The single-storey building is split into two, the Sassa half and the Home Affairs half, Sassa is on the left and Home Affairs is on the right. The mental health clinic can be described as being in the basement. Picture: Tumi Pakkies/Independent Newspapers
Durban – After having to find a new property to operate from, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) in KwaZulu-Natal has announced that the Chatsworth Sassa office has relocated to new premises.
Sassa as well as two government offices, the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Health, were issued with notices by the Department of Employment and Labour declaring the building unsafe for occupation.
Last month, the Daily News reported that the building is dilapidated and when it rains, water seeps through the ceiling and floods it. This has also resulted in walls being damaged, further compromising the building’s structural integrity.
On Wednesday, Sassa KZN spokesperson Sandy Godlwana announced that the entity secured office space for the community of Chatsworth and surrounding areas.
She said this followed the closure of the Chatsworth Sassa local office by the Department of Labour which issued prohibition notices pertaining to the unsafe structural integrity of the building, electrical connections, and health and hygiene issues.
“The new premises are situated opposite the building Sassa used before and the agency is expected to temporarily utilise this office space for a period of three months starting from Monday, November 20, 2023,” Godlwana said.
Sassa KZN regional executive manager Thamo Mzobe said: “One of the guiding principles of how we work is to put customer needs at the forefront of everything we do. It is for this reason, that … whilst we are temporarily using this office space, we expedite our plans of finding a long-term accommodation. We plead with our clients to bear with us as all our interventions are intended to improve customer experience.”
The physical address of the building:
Chatsworth Department of Social Development Offices
1st floor
6 Bhaktivedanta Swami Circle
Chatsworth
4092
Godlwana added that office business hours are from Monday to Friday 7.30am to 4pm. The office is closed on weekends and public holidays.
Godlwana said clients can also use the online portal services.sassa.gov.za to apply for various social grants online.
For further information and enquiries, clients are urged to contact Sassa on 033 846 3400 or 0800 60 10 11 during business hours, Monday-Friday 7.30am - 4pm.
When the Daily News visited the property last week, resident Kisten Gounden, 63, told the publication that on Thursday, he had gone to change his account to EasyPay after he was told to go to Sassa offices but when he got there, Sassa was no longer operating.
He had problems with his other banking accounts.
“I’m 63 years old and I remember this place when I was 40. When it rains, it rains inside. The building is very bad.”
He said his family has been living in the area for 150 years.
Gounden said his family and the whole of Chatsworth use the Sassa offices.
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Daily News