Western Cape Community Safety Minister, Albert Fritz, will request the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) to urgently investigate the actions of police who were deployed to South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) offices in Bellville in Cape Town last month.
They used water cannons against grant recipients, including the elderly and people with disabilities, to enforce social distancing.
Social Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu, on Thursday, praised improvements implemented since the incident.
“Minister Fritz will request that IPID investigate and provide clarity on who requested the deployment of SAPS’ POPs unit, which resources were mobilised and why it was necessary to deploy the resources used, including a water cannon, at a Ministerial oversight visit,” she said.
In the video below, police use water cannons to enforce COVID-19 regulations at Bellville Sassa offices:
‘Technology needed to hasten service delivery’
Minister Zulu also raised concerns about mothers of newborn babies who have to stand in lengthy queues at SASSA offices.
Zulu has visited the premises to see the changes made to improve service delivery. She says technology needs to be used to hasten service delivery.
“We’ve already said some of the mothers shouldn’t be coming here with 2-week old babies. I think that has to come to an end. With today’s technology, we can even use the means test and make sure that the people who are applying are the right people and we can use technology. We’ve seen that when we do it with the R350, nobody came to any SASSA office. We must just extend that now to other services.”
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