By Anita Dangazele
- People without jobs wait in long lines outside Sassa offices in Gqeberha to sell their places for R40 a spot.
- Pensioners whose knees cannot take the wait and workers who cannot lose a day of wages buy these line spots.
Most people are asleep when Zukiswa gets to her feet at 3:30am in Motherwell, Gqeberha. She walks to her spot outside the Sassa office.
She is not there to get a grant. She is there to sell her place in the line.
By 6am, the line stretches around the corner. Desperate people pay Zukiswa between R20 and R40 to take her spot.
This business happens across South Africa. It is the difference between eating and starving for many people. The Eastern Cape has a 42.5% unemployment rate.
“I don’t have a job. This is my job,” Zukiswa said.
By 9am, she has sold five spots and made R150. She will be back tomorrow.
The buyers are often pensioners who cannot stand in the sun. Nontsikelelo is 68 years old. She pays because her knees cannot take the wait.
Other buyers are day workers who cannot lose a day of wages to stand in a line.
Sibulele is 27 years old. He waits in lines to feed his family. Xolani is 42. He moves between Sassa, home affairs offices and local clinics to find customers.
Sassa chief executive Themba Matlou called the practice against the law.
“We cannot allow it to happen,” he said.
Matlou asked people to use digital platforms to avoid lines. He said Sassa will work with the police to stop people from selling spots.
Pictured above: People queueing at a clinic in Motherwell.
Image source: Anita Dangazele
