant beneficiaries are still being served from a small dark room, with erratic lighting, spotty internet, and no photocopier. Outside, there is a toilet which doesn’t flush. Nine people work in the office. Throughout 2021 and 2022, there were no bulbs in the lamps. The lights were only fixed on Monday 6 February. Ventilation in the room is very poor, there is no air conditioning, no filing system and no way to make photocopies. There are metal chairs in the waiting area but many clients have to stand or sit on the pavement. There is a single toilet in the bushes outside the hall, for men and women. The flush system is broken. Nearby are rubbish bins full of water, which clients have to use to wash their hands and to flush the toilet. Some don’t bother to flush. There are visible cracks in the walls and grass is growing on the roof. “I rarely use that toilet. I would rather walk 5km to town in search of a public toilet,” said Rebecca Galance who had come to register her four-month-old for a child support grant. --- **Visit [*Daily Maverick's* home page](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=in_article_link&utm_campaign=homepage) for more news, analysis and investigations** --- She was at the office by 7:30am and was served around 12:30pm. Sassa officials say the internet is unreliable, which results in delays. Clients who need to photocopy documents and get them certified have to walk 5km to the nearest photocopy machine. “This really affects our services to the clients as we send them back and forth to put their documents in order,” said a Sassa official. The Public Servants Association in Limpopo has complained about the working conditions of Sassa staff. ![Sassa moved into temporary offices in Mokopane in November 2021. It is still there. (Photo: Bernard Chiguvare)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/phL3p4n_s4tvkXfrYVwEkWtmryk=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/mokopanesassa-bernardchiguvare-20230207.jpeg) *Sassa moved into temporary offices in Mokopane in November 2021. It is still there. (Photo: Bernard Chiguvare)* Themba Dubazana, General Manager Corporate Services, Sassa acknowledged that the offices are in poor condition. “These are just temporary offices. The initial arrangement was to occupy the offices for only six months but we failed to secure any permanent offices.” Dubazana told *GroundUp* that the Department of Public Works had offered Sassa a building but the building has not been used for a long time so it needs to be renovated. “By the beginning of April this year our officers should be occupying the renovated offices,” he said. Renovations have not yet started. **DM** *First published by*[*GroundUp*](https://www.groundup.org.za/article/no-lights-no-photocopier-broken-toilets-the-sassa-office-in-mokopane-is-a-mess/)*.* ![Image](https://thirdpartyhits.groundup.org.za/counter/hit/dailymaverick/2023-02-08-no-lights-no-photocopier-broken-toilets-the-sassa-office-in-mokopane-is-a-mess/)