Mervin Beech, 70, from Mitchells Plain says: “Every month my pension is short. They (Sassa) is skelm for taking portions of our money without our permission.
“I know sometimes they deduct for electricity or airtime but they deduct various amounts every month.”
Mother of three, Tiyana Albrecht, from Mitchells Plain says she only gets a payout for one of her children, and even that is subject to deductions.
“I have three children of whom two live with me. I only get R320 from Sassa every month,” she says.
“I’m supposed to be getting R360 each per child but they're deducting from the little I’m already getting.
“A few years ago I found out that someone was buying airtime on my account, but I stopped it.
“I’m not sure if Sassa still continues deducting that airtime money from my account, but this is heavy on me so I’m protesting today in hopes that Sassa will stop robbing me and the thousands of other people.
The group, who hail from all over Cape Town, say they will picket outside Parliament every Tuesday until their voices are heard.Armed with placards and songs, the mense chanted “Give back our money” and “Dlamini must fall” at the gates of Parliament.
The protest, which started at 10.30am, continued through the day and attracted passers-by as they sang Struggle songs against Sassa.
Sassa spokesperson Kgomoco Diseko said the agency was concerned about illegal deductions being made.
He urged recipients experiencing unauthorised deductions to call the Sassa call centre on 0800 601011.
Last week, it was reported that Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), which operates the payout service for Sassa, could be hauled to court for illegal deductions on grant payouts.
This after numerous complaints from recipients, despite a Constitutional Court ruling barring CPS and its subsidiary partners from making deductions.