Instead of using any number of available payment technologies, the most vulnerable, cheek by jowl, are our coronavirus killing fields, writes GG Alcock
Instead of using any number of available payment technologies, the most vulnerable, cheek by jowl, are our coronavirus killing fieldsPeople queue to collect social security grants. Picture: SOWETAN/SUNDAY WORLD
These are our grandmothers and grandfathers. The elderly and infirm deserve care and respect as our elders. They deserve that in the best of times; they deserve it even more in the worst of times. The ineptitude is staggering, and the double standards border on the comical. But the government doesn’t have choices, because it has perpetuated this payment system. Centralising Sassa payments at formal retailers and banks not only costs grant recipients transport money but also excludes small and informal businesses, entrenching a non-inclusive economy.
Banks have mobile ATMs that are used at concerts and other events. Put these in residential areas, particularly infection hot-spots, and place them under military and police guard. On a physical level, we need to enforce physical distancing and masks in malls and small rural towns. To their credit, I have seen impressive measures by certain malls, with chairs placed metres apart stretching out into the parking areas, water served to pensioners, and pensioners-only days. This should be compulsory at all payment points.
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